Forums / TEAM Marine Depot / Corals and Coral Reefs - by Eric Borneman / About This Forum / Latest Posts

RE: About This Forum

charlesr1958 — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 05:46:31 GMT

Not sure about actual coral farming for the ornamental trade since it is illegal to export corals from the Philippines, but I recently saw on TV a short story about a group of local (not sure how local) divers who were trying to get into some type of reef restoration by "planting" corals in heavily damaged areas. I think the biggest emphasis I have heard about has been in the area of fishermen education, trying to convert them away from blast fishing or cyanide use. A few towns are also starting to show interest in "adopting" a reef area and protecting it from all fishing activities to ensure there is a future fisheries. Will see what I can find online, if anything.

Chuck

RE: About This Forum

Eric Borneman — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 23:00:13 GMT

Hi Scott:

I think nano reef are very workable, but you just have to recognize the limitations and also that corals get big, and either you will have to prune a lot or swap large colonies for small ones fairly frequently. I would tend towards relatively slow growing species, too.

Charles...that looks very similar to our hotel shot from Nusa Lembongan. Its too bad we can't meet up next month...I have to go to Bali for work, but maybe next spring when we hold a workshop in we can get together. Is there anything going on in the Philippines in terms of coral farming, even if it isn't currently available to the ornamental trade or even if it is only a consideration? If so, then I can up the chances of meeting you. I need to find this information out in any case...

RE: About This Forum

sfish — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 14:52:01 GMT

I just looked at the post date of the post from Eric, didn't quite catch that when I replied, as you can see I'm definitely a newbie to these! Scott

RE: About This Forum

sfish — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 14:46:52 GMT

Eric, I'm brand new to the forum but I really appreciated your post today. I've been an aquarist for over 35 years. I started my first reef tank in 1995, with the usual setbacks even with copius amounts of reading ahead of setting it up. I wish I would have had something like this to refer to then. Unfortunately, my wife wanted her kitchen back so I had to tear down and sell my 75 gallon tank a few years ago.

I'm interested in receiving feedback on the "micro" reef tank set-ups, or nano reef tanks. I'll have to say I'm pretty skeptical of this at this point, but it probably is my only option if I want a reef tank. Depending on the feedback, I may go back to my long time stalwarts, Africans. Scott

RE: About This Forum

CTReefer — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 11:43:26 GMT

Hi Chuck: Well all that I can say is that you one hell of a lucky guy!

How you are getting away with that life style beats me, but I guess that someone has to do it, right??

One of these days I may be knocking at your door asking you to take me to one of your favorite dive spots!!

At least I will get to dive with Eric at the Flower Gardens in September!! That should be a terrific trip indeed.

Best,

Steve

RE: About This Forum

charlesr1958 — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 10:20:55 GMT

I found a new "dive" spot very near to our home today and when I just now saw the photo posted above taken during your honeymoon, I could not help but to think that I just saw that exact spot today...lol, This new spot can not be better described than "easy" and "diverse", just fifty feet past the anchored boats (which I was glad to see using mooring lines) is a sheer vertical wall that drops 200 feet down to the bottom, from the ledge of the wall, which is about 30 feet deep back towards shore right up to the very small boat anchored is nothing but pristine reef that has so many different speices in such a relatively small area that it left me astounded. I was amazed to see the sheer numbers all mixed in together, and the sizes! "hammer" colonys the size of dining room tables! well, needless to say, I am going to totaly enjoy exploring this area as many times as the wife permits me each week...lol oh, and am proud of myself, I didnt touch a single coral, as tempting as it was to do some collecting, I am determined to hold out for a specific species of acanthastrea that I want. Sorry, guess I am just excited and am feeling awfully blessed to be able to lay face down above such a marvel.

I say "easy" because someone was so kind as to build steps into the face of these lava cliffs that lead right into the water...lol Plus the wife has a great vantage point to keep an eye on her favorite idiot.

RE: About This Forum

Eric Borneman — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 15:35:10 GMT

Good one. Real cute. Bornean...only one missing m...how ironic.

RE: About This Forum

sihaya — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 12:21:13 GMT

Eric Borneman (1/17/2006)

just to rub it in, we also went to Borneo and played with orangutans!

So how might you refer to a guy from Borneo? Could you call him "Borneman" maybe? lol

RE: About This Forum

Eric Borneman — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 10:51:06 GMT

just to rub it in, we also went to Borneo and played with orangutans!

RE: About This Forum

captbunzo — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 10:28:45 GMT

If it's not too off topic, I gotta give you kudos for your honeymoon plans. Well done!

RE: About This Forum

Chris Jury — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 09:57:45 GMT

Ben,

Your tank must have some nutrient issues--most of those corals are brown

::dripping sarcasm, in case someone doesn't get it::

Nice shot Eric,

Chris

RE: About This Forum

vitz — Mon, 16 Jan 2006 16:19:24 GMT

sihaya (1/14/2006)

It's cool to see xenia growing among stony corals like that without it being a "problem." I guess that balance is one of the cool things about real reefs you don't see in aquariums...

heh how do you know the sps's don't think it's a problem?

RE: About This Forum

Eric Borneman — Sat, 14 Jan 2006 18:49:18 GMT

Billions of gallons of water does have its advantages!

RE: About This Forum

sihaya — Sat, 14 Jan 2006 18:14:43 GMT

It's cool to see xenia growing among stony corals like that without it being a "problem." I guess that balance is one of the cool things about real reefs you don't see in aquariums...

RE: About This Forum

Eric Borneman — Sat, 14 Jan 2006 18:07:45 GMT

I took that during part of my honeymoon. Brandee and I chartered a schooner (http://www.indonesiancruises.com/charter/duyung.htm) from Bira (southeast Sulawesi) and sailed through the Take Bone Rate atoll, stopping here and there on our way through the Flores Sea (Labuan Bacho) and on to Komodo to see the dragons. This reef was caled Sabayor Kecil - just a spot we dropped anchor and it had, as you can see, a darn nice little reef where we spent a day diving. This was also the spot where at low tide a literal hedge of Acropora and Montipora several feet high became exposed right near the shore of the atoll and to walk in a gap in a coral hedge is rather...surreal. There was a gorgeous sea snake that got trapped in a tide pool, and we spent a long time watching him. Yes, you can use the photo, provided you put the credit to my name and its a one-time use permission...I don't want to see it all over the Internet without permission.

Ben...your tank? I thought I got it confused...you're right...it IS your tank ;-)

RE: About This Forum

LakerFan — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 18:44:45 GMT

Eric's pic

This is just awesome! how'd you get a pic of my tank?

RE: About This Forum

davejnz — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 18:03:31 GMT

Eric,that pic is breathtaking.Where was that photographed at if you dont mind me asking?It's really cool to see those Acropora spp. and Pocillopora spp. growing right into eachother.The soft coral which appears to be Xenia growing right in between the colonies is neat as well.With your permission,I'd like to post that pic in a forum(CptvRfng) i'm active in.It would go along way to help-disprove the myth that all soft corals are low current/lagoonal corals.

About This Forum

Eric Borneman — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 09:04:12 GMT

Welcome to the Forum!

This forum is about corals and coral reefs. Seemingly a broad topic, but there is a reason for the name.

I believe that reef aquaria, in general, are ideally an attempt to create closed system facsimiles of coral reefs.

My work involves the study of corals on natural reefs and I have been diving for 27 years as of this post. Over that time, many dramatic changes have occurred on coral reefs. For some of you who have only recently seen coral reefs in person, or for those who have never seen a coral reef in person, what a healthy coral reef looks like may be only an idealistic vision. It is becoming harder and harder to find coral reefs in anything resembling the condition they were in 30 years ago. It has been estimated by some that there are NO pristine coral reefs left on earth. So, how can we, as aquarists, know how to create the living captive microcosm?

This leads back to my philosophy of reefkeeping. I generally do not recommend methods or equipment. I have had tanks using just about every type of methodology or equipment, and I find that just about anything (within reasonable limits) can be made to work in maintaining reef aquaria. I find some methods or equipment are better in some applications. So it is not my intent to cover such topics, and other forums are here for these issues. What I am interested in discussing in this forum is the husbandry, biology, ecology, and biochemistry of corals and coral reefs.

I would like to emphasize coral reefs, because the name itself is so widely variable. Coral reefs can be anything from rich, diverse assemblages of species to low diversity coral veneer communities. Corals are found from the Antarctic to the equator, and from intertidal areas to thousands of feet in depth. Most people normally associate corals with tropical coral reefs, and most reef aquaria are usually designed with the intent of representing tropical coral reefs. Many of the coral (and other) species within the aquarium trade, however, can be found or are exclusively found in areas that are not associated with coral reefs that look something like the image below (Sabayor Kecil, Flores Sea).

It is my intent here, to provide information that helps aquarists to better understand the nature of corals. Over the many years I have been involved with the aquarium hobby, persistent generalizations continue to exist by lumping using the word "corals." Examples abound. The misnomers "SPS" and "LPS" are so widely used that it seems almost impossible to contain, yet there is no meaningful designation to those terms, biologically or ecologically. In my lab, we have a piece of Porites lobata collected by submersible from Eniwetok atoll from 1030 feet. We have Pachyseris species collected from 340 feet. Both of these corals have small polyps, and both can be found in very shallow water. What does this mean in terms of the husbandry of these species in captivity?

The still prevalent way any coral is placed into a tank without understanding where and how that species exists in nature remains a problem. Nemenzophyllia are not found on reefs. Acropora are not exclusively shallow water corals. Dendronepthya are not just found in caves, nor are Tubastraea. Soft corals do not "need less light" than stony corals. Corals cannot exist with light alone in an environment devoid of nutrients.

It is my hope that I can bring some of my experiences from studying corals and coral reefs, as well as my experience in coral husbandry, to help readers better understand the incredible variation of corals and coral reefs so that they may better aproximate those conditions in their aquaria and concurrenly limit the mortality and increase the advancement of maintaining reef aquaria.

While the word "coral" designates a certain image, please remember if nothing else that we are discussing a group of animals that span geological time and geographical space beyond most other groups on earth, and they can be as different as monkeys and fish.

I welcome all manner of questions here, from beginning topics to the most advance discussions you can contribute. I do ask one favor, though. As someone with very limited time due to many ongoing projects and commitments, that you please check the content forum as it develops and use the search function of this site to make sure that your question has not been answered. It is frustrating for readers to read the same questions over and over, and it is a time constraint in that I do not have the luxury of unlimited time to reanswer questions that have been asked repeatedly. The result, self-admittedly, will be that each subseqent response to the same question will likely be truncated to give a less than complete response as i have given to previous responses. So, for everyone's benefit, let's work together to keep the subjects new and build upon earlier threads, revisiting them as required when new information or a new viewpoint exists. Finally, please be patient as I work towards building the overall content of this forum.

Thank you, and I look forward to all of your contributions.