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 Posted 1/13/2006 9:04:12 AM |
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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.
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| Posted 1/13/2006 6:03:31 PM |
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| 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.
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| Posted 1/13/2006 6:44:45 PM |
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 Eric's pic This is just awesome! how'd you get a pic of my tank?
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| Posted 1/14/2006 6:07:45 PM |
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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 ;-)
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| Posted 1/14/2006 6:14:43 PM |
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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...
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| Posted 1/14/2006 6:49:18 PM |
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Billions of gallons of water does have its advantages!
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| Posted 1/16/2006 4:19:24 PM |
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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? 
TANSTAAFL!!!
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| Posted 1/17/2006 9:57:45 AM |
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| 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
FSM ~ Touched by His noodly appendage ~
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| Posted 1/17/2006 10:28:45 AM |
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| Posted 1/17/2006 10:51:06 AM |
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just to rub it in, we also went to Borneo and played with orangutans!
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