Part 2:
If you managed to read through my last post I figured I would throw this into the mix as well. I wrote this back in October and just never got around to adding this.
Back to the reason for this post is there was an interesting topic started recently and it related to one of the foundations behind my current tank:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2224195
I hope that the discussion continues and helps everyone become a better hobbyist. This really should be a simple hobby but if you think about it, the difficulties are great and the complexity of these systems is vast. I don't mean the equipment obviously though it has helped us better replicate nature on some levels.
Around 1977, Sherwood stated that the physical environment shapes the biological community. This makes sense because simple statements get to the heart of the matter quicker and there are less arguments, I mean discussions of why that is incorrect. We as hobbyist adopt this philosophy without realizing it from the dimensions of our tank to how our rockwork looks before water ever hits the tank bottom. Also we look at our work, critique it and often change it hoping to get it "œright this time". Downsize? Upsize? Oh I need starfire glass for my sump bottom to succeed! Now things are perfect.
We like to look at our tanks and see them as a single holistic system. The smaller the system, such as nano-sized tanks it is easier to take that mind set but if you look at some of the larger systems (1000 gallons+ such as Peter's tank (if you haven't seen the videos of his tank go to youtube, type in Peter's tank and you will see what I mean)) then you will realize that this single system is actually made up of numerous microhabitats.
If asked the question, "œWhat makes a reef tank successful/drives it?" Two of those possible answers that most would include would probably be light and flow. I am sure there have been numerous threads started addressing this subject and many a beer has been drunk at a reef club meeting focusing on just that. We often state that as depth increases available light decreases but what about the horizontal plane? As far as flow, the more structure there is in the system, the "œless" flow is present but is it really "œless flow" or is it really more dispersed? The powerhead or return pump is still doing its job. Flow hits rock work, some water will flow through depending on structure but most will be deflect and be redirected in another direction. Random flow anyone? Dead pockets? Aren't we always in search of that sweet spot that is one of the secrets to being successful?
So far I probably haven't stated anything new. People break out their PAR meters, record values and place those numbers on our reef pictures. We humans like numbers because they are finite. I hate taking a survey that has statements like, "œsome of the time" or "œmost of the time". Fast growers anyone? Where is the break between these? Honestly those surveys are poorly designed. I am sure if someone stuck a flow meter in a tank and ran some numbers the discussion would be there as well. Honestly it would not be hard to do this and you could buy a flow meter on the cheap.
So what does that mean for the guy or gal who simply wants to enjoy the hobby and not over analyze things? If you are reading this then it is probably too late for you. With the subject on light, because these reefs are complex in their architecture and corals are stationary, there is a fine balance between light limitations and light stress and their effects on growth and reproduction (energy use). Therefore it would be logical that some zoa morphs have an advantage of wide light-habitat distribution patterns compared to others that have a reduced one. Could this be one of the issues that limit our ability to keep them long term? "œThey just started melting for no reason one day!" But, it is believed that corals can acclimate to these changes in less than a month and those low-light corals can live in high-light conditions and vice versa. It doesn't make much sense if an organism reproduces by physically breaking itself apart, allowing that part to drift away on the currents, and to hope it will find the identical physical habitat at the new location. The same can be stated for those that grow in mats and creep along the rock surface.
For us how many times have we seen zoas stay closed for a period of time, days to weeks, and what do we do? Often we freak out, look for disease or pests, check water parameters and if we don't see anything wrong, we then decide to move that frag to another section of our tank hoping to make it healthy and pretty once again. Because our tank has microhabitats we are just repeating the cycle though. Though these microhabitats are often on the meter/foot scale there are habitats that vary on the centimeter/inch one as well.
Ever been fishing and not getting a bite, move over and then find the honey hole?
I can look in my tank at the same color morph with multiple frags throughout and see differences in flow and light. Ever see one polyp stretching because another one is blocking the light? Ever have a polyp grow on the underside of the rock and stretch for the light? This goes back to the question I posted above on what drives a successful tank.
So what is the take home message in all this rambling? At this point I don't really know if there is one because I have more questions and thoughts now then I did when I started this and I was hoping that the reverse was true. However shouldn't there always be more questions than answers? Maybe I will just put those thoughts on the back burner for now, and enjoy my tank (as you should enjoy yours and not worry about that little growth of algae or how you will deal with a temperature change of 1 degree F because you have the heat on now). It is pretty ironic of my current situation with these last two posts huh?
My wife will probably ask me once again, "œWhy are you just looking at your tank? Nothing is going on in there." and I will simply answer, "œUm.".
(Actually she knows, she always knows, as do most wives, husbands, and significant others that battle for our attention at midnight by asking if we are coming to bed and our answer is, "œIn a minute I just have to move this frag over some to make the tank better." Later we look at our work, we will be pleased for now and we think to ourselves, that entire re-work effort took only three hours to complete this time. I must know what I am doing because this time it didn't take all night!)
For those that read this, thank you for your time and for those that skipped to the end I hope it brought a grin to your face. And as always, thanks for stopping by and please enjoy your tank.
