Question about overgrown tank.

[footbagger311]

I read on here about how people are always having their tanks overtaken by their corals.

Since people take their corals from the ocean, is is possible to put corals back into the ocean, that have outgrown the tank?

 

[ScooterBlenny]

I would think you'd need to carefully consider what area the coral was from - you certainly don't want to introduce a coral that isn't native to the area.

I dono, just sounds like there may be a lot of problems with it...

 

[RRaider]

Bad bad bad idea. Too big of a chance of introducing both invasive species and bacteria that are not native to that part of the ocean.

 

[footbagger311]

I'm probably just being naive but what problems can occur from a coral population growing in an environment where they are being wiped out?

 

[pamedee]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14379942#post14379942 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by footbagger311
I'm probably just being naive but what problems can occur from a coral population growing in an environment where they are being wiped out?

If you are 100% the species of coral you have is native to the area where you put it, then there is probably nothing wrong with it. However if the species is not native, it could take over that area killing the native species. Thus it is a bad idea.

Plus what someone else said about bacteria could also be true. You could introduce some bacteria strain that is living in your aquarium to the ocean which could have devastating results.

Paul

 

[footbagger311]

Wouldn't the ocean be able to cleanse itself from some small bacteria that was in a tank?

 

[ScooterBlenny]

Perhaps not if the bacteria weren't native to the area.

 

[chimmike]

If your corals have overgrown your tank, frag the pieces and sell them. Simple solution.

South Florida has major problems with invasive species simply for the reasons you're thinking.....the area should be able to adjust. Unfortunately, it can't. SoFla is overrun by invasive fish, reptiles, birds, and probably other stuff I don't know about.

 

[Megabite]

Example:

 

[footbagger311]

I guess I was just thinking that this could be an answer to the decreasing coral population. We need to save the reefs.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

This simple answer for that problem is to buy only aquacultured livestock.

 

[chimmike]

that can be done thru conservation, not introduction of foreign species.

 

[greggnyce]

There are projects in the works to do so but they are being run in labs.

 

[seapug]

There are properly managed reef "repopulation" efforts being conducted in many parts of the world.

If you want to help save the reefs, take your overgrown corals and give them away to other hobbyists or trade them for credit at a local store. That will reduce the demand for more wild specimens and will indirectly help protect/restore natural reefs.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

If you want to fly back over to the indo-pacific and put it back, I dont see too much problem with it (technically there still is, because it has been introduced to different things since being in your tank). But in reference to your specific question, no, not a single thing in our tanks would be naturally found off charleston SC. You could completely disrupt the local system by introducing something that is naturally found on the other side of the planet. Especially since, by nature of your question, we would be getting rid of things that are particularly prolific (i.e. overgrowing our tanks).

 

[Rich D]

http://www.reefball.org/index.html

Things like this are the best way to repopulate reefs by using native species that have been fragged or have fallen. I would not suggest introducing your tank bacteria into the environment, Cyano bacteria and many other seaweeds, bacteria and algae can wipe out a reef population very quickly. When a wild reef develops a problem such as cyano, it will often times develop its own ways of fighting it (larger crustacean, snail etc. populationg) but when a new species is introduced without any defenses against it, it could prove catastrophic.