Saving Reefs?

kaptken

New member
Hello,

I am always reading stuff on the environmental chalenges to reefs around the world and keep wondering if there is anything we reefers, or a club can do to help. I just read this nice article about one of our hobby suppliers who IS doing something about it, growing from his life long hobby and trade to research and restoration, to make a difference. What a Guy!!

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/01/healthscience/01coral.php

I keep wondering what we hobbyists, with all our enthusiasm, time and resources might be able to do. Reef health, Being all about the water, i wonder if we could learn to culture things that clean the water in bays, and reefs. our fuges are mini bay systems of grasses and plants. Grow oysters that filter the water? sea grasses? clean our tanks and seed a bay or reef?

Any Ideas? Other resources to share? After all, Science is fun, too!

Just food for thought and maybe a little discussion.
Good article.
 
I know one problem with this would be our geography as most of us keep fish and other creatures that live in water around 78 degrees and would not be suitable for the areas around us.

In addition most of the items in the tank do not come from the same region and there could be several adverse reactions if we return a coral to the ocean which was originally located in a different region. Or if we return and coral to the right location but have exposed it from items in other regions.

Chris
 
That is all true. but with ocean going freighters and tankers dumping tens of thousands of gallons of ballast and bilge water from one ocean to the next, that cross pollination of diseases and bacteria and parasites is already going on. thats how we got zebra mussels in all the great lakes and beyond. one freight with ballast water from a german river dumped in the great lakes.

but there are local oysters, mussels, sea clams, sea grasses from the chesapeake and delaware bay that are in danger of extinction. all salt water. there are many programs under way to replant the local bays. I'm wondering if some local grasses could be good fuge plants. to grow and harvest. of course, planting them in the bay might be bad if it transports alien micro organisms from our tanks. something to work out.

or , just growing isolated tanks of grasses for replantings. a veggie tank!!

I once bought a couple live food oysters, on ice, and stuck them in a fuge. they are fantastic filter feeders. they lived a while, not sure if i had enough food in the water for them. or if they had been on ice too long. live mussels too. they eat a lot.
 
This is true, but the specimens in our tanks are being kept in a man made environment and that may also has some affect on the corals. I am curious to see how a coral would adapt going from captivity back into the ocean from an area specific tank.

Do you think with the suppliments today we could achieve an ideal growing environment for certain corals or are corals still better kept in the wild?
 
My guess would be that corals have much better living conditions in our tanks. We baby them, we supplement the tank, give them awesome light, position them perfectly on our rocks, don't have any wave actions/storms to break them, are usually careful as to what fish live around our corals, etc.

Of course the corals would do well in the wild, they just probably would not grow like crazy, like they do in some of our tanks!
 
My guess would be that corals have much better living conditions in our tanks. We baby them, we supplement the tank, give them awesome light, position them perfectly on our rocks, don't have any wave actions/storms to break them, are usually careful as to what fish live around our corals, etc.

Of course the corals would do well in the wild, they just probably would not grow like crazy, like they do in some of our tanks!
 
Great article Ken!

After seeing Calfo's presentation at the TPP sale a few months ago, I have had a heightened awareness about reef ecosystems as well as how our hobby may be impacting reefs around the world... one thing I found interesting from that presentation was that reef caught anemones are one of the slowest creatures to replenish themselfs... I dont think I will buy another one that wasnt aquacultured....

"thats how we got zebra mussels in all the great lakes and beyond"
---Ill second that!! I have been going to lake Mich since before I could walk. there used to be just beautiful sand and pebbles... now there is mussel shells everywhere... im sure it is impacting the lakes greatly.... I saw on the news just yesterday that there is a bill trying to be passed about ballast watter in the great lakes... problem is that canada will have to agree and it will probably get hung up in the red tape.... i sure hope it makes it through though...

I have been giving reef study alot of thought these days. I have been feeling like I could be putting my background (Chemistry/ChemE) to better use and having more fun too.... dont know if you need a bio degree to get into those studies, but it anyone sees any job postings for this type of work lemme know... I could use a change of pace....

Cheers,
Eric
 
Yes we do pamper our pets. still, the ocean provides a wider spectrum and diversity of food and habitats and light for them to thrive. the problem is oceans are getting polluted from our land waste and runoff. which grows lots of algea while at the same time we catch all the fish that graze it or are part of the food chain. Its pretty hard to do a water change on the ocean when it gets dirty.

I think the USGA did a reef restoration in the dry tortugas a while back. a ship ran aground in a storm and destroyed a big section. so they grew frags in the lab, stuck them on plugs, and anchored them to the reef to speed up the regrowth. must be other projects around like that too.

zebra mussels in the lakes are changing everything. they filter all the algea out of the water, which breaks the food chain for for small fish that filter algea and are food for the game fish. the water gets crystal clear, and barren. plus they grow so fast, power plants and city water works get plugged up pipes full of them . they have no predators here.

Hey I found a feature article and photos by Doctor Mac in the May issue of AQUARIUM FISH INTERNATIONAL. Its all about his trips to the Solomon Islands and the coral farming there. I think i found it on the rack at petsmart, by Home Depot across from christiana med center. or maybe borders? pretty cool.

Hey Eric, I studdied a little bit of CE too, way back. it should help.

Good to hear from you again ST!.
 
Eric sadly you could probably only find a job if you were willing to work for free. The problem, I think, is that many people exposed to reefs are those with money.(both people that can afford to live near them and people who can afford to go see them) So people who have money already get involved and don't really care how much they are getting paid.

If you look around on RC, or other similar forums, you'll find people who get wrapped up in the hobby and inspire to make a carrier out of studying reefs. In the threads shortly after people who have degrees in Marine biology will post there horror stories. Many of them move on to completely unrelated jobs because there just isn't hardly any money in it. On top of low pay there are often experiments that have to be took care of regardless if it is between 9-5 on a week day or not.

I worked for a short time in the marine biology lab two summers ago. Many nights we stayed till 11-12 at night dissecting fish smaller then your pinky finger and placing there individual organs in separate test tubes. There was also a guy that worked in the lab that collected water samples south of Dewey in some remote locations year round. Rain, snow, lighting, 110*F weather, what ever it was like out he was out there wading into the water with his refractometer and other gadgets.

It’s not impossible though and I have always said if I have to sleep in the sand in a little hut, but can wake up and wade right out into the water and help save the fish, I’ll do it. Regardless if I can go some place tropical or not, when I graduate I am going to work to get my business started and get my feet on the ground and then go back to study marine ecology in grad school. I want to learn more about marine life and the best way to do that is to surround myself with people who make a living out of it.
 
I have some happy news to share.

Recently the state of Delaware has been looking into ways in which we could get more power. Some major companies including those who would use coal, gas, and wind power sent in their bids. Some of the people I work with at the Center for Marine Policy here at UD and some student organizations I belong to have been working hard to push legislation towards the wind power.

Supposedly the wind power bid beat out the other ones.

Jon
 
Wind power is great. But rather than the big rotor blade units , my favorite is the the vertical axis turbine. not the twirling ones shaped like an egg beater, but the silo shaped vanes with a helical twist. much less hazardous for birds, take up less space and are cheaper to maintain. the genset is at the bottom, not 200 feet in the air that needs a big crane. like these Finish ones. plus they opperate in higher winds.
http://www.windside.com/products.html

or wave and tidal power.

these sources of power dont produce CO2 which gets absorbed by the ocean and makes the seawater more acidic, which is bad for corals. Ocean PH is dropping.
 
Here is a difficult one for ya. There are certain things we sometimes have to choice to avoid doing because we are supporting something we don't believe in if we don't avoid them. Case in point I was talking with Ken about going up to visit a new reef store up in PA when it opens. It sounds like they are setting up a really cool shark tank. I love sharks and recently found out in <A HREF="http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1113308">this thread</A> that they really don't know how to take care of the sharks and have them in poor conditions. Some people refuse to visit from the stores or order from them because of this. Difficult decision for a reefer to stay out of a brand new rather large LFS. (Oh and btw this store isn't planning on cycling their tanks completely before adding fish either.<A HREF="http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1103226&perpage=25&pagenumber=2">(another thread)</A>)

Jon
 
Don't worry. They are pretty good at tank care. It should be ok. with all the live bateria and stuff you can add, plus any established tank stuff on hand from the old store, it should cycle pretty quick. Hidden reef always had an amazing display tank and pretty happy stock tanks too. fresh or saltwater.

Uhhh? when will the tanks be up and running?
 
Really depends on your definition of both nice and local. Depends on what I am looking for, but I don't think I will buy from anywhere, but Dr. Mac's unless I am ordering online or getting something I know is typically extremely hardy.

Jon
 
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