[Coral-List] coral bleaching: response to Goreau
di ha
bethead345 at hotmail.com
Thu Jun 1 07:04:49 EDT 2006
Dear Tom and Margie,
As someone who sits on both sides of the fence (research and aquarium keeping) the information and knowledge know on both sides is interesting/varied and not well communicated. Yes many aquarium owners in the begin know little about feeding corals, however with the high cost of purchasing each piece the last thing you want (and can afford) is for the coral to die. When I was in working in the aquarium trade I instructed/taught each customer how to feed the coral they had bought. I know of a number of shops (In Australia) that sell "green water" (marine algae cultures) and rotifer/green water mixes by the litre as well as a number of commercial products for feeding coral and inverts (that in some case won't be removed by protein skimming well that is what the bottle said). For the case of large corals Euphyllia's, cataphyllia's and favities/favia hand feeding is done, placing small pieces of fish/prawn/octopus onto the tentacles. I did get some strange looks from customer when I explained what to do, however this was normally replaced by questions on their next visit like "what else can I feed my corals? we sat there for hours watching the coral eat the food! and what corals eat what food?"
As to how we share or learn from each other can be as simple as a researcher joining an aquarium club. A number have host nights where they all gather at a members house or at an aquarium shop and discuss new filtration ideas, refuge tanks being one of interest in Australia for the last few years, to natural condensed light vs 250 watt 20,000 kelvin metal halides vs fluoros as well as swapping coral fragments harvested from their home aquariums. Another possibility is publishing journals in aquarium magazines. With the advent of googling and scholar google some of the questions being raised by hobbists are highly technical. A copy of Charlie Verons "corals of the world" are a must for the serious aquarium keeper as are a number of the more technical marine biology reference books. As is identifying corals to the species level and learning how to propagate them.
Hope this helps and not raises more issues/questions
Dion
> Date: Thu, 1 Jun 2006 14:09:12 +1000> From: margiea at gbrmpa.gov.au> To: goreau at bestweb.net> CC: lyle.jnr at cairnsmarine.com; coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> Subject: Re: [Coral-List] coral bleaching: response to Goreau> > > Dear Tom> I take your point that there are varying levels of expertise and> awareness in this arena. I guess my main point originally was that> there is a substantial body of knowledge out there amongst coral> collectors and aquarists that might be of value to science - and that> as far as I can see it has not really been tapped into. I'm a strong> supporter of collaborative efforts and lateral thinking because there> is generally value to be gained by all participants in the process - I> think there would be interest on both sides for this particular> dialogue to proceed. I would be interested to see if other "listers"> have any suggestions as to how this could be achieved.> Best wishes> Margie> Thomas Goreau wrote:> > Dear Margie,> > I'm a field man who has never kept a tank, but it seems to me that> awareness of the need for lighting, circulation, and filtering systems> is in advance of understanding the importance of feeding among all but> the most skilled hobbyists. As you saw Sprung did not seem aware of> it. Several hobbyists have told me that they are aware of the need to> feed for best results, but many are not.> > Best wishes,> > Tom> > On May 31, 2006, at 11:01 PM, Margie Atkinson wrote:> > Dear Tom> I'm no expert aquarist either, however these days the people (in> Australia at least) who keep corals tend to be those who have made> the effort to learn what is needed - generally starting with the> easiest species and with experience moving on to the more> challenging ones. The expense alone to set up a coral-focussed> marine aquarium is enough to deter most from venturing into this> arena unless they are serious about doing it properly!> Its not just about knowing whether a species needs feeding - that> is the easy bit - the technology available to keep aquarium> lighting at appropriate levels, along with specilised filtration,> temperature control, control of water movement (and habitat> requirements generally), as well as knowledge about interspecific> interactions has all changed dramatically in the last decade and> these have been big contributors in the ability to keep the> "difficult" species alive. Post harvest handling is also important> and standards in this area have improved as well.> Best wishes> Margie> Thomas Goreau wrote:> > Dear Margie,> > I am no aquariast, but I think that one reason many corals are> regarded hard to keep alive in tanks is that so many people falsely> think they don't need to be fed. The really successful coral growers> all appear to recognize that feeding is crucial.> > Best wishes,> > Tom> > Thomas J. Goreau, PhD> President> Global Coral Reef Alliance> 37 Pleasant Street, Cambridge MA 02139> 617-864-4226> [1]goreau at bestweb.net> [2]http://www.globalcoral.org> > On May 31, 2006, at 10:12 PM, Margie Atkinson wrote:> > Dear Listers> I agree with the concept of starting a dialogue between coral> researchers and coral collectors and aquarists - it is long> overdue!> I work in a management capacity with the commercial coral fishery> on the GBR and have seen that there is a wealth of knowledge> available from these collectors and the aquarium industry in> general. Unfortunately there seems to have been little in the way> of shared forums between the two sectors. Coral> aquarists/enthusiasts often share their knowledge through list> serves, online discussion groups and club meetings and newsletters> - rarely through the published (scientific) literature. Most> scientific papers dealing with physiology and ecology are not user> friendly for the lay person so are unlikely to have been discovered> by aquarists.> I realise also that in many parts of the world commercial coral> collection has a bad reputation for causing significant> environmental impact, which may have contributed to the apparent> lack of engagement between the two sectors.> The knowledge base for keeping corals in aquariums is expanding> exponentially and many species that, a few years ago, were deemed> difficult to keep are now relatively easy - I'm sure some of the> industry observations that have led to these developments could> help ecologists and physiologists refine their hypotheses and> experimental designs to better understand the mechanisms involved.> Also, people who keep coral in domestic aquaria tend to be> extremely passionate and observant about the occupants and recount> extraordinary tales about what the corals do under various> scenarios - maybe consideration of these "outliers" may assist our> understanding of the fundamental processes that still elude us!> Another area where there is considerable scope for intersection> between researchers and the aquarium industry is that of field> observations. On the GBR, coral is collected via a small> well-managed fishery that uses best practice approaches. Many> collectors on the GBR have been in the industry a long time and> have a strong sense of stewardship. They dive regularly (often> daily) in places that scientists generally don't go - not just on> the reef but in inter-reefal areas, so they have a good feel for> broad coral community patterns over quite long timeframes as well> as for the behaviour and distribution of a substantial number of> coral species.> Some of the collectors already feed into the GBRMPA's Bleachwatch> program providing regular reports about the health of the reefs> they collect from and the particular species that are bleaching and> to what depth etc. It has been my experience also that many of the> favoured aquarium corals that are assumed to be "rare" on coral> reefs, especially in shallow water, are sometimes very abundant> inter-reefally on sediment flats - again, places that scientists> may not dive very often. This observation is supported by recent> remote controlled video work coming out of the AIMS Seabed> biodiversity project.> I see that Shashank has mentioned Julian's book - another good> reference for aquarium corals is:> Borneman, E.H., 2001: Aquarium Corals: Selection, Husbandry and> Natural History. TFH Publications, New Jersey and Microcosm Books,> Vermont pp 464.> Regards> Margie> shashank Keshavmurthy wrote:> > Dear Listers> It is interesting to see that finally the debate> on the coral energy aquisition has surfaced...> > most of the resarch papers till now say that> there is major contribution of Carbon form> zooxanthellae to corals....but, when in need the> corals can adapt to the carbon aquisition> heterotrophically....???????> > We all need to get lots of information from> aquarists around the world....> > If you will see the book written by "Julian> Spring" on the aquarium corals...it gives the> mode of nutrition as autotrophy and heterotrophy> to most of the corals described in his book....> > we as researchers may just dont know what really> is happening out there....> > here i agree totally with Tom....we still need to> get lots work done so as to understand the true> feeding habits of corals...> > Recent paper by "Palardy et al, MEPS (2005) 300:> 79-89, Effects of upwelling, depth, morphology> and polyp size on feeding in three species of> Panamanian corals"...looks at what corals are> eating...> > Collaboration with aquarists is needed to really> understand about the energy aquisition in corals> in more detail...> > more and more people are looking at zooxanthellae> since it is believed to be "the source of Carbon"> and "the factor for/of coral bleaching> response"...> > question is how much is the symbiotic dependency?> there are many studies showing that the corals> can survive without the presence of> zooxanthellae...it may not be for long time and> may not be see in natural enviroment....but we do> see many sea anemones in coral reefs, bleached> and still surviving....> > i think it is like, do corals want to feed on> zooplankton when they loose zooxanthellae?> does it take some time to switch between the> modes of nutrition acquisition?> combination of stress factors may be disturbing> the switching between the modes> > for instance, when kept in aquarium tank in> dark..it is only one stress and corals can> survive with the zooplankton being fed...that> means they are able to switch between the> modes..?> > hmm...its pretty complex out there..and coral> physiology is more and more challenging...this is> my view...> > Regards> shashank> > > > > "the role of infinitely small in nature is infinitely large"-Louis Pasteur> > > Keshavmurthy Shashank> phD candidate> Kochi University, Graduate School of Kuroshio Science> Laboratory of Environmental Conservation> Otsu 200, Monobe, Nankoku-shi> 783-8502, Kochi, Japan> alt. id: [3]shashank at cc.kochi-u.ac.jp> phone: 81 080 3925 3889> > __________________________________________________> Do You Yahoo!?> Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around> [4]http://mail.yahoo.com> _______________________________________________> Coral-List mailing list> [5]Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> [6]http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list> > > --> Margie Atkinson> Project Manager> Fisheries Issues Group> Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority> PO Box 1379, Townsville, QLD 4810, Australia> Tel: (61) 07 4750 0735 Fax: (61) 07 4772 6093> Mob: 0438 387 303> > --> Margie Atkinson> Project Manager> Fisheries Issues Group> Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority> PO Box 1379, Townsville, QLD 4810, Australia> Tel: (61) 07 4750 0735 Fax: (61) 07 4772 6093> Mob: 0438 387 303> > Thomas J. Goreau, PhD> > President> > Global Coral Reef Alliance> > 37 Pleasant Street, Cambridge MA 02139> > 617-864-4226> > [7]goreau at bestweb.net> > [8]http://www.globalcoral.org> > --> Margie Atkinson> Project Manager> Fisheries Issues Group> Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority> PO Box 1379, Townsville, QLD 4810, Australia> Tel: (61) 07 4750 0735 Fax: (61) 07 4772 6093> Mob: 0438 387 303> > References> > 1. mailto:goreau at bestweb.net> 2. http://www.globalcoral.org/> 3. mailto:shashank at cc.kochi-u.ac.jp> 4. http://mail.yahoo.com/> 5. mailto:Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> 6. http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list> 7. mailto:goreau at bestweb.net> 8. http://www.globalcoral.org/> _______________________________________________> Coral-List mailing list> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
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