What does a reef really look like?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

Messages
67
Reaction score
7
Location
Venice, FL
Kind of an odd question but I am kind of an odd member here. I dont dive!
Heres the deal and I hope this is the right spot to post this question ( I looked around ).
I have a 125 gallon salt water aquarium. I am remodeling it and want some opinoins from those of you who actually look at these structures in nature. I just added about 150 pounds of rock with the intention of creating a barrier reef type look. Of course, corals and fish will be added later. I have some sponges (or is the plural just sponge :confused:) and coraline algae now.

So how about a critique? Opinoins and suggestion appreciated. This is just a preliminary arrangement.

100_0816.jpg100_0817.jpg100_0818.jpg100_0819.jpg
 
IMG_1229.jpgIMG_1004.jpgIMG_0975.jpgIMG_0990.jpgIMG_1012.jpg
Kind of an odd question but I am kind of an odd member here. I dont dive!
Heres the deal and I hope this is the right spot to post this question ( I looked around ).
I have a 125 gallon salt water aquarium. I am remodeling it and want some opinoins from those of you who actually look at these structures in nature. I just added about 150 pounds of rock with the intention of creating a barrier reef type look. Of course, corals and fish will be added later. I have some sponges (or is the plural just sponge :confused:) and coraline algae now.

So how about a critique? Opinoins and suggestion appreciated. This is just a preliminary arrangement.

View attachment 115372View attachment 115373View attachment 115374View attachment 115375
no aquarium will match the real thing, but you seem to be on the right path. One thing that might make it hard to get a lot of response here is that, to most divers, taking anything from a coral reef is a big, big no-no. I doubt that many here have a high opinion of the salt water fish aquarium industry because that industry (i am an american retiree living in the philippines...the source of many salt water fish) has contributed to the decimation of many coral reefs here.
Lastly a coral reef is very, very sensitive to pollution..and a 125 gal tank is big so you are on the right path...so be careful what you add, especially fish. a death and the attendant pollution could bring a kill off
 
Last edited:
I've been scuba diving tropical reefs for more than four decades. I'm also a marine aquarist. I've maintained reef aquaria for many years. Since I retired I've cut back to one 90 gal reef and a 220 fish and inverts mixed. My reef aquarium is lighted with a bank of t5s, and everything is pretty much state of the art. I collect my own specimens, especially fishes, in the US and in the Caribbean. I mention all this to indicate that I am very familiar with both aquarium keeping and diving the reefs.

It is very difficult to come up with something that looks like the reef in an aquarium. First of all there is infinite variety on the reefs, and they differ greatly acording to where they are, how deep they are, the type of adjacent land (coral rock or volcanic origin), and dozens of other factors. There is no such thing as a typical reef. Reefs are massive structures. If real authenticity is the goal, you would have to decide on what small reef section you were trying to replicate, and even then the best you could do would be a limited suggestion of reality, a thin reflection.

Your aquarium is very attractive, but it is clearly an aquarium. That is unavoidable. I've never seen a reef aquarium that is not immediately identifiable as an aquarium. The intense, thick, incredibly vibrant and dense variety of life found on reef sections, even just a small section of a wall, can't be replicated artificially because every small reef area is connected with all the surrounding sea and reef. In just one square foot you may find hundreds of species of tiny life forms. They are supported by the incomprehensibly vast ocean that passes over them, by the ecosystem that they are part of, by the endless variety of nutrition and chemical elements available to them that are needed to keep everything alive. Reefs are a wonder to behold, and the closer you look the more you will see, and the greater the realization that this cannot be duplicated, even in a huge public aquarium.

That said, it is still possible to bring a hint of the reef into an aquarium. It's not really possible to transplant a piece of the reef into an aquarium, but you can maintain and enjoy a few things emblematic of the reef. I think you have done that. I believe the best thing to do is to find arrangements that are sustainable and supportive of the living creatures you are keeping, and to attempt to find an aesthetic design that you find personaly pleasing.

The living reef is so wildly rich and varied and totally connected to the driving engines of sunlight and sea that they can exist only in the infinite oceans. Dead coral skeletons do not reflect the reality of a reef. They are not found that way in nature. Sections of coral that die are quickly colonized by living creatures. It's also unethical to participate in any activity that contributes to the decline of our terribly threatened and disappearing coral reefs. Enjoy your aquaria for what they are, arrange them for the benefit of the living creatures in them, and never forget the debt we owe to their magical source.
 
For the record...:D

All of my rock is quarried rock that has been seeded although I have a few pieces I have purchased that I do not know for sure. I also buy tank raised fish almost exclusively. The sponges you see were actually collected off the beach near my house after a big storm. I was told they would never survive but so far they are doing quite well. I like to call them rescues :wink:

There have been many changes to the laws where much of the rock and livestock in the hobby was collected and completely agree with these policies. I am really more into little critters than reef fish. I plan on adding some tank raised clowns, a tank raised Mandarin Goby, some intersting shrimp and crabs etc. All the corals will tank grown.

Im not perfect but I do try to respect the environment.


Ooops....forgot the corals. Those came from someone elses tank that was being taken down and dontaed. Like I said, I'm not perfect but I try and do the right thing and still enjoy the hobby. I hope they are colonized with new life as well.

Thanks for your input.
 
I apologize if you felt I was being critical of you. I was not. My comments were intended to be general, except for the appreciation I expressed for your excellent aquarium. Before you get a Mandarin make sure you have a thick population of self-sustaining copepods in a long established aquarium. If they don't find sufficient food growing naturally in the aquarium Mandarins slowly starve. Sponges are tougher than most aquarists realize. I have a colony that has been gradually growing for the past 12 years. As you have probably discovered, there is a lot of misinformation in the hobby, and masses of self-appointed experts, many of whom have something to sell. You are fortunate to live where you do. In Florida all you need is a SW fishing license and thorough understanding of the regulations and you can collect some very nice things. In fact, you can seed your aquarium with easily collected sections of plant growth.
 
Not offended at all. Its a hobby like your sport where there is a fine line between enjoyment and actually doing harm so...I get it.

I have THICK copepods now. With no fish, they are breeding fast. The tank raised Mandarins are much easier to keep. I have a local store that tank raises them and they eat flake and pellet food. I was just over there yesterday and watched them feed. Its one of the bog advantages to tank raised fish. I have seen too many wild mandarins starve in captivity.
 
Nice looking aquarium. I might have to do something like that to remind me of reefs when not diving :)
 
You have a beautiful tank, I wish you luck with it. I have often thought about how I would build a reef if I were to go into saltwater. Cave...lots of caves. All the really cool reef tanks I have seen have a arrangement of places for fish and critters to hide.
 
I also appologize if you took what i said as criticism; it was not intended to be that. My comment was really intended to prepare you for what probably might be a small number of replies...though the ones here are good and i hope you see them as instructive. Scuba divers tend to love the sport and, normally, if someone asks a question here, it would take some time to read the avalance of answers. I suspected that some divers here would not answer a salt water aquarium buff because many divers see the aquarium industry in a very negative light. The answers i see here are good though.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

Back
Top Bottom