This week we debuted a pilot episode of a live session of Q and A with Reef Builders resident Microbiologist Salem Clemens. Salem is a mine of information about the inner workings of corals and how external stressors can affect them, and just like with fish, how stress can lead to disease.
He couldn’t say too much as it will be published in a peer-reviewed scientific paper in the future, but he dives deep down the Brown Jelly rabbit hole and in the live episode, offers advice on what might cause it, if dips and antibiotics are effective, and if there could be a cure on the horizon in the future.
Salem is also your guy for anything coral pathogen, bacteria and microbiome-related and offers his view on the use of UV sterilization in reef aquariums, the addition of live rock, and why he still uses Metal Halide lighting on some of his aquaria.
Reefers often swing from sterile aquaria to those rich in bacteria and biodiversity, Salem is definitely in the biodiversity camp, and an hour-long listen to his musings on all things bacterial is guaranteed to make even the most seasoned reef aquarists question their own methodology, and maybe make them do a few experimental changes in the future.
