As our understanding of corals and coral reefs has increased over the past few decades it has become increasingly clear that a coral reef and even each individual coral is far more diverse than we ever would have expected. Having…
Education
Why Coral Collectors Trim Corals and Why You Should Trim Them Too.
Have you wondered why some corals look the way they do when you buy them at your aquarium store? Some with a flat base cut, some with grinding marks on them, and other man-made alterations. You might have seen this…
Gracilaria vs Vibrio: The Antimicrobial Properties of Red Macroalgae
Bacteria of the family Vibrionaceae are some of the most universally present microbes in aquatic environments. Even well-established reef aquariums, exhibiting no apparent problems, likely contain a number of Vibrio bacteria species. This is because many species and strains of…
Reef 2.0 – The Integration of Omics Technology
In this article, I will explain how new scientific methods are beginning to make their way into reefing and what the future may hold for applying such technology. Overview of the “omics” approach In the past two decades, science has…
The Promise of A Vaccine for Marine Ich, Cryptocaryon irritans
Marine Ich is one of the most prolific parasites in both the Reef Aquarium Hobby and Commercial Aquaculture. Cryptocaryon irritans is an obligate parasitic ciliate that can infect most marine fish taxa. Marine ich has a complex life cycle, which…
Dysbiosis and the Pathobiome – A Molecular Pathway for Coral Disease
In previous articles, we briefly explored the idea of the coral holobiont and what a healthy microbiome looks like. In this article, I will provide a brief overview of the microbiome of a diseased coral and the steps that cause…
What is Coral Polycropping?
In this new series, I will discuss strategies you can use with current technology to help mitigate the risk of coral disease in your reef tank. In this first installment, I will cover the benefits of polycropping. Polycropping vs Monocropping…
The Importance of Coral Nutrition
As we have noted in previous articles most aspects of the hobby have some controversy associated with them. Needless to say, coral nutrition is one of them. For many years the general consensus was that all corals needed to thrive…
Interview with a Seaweed Aquaculturist
Taras V Pleskun interviews Philip John Foronda of the Philippines Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, and finds out why seaweed aquaculture is such an important industry. Please Introduce yourself and how you first got into the aquaculture industry. Hi!…
The Jekyll & Hyde Chemistry of Phaeobacter gallaeciensis Bacteria
During the Fall of 2016, I was an undergraduate studying aquaculture at the University of Rhode Island. Like other aquaculture students, I was given an opportunity to work in one of the department labs as an assistant. It so happened,…