Patch Reefs

[dshnarw]

A few patch reef pics I particularly like:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm especially fond of the little stacks and mounds of coral surrounded by sand.

[megan]

Very cool. I've almost forgotten what the real thing looks like! But I haven't been diving since I've become obsessed with corals. I can't wait to go again and look for stuff I recognize.

[dshnarw]

Very cool. I've almost forgotten what the real thing looks like! But I haven't been diving since I've become obsessed with corals. I can't wait to go again and look for stuff I recognize.

 

 

 

I'm obsessed with trying to recreate reality as much as possible, makes the hobby more challenging and interesting I think.

 

So hopefully, someone will find some inspiration from them (and there'll definitely be a "dshnarw PATCH REEF" tank one day...)

[Militant Jurist]

I think that if I do a larger tank, this patch biotope might be the theme! How does this type of biotope work as far as keeping up with the lbs/gal of LR rule of thumb (yes, yes, I know, rule of thumb)?

 

I'd imagine this would also help keep GSP in check and from harming other corals...

[spanko]

Interesting that the maze brains seem to be a common inhabitant of the patch reef.

[dshnarw]

I think that if I do a larger tank, this patch biotope might be the theme! How does this type of biotope work as far as keeping up with the lbs/gal of LR rule of thumb (yes, yes, I know, rule of thumb)?

 

I'd imagine this would also help keep GSP in check and from harming other corals...

 

I've never used the lbs/gal idea for live rock. I just add rock until I'm happy with it (which basically means a little more towards the sparse end than I'd like it to be to save room for corals), then if I decide it needs more rock, I toss it in the sump. (My 30g tank has maybe 20lbs of live rock in the display and 25 lbs in the sump). Other than that, I'd say with a well-dimensioned tank, it shouldn't be any different than any other tank. You could get away with less rock with less fish, etc.

 

Interesting that the maze brains seem to be a common inhabitant of the patch reef.

 

I'm not sure if that's "sampling error" or not (either on my choosing pics, or others taking pics), but they're definitely big contributors.

[cody6766]

I actually just got back from a cruise and we did some snorkeling down at Grand Cayman. There are a lot of little reefs like this and brain coral was the most prominent thing there. Sea fans were also really common as well as what appeared to be some kind of finger leather.

 

I was actually getting the itch to do something similar in my reef because of the trip. Great pics, btw!

[Nick's Reef]

Those pics you got are pretty much what you see down in the keys, i go there almost every year and they're just gourgeous! only thing that could make one better is if there are a few lobsters and hog snapper hanging out, give me a net, tickle stick, and a spear gun and I'm happy as can be. God, just thinking about lobster is making me hungry. I think I'm going to get one of the tails from last year out of the freezer and cook it up!

[lakshwadeep]

Nice pics! If I could make a 1000+ gallon reef, I would set it up as a patch reef with separated coral bommies that would each have a few large "life sized" branching SPS and some plating corals at the bases (much like the last image). It would be really cool to see schooling fish like anthias swiming among the branches. This would be my inspiration: Richard Harker's 2000 gallons of reef

[Withers]

Hey thats exactly what I had in mind when I modeled my tank Its just taking forever to fill in with corals.

[dshnarw]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COLDWATER PATCH REEF:

[dtfleming]

Nice pics, I like the gorg patch reef

[crrichey]

 

I am actually working on a nano version of this picture.

[PBUEHH]

i love patch reefs!

 

hard to do in my tank though, just three medium-ish pieces of rock...

 

I'm definitely going to be doing that in my 55g though.

[varanus37]

I bet the urchins in that coldwater shot are bigger than my head. Wicked. The bommies surrounded by sand is such a kewl idea for a tank. Maybe a poly stock tank? The long oval type? It'd be look-down but you could get that coral pile surrounded by sand effect perfectly. It'd be like looking over the side of the boat or snorkeling above the bommies. Great pics.

 

Bill

[dshnarw]

I bet the urchins in that coldwater shot are bigger than my head. Wicked. The bommies surrounded by sand is such a kewl idea for a tank. Maybe a poly stock tank? The long oval type? It'd be look-down but you could get that coral pile surrounded by sand effect perfectly. It'd be like looking over the side of the boat or snorkeling above the bommies. Great pics.

 

Bill

 

My idea/plan is to do a REAL cube tank...say 2.5x2.5x2.5. Put the reefscape exact center. It'd have to be fairly minimal - maybe a 1.5x1.5x1.5 mound of rock, and start adding corals around it. With no rock, the display would be over 100 gallons, so a decent number of small fish...trio of cardinals, pair of shrimp gobies, a pair of dwarf angels, harem of small wrasse...would be fine, especially with a fuge. That way, you've got the whole thing covered with fish activity from the sand to the top of the tank.

 

Then stick the whole thing in the center of a room somewhere, viewable on all sides. With a good flow plan, you could probably make it top down viewing as well.

[TheCuban1040]

Anybody have any pics (or find any) of wild LPS reefs? I have searched and haven't been able to find much at all. You always see these drab maize brains, but never any open brains or blastos or other soft fleshy corals in these pics. Maybe it's because LPS come from murkier water that isn't popular for underwater photography? I don't know, just curious what that stuff would look like in the wild.

[dshnarw]

Anybody have any pics (or find any) of wild LPS reefs? I have searched and haven't been able to find much at all. You always see these drab maize brains, but never any open brains or blastos or other soft fleshy corals in these pics. Maybe it's because LPS come from murkier water that isn't popular for underwater photography? I don't know, just curious what that stuff would look like in the wild.

 

I have a couple of dive magazines with some nice LPS reef photos. I'll see what I can find when I get home.

 

I don't think it's the water conditions though. I'd guess that LPS tends to just seem kinda...blah...in most wide angle photos unless the subject is one of those enormous brain corals. SPS has that nice branching look, soft corals and gorgonians flow. Brain corals and zoanthids, etc, just sit there.

[arwndsh]

Edit: dshnarw talking...forgot to switch out of Amber's login...oops!

 

The one I was thinking of is in Scuba Diver: Australasia issue 1, 2008.

 

The article is about Palau's inner lagoons, where they're better protected from waves. Maybe give that a search and see if you can find more.

 

This is the image from the mag, taken by Ethan Daniels:

[TheCuban1040]

It's so cool to see the real growth potential of coral. I don't know about everyone else, but I sorta lose the scale of it all in my little tank. "Big" colonies in our tanks are not even noticeable on the real reefs.

[dshnarw]

More inspiration...

 

Coral bommies got me going this time...I like the bommie type of patch reef best I think:

 

 

I LOVE THIS SHOT...I wish I could reproduce THAT in my tank:

[AdriftQuasar]

I really think I might convert my tank into a patch reef biotope. I like the biotope way of thinking a lot more than anything else. Housing animals that would live together in nature just makes more sense than just tossing in different species and hoping for the best.

 

Would anyone happen to know where to find information on the inhabitants of patch reefs?

 

edit: Google is my friend!

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/SouthFlorida.../patchreef.html

http://www.fishchannel.com/saltwater-aquar...coral-reef.aspx

[dshnarw]

This article is a bit old, but there's tons of info to be found in it:

 

Similarity and Diversity Among Coral Reef Fish Communities: A Comparison between Tropical Western Atlantic (Virgin Islands) and Tropical Central Pacific (Marshall Islands) Patch Reefs

William B. Gladfelter, John C. Ogden and Elizabeth H. Gladfelter

Ecology, Vol. 61, No. 5 (Oct., 1980), pp. 1156-1168

 

(google scholar search it, and you should be able to get it for free)

[fish_chips]

WOW. imagine one of those in your tank... how big does a tank have to be to house one of those?

[East1]

WOW. imagine one of those in your tank... how big does a tank have to be to house one of those?

ooohhhh this is what you ment when you said you've seen some of them pics are familiar

lol, i found them on google, only found this thread today