new site

[johnnyriker]

Marine articles, pictures, and discussions at http://www.livecoralreef.com

[Mstefa1]

Really?

[johnnyriker]

Check out the site. We have about 20 articles on the frontpage and more info on the forums. New members are always welcome.

I didn't realize I still had this post. Should I pull it down?

[Timfish]

Sorry, but to be very blunt it took about a minute to be seriously unimpressed. I would suggest they at least look at Veron's research on corals. Just looking at the caresheet for Acropora species in the wild the various acropora species live in mutually exclussive habitats, it is true some are found only on reef crest exposed to strong wave and surf action but others are only found in lagoons (no turbulent water conditions there) and some are only found in deeper water (might or might not have strong laminar currents but not much turbulence there either).

 

I also find it incedulous that the care sheets reccomend specific types of lighting as if there's a difference. Einstien's rolling over in his grave! Photons are photons, the technology producing it is irrelevent. A photon from nuclear fision is the same as a photon from a MH bulb or a candle. Coral species/variants do have different requirements as far as spectrum and intensity to stimulate the production of the various flourescing and chromo pigments but any set of conditions can be met with any of the technologies we have available, wether it be MH, fluorescing, plasma or LED (LED being easier to configure).

 

(To be blunt!)

[Steve973]

I think you're being a tad over-critical. Most people associate certain types of lighting with different levels of brightness. I think that's just what the site is going for. Generic fluorescent lighting generally provides lower lighting conditions, for example, where metal halide and many LED fixtures are associated with high levels of light. I don't get the impression that the author(s) of that site are implying that the lighting types provide some different kind/form of light. Next, are you aware of any acroporid that thrives better under less flow?

 

If you enjoy being over-critical, then you don't "find it incredulous". Rather, you are (or feel) incredulous about the claims.

[Timfish]

Dang! I just had to look at the care sheet for tangs! First off why do they disagree with Dr. Scott Micheals "Of course juviniles and adolescents can be housed in smaller tanks" (Marine Fishes pg 17). It also strikes me as very poorly informed or ignorant to list the Sailfin as a replacement for the yellow when either sailfin species reaches almost 16" just shy of twice the size. As far as giving a general size of 8" for tangs many of the other species including the Powder Blue get larger than that and a few will never get that large.

[johnnyriker]

Thank you for everyone's reply.

The care sheets are not biblical nor are they cut in stone. They have been generalized for most varieties(80%) of the specified corals and are not marshall law. If I was to be overly vague in the care sheets that would bring a whole new set of issues. I find that I can tell if something is in the right conditions is by looking at it. Otherwise it's very difficult to substantiate what a new coral needs in someone's tank. Telling someone that it may need low light to high light for Acropora would probably make someone scratch their heads "why?" They need a start point to have some idea of what care the coral needs. That's that the care sheets are for. They do not target specific varieties as there are about 150 or more different Acropora. If I had the resources to do this many articles I would do it in a heartbeat but don't.

As for the Sailfin please read this from fishchannel:

http://www.fishchannel.com/media/saltwater-aquariums/species-info/tang/tangs-just-add-water.aspx.pdf

"These are commonly imported and have precisely the same care requirements as the yellow tang and can substitute for it in any aquarium situation."

I think they should have appended "unless you have a tank under 100 gallons I can see where my writer got the info from though. I think there speaking in 150+ land. I'll rewrite it to make it more accurate. Thanks for the find.

johnny