dshnarw Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 A few patch reef pics I particularly like: I'm especially fond of the little stacks and mounds of coral surrounded by sand. Link to comment
megan Posted March 15, 2008 Share Posted March 15, 2008 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. Link to comment
dshnarw Posted March 15, 2008 Author Share Posted March 15, 2008 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...) Link to comment
Militant Jurist Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 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... Link to comment
spanko Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Interesting that the maze brains seem to be a common inhabitant of the patch reef. Link to comment
dshnarw Posted March 18, 2008 Author Share Posted March 18, 2008 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. Link to comment
cody6766 Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 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! Link to comment
Nick's Reef Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 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! Link to comment
lakshwadeep Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 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 Link to comment
Withers Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Hey thats exactly what I had in mind when I modeled my tank Its just taking forever to fill in with corals. Link to comment
dtfleming Posted May 15, 2008 Share Posted May 15, 2008 Nice pics, I like the gorg patch reef Link to comment
crrichey Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 I am actually working on a nano version of this picture. Link to comment
PBUEHH Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 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. Link to comment
varanus37 Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 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 Link to comment
dshnarw Posted July 8, 2008 Author Share Posted July 8, 2008 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. Link to comment
TheCuban1040 Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 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. Link to comment
dshnarw Posted July 8, 2008 Author Share Posted July 8, 2008 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. Link to comment
arwndsh Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 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: Link to comment
TheCuban1040 Posted July 9, 2008 Share Posted July 9, 2008 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. Link to comment
dshnarw Posted August 7, 2008 Author Share Posted August 7, 2008 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: Link to comment
AdriftQuasar Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 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 Link to comment
dshnarw Posted August 12, 2008 Author Share Posted August 12, 2008 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) Link to comment
fish_chips Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 WOW. imagine one of those in your tank... how big does a tank have to be to house one of those? Link to comment
East1 Posted December 10, 2008 Share Posted December 10, 2008 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 Link to comment
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