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Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 5/12/2008 7:43:45 AM
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| Sweet Reefer, perhaps consider ozone to get rid of the yellow. It's not particularly toxic to plankton at hobby levels from what I've read (to my disappointment; I was looking for a sterilizer).
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Last Login: 6/8/2008 7:59:24 AM
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Yeah, thanks for the suggestion. I actually am not skimming either and I think thats where the ozone is incorporated, but I'm not sure. I'm trying to keep it low tech and low energy. I'll probably gravity feed a portion of the overflow through activated carbon periodically only to combat yellow and allelopathy. I decided not to worry so much about the allelopathy since nobody knows the particulars anyway and I'll just run the carbon and try to make informed decisions.
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Scleractinians can't be characterized as being necessarily related to each other as the group is too diverse. Some are, some aren't, some "get along" with some other closely related species, some don't. Inevitably, the only ones that truly "get along" are fragments from the same colony - isotypes - and even same species, different colonies, can have diverse reactions from highly competitive to tolerating each other and growing together, eventually forming a nearly imperceptible non-fusion line with their skeletons and tissue. Are stony corals allelopathic - yes, and to varying degrees from quite so to not very. Species compete in different ways. Same with soft corals. Some are highly alleopathic, some not so much (generally those with other defenses, like heavy spicule incorporation or fast overgrowing strategies). Having any garden-style tank is totally possible, but it's not just corals - it's algae, sponges, and virtually all benthic life. It's all risk assessment with some choices and combinations being either known or anecdotally observed to be inherently more risky than others.
Carbon can help, and I suspect other adsorbent media. They are known to absorb complex organics like secondary metabolites. The number, types and efficiency is unknown for most marine chemical species. Skimming would potentially work especially for polar molecules, but again is unknown. Ozone could oxidize these same molecules, but could also make them more toxic as well as less toxic or completely oxidizing them. Water changes will clearly dilute them.
Yellowing compounds (humic, fulvic acids, etc.), are easily removed by carbon or ozone. Both are safe in marine tanks and anything you have heard regarding possible negative effects seems to be, in practice, relatively nonexistent.
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OK I think I'm getting a better idea of allelopathy. It's not that some corals are harmless or compatible with others, they are all out to get each other, just to varying degrees. Thanks!
On a side note, I wonder if thusly there would be a benefit to keeping one individual's asexual offspring per system for aquaculture purposes or if that extreme would be detrimental as I read in an article which stated that some diversity of species is needed for optimum growth and balanced system.
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Having done that, as well, I will just post some comments regarding differing philosophies. Anthony Calfo suggests that, as farmers, it is best to raise one species in one tank for maximum productivity. I can relate to that. However, farmers who raise one crop in the same plot of land often don't get continuing good yields, and the examples of say shade grown coffee and Polyface farm in Virginia effectively puts the terrestrial analogy to rest (http://www.polyfacefarms.com/principles.aspx).
Now, corals aren't plants, but having grown monotypes, and in light of some recent unpublished work showing positive species interactions between some coral species, I also doubt that monoculture is the best way. Whenever I try to raise a coral species and only that species in a tank, they grow but they do not grow the way they do in my main reef tank. There are growth issues, pest issues (algae, or predators/parasites/pathogens). Similarly, I see many mixed frag tanks where the corals do fine but they were fragged from colonies in a main tank that are thriving. The point in these cases is that the conditions of the main tank are and have been optimized by the aquarist whereas the frag tank is usually an afterthought with not as ideal water flow, light, etc. as the main tank and this outweighs the benefits of the energetic costs of competition. That said, biodiversity lends stability and reduces disease. So, I think having diversity is important in frag tanks so long as the species are relatively well tolerated, combining both aspects of minimizing local competition and reducing risks and disadvantages of monoculture - and that culture tanks are set up with as much quality and care as their display for maximum productivity.
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I am familiar with the issues of monoculture in agriculture, and it's reassuring to find that there are parallels between terrestrial systems that I am familiar with and the underwater world which at first seems very alien to a beginner.
I'm blown away at being able to receive such detailed information online from the preeminent expert in the field whose book I am simultaneously digesting. I am very grateful that you are so active in assisting hobbyists with what I imagine are many questions that have been asked before. I'm sure I speak for everyone benefiting from this forum when I say thank you!
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