Aquaculture Farms Do Not Need To Be Large

When an aquarist or anyone for that matter start to think about an aquaculture farm they will probably think of huge establishments with exceptionally large volumes of water. From this ‘farm’ hundreds of corals and fish are grown and eventually sold.

I think that this perception is due to the word farm. When you think of a farm you think of acres upon acres of land upon which various animals are kept or various crops are grown.

But as said this is a perception.

In truth an aquaculture farm can be any size whatsoever. As mentioned the word farm is confusing however when growing corals, breeding fish etc you are effectively farming.

There are various huge aquaculture farms all over the world some of which are exceptionally huge and I commend the people who operate these farms as effectively they are providing the aquarium trade with corals which are not taken from the wild. These such farms come in all shapes and sizes. The majority are in-doors and are lit by artificial lighting however in the areas of the wild where the climate is warmer the corals receive natural lighting and the water has to be cooled rather than heated quite often by piping the water underground! There are also others where the corals are underwater in the wild.

For these people and for those that can afford then this is a great idea then is ok however for the majority of aquarists, including me then this is something that is only a dream.

For the home aquarists then there are various options available and they certainly do not have to be to the same scale as briefly described above. In this article I hope to cover a few of the options available to the home aquarist.

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Option 1

This option is where the aquacultured corals are placed in a separate aquarium to the display aquarium but it is connected via an overflow, pump etc. As the water quality in the display aquarium ’should’ be at an optimum level then the water in the ‘fragging’ aquarium will be at the same level. A good thing about this option is that the corals ‘fragged’ from the corals in the display aquarium will be grown out in exactly the same water. This option is very easy to accomplish as long as you have the space to locate another aquarium. This aquarium does not need to be large and only requires lighting to be added as well as water movement. You do need to watch out for a few things with this option though. You need to ensure that the protein skimmer in use has enough power to be able to skim the new, larger volume of water - the same goes for the heaters. Another thing to consider is that the fragged corals are going to attach and grow. This will present an extra pull on the relevant parameters in the water so these will need to be monitored carefully and the relevant actions taken. A good example of this is calcium

Option 2

This option is my preferred option however it is probably not an option which other than the dedicated ‘fraggers’ will decide to continue with. This option is where a dedicated setup is implemented and used for the sole purpose of aquaculture. This option can be as large or as small as required and could even be a small aquarium with a heater, powerhead and internal filter installed as well as lighting. This is exactly what John did when he had a lot of corals which were getting to large. He created a temporary small aquarium with an internal/powerhead in one, a small heater and some lighting. Once the corals grew out he gave them to other aquarists as well as our local retailer. Once the corals were all gone he simply shut the small aquarium down. On the other end of the scale is the larger aquarium or even aquariums. In this type of setup more filtration will be required as will lighting, heating etc. A lot of people decide to use shallower aquariums as this allows for the maximum amount of light into the aquarium and due to the shallow depth of the aquarium these aquariums can effectively be stacked on top of each other and connected together using pipework and pumps.

I have seen one of these in action and in this setup the very bottom aquarium was used as effectively the filtration area where a deep sand bed was installed as well as live rock. In this area the heaters were also installed and also a couple of pumps which fed the aquariums above with water which were returned down to the bottom aquarium via overflows. Various animals in this instance called this area home. The aquariums which were above this all held racks where corals could be placed and moved up throughout the growout process. To me this was a very good setup and allowed for a maximum amount of corals in what was quite a small amount of space.

There is one item in this option which does need to be decided upon and that decision does depend upon what is being kept in the system. The protein skimmer. It is of my opinion that if fish are being kept, bred etc then a protein skimmer should definately be utilised. The reason for this is that fish require to be fed and when things are fed food is missed and food is processed. All of this needs to be removed and a protein skimmer is the best device to perform this. If only corals are being grown then these have very little biological load and I don’t believe that a protein skimmer needs to be used. The water parameters can be maintained by water changes. If no protein skimmer is used then water parameters will need to be carefully monitored, additives applied in response to water tests and a protein skimmer installed if the need arises.

There is a downside to this option though. This is that the system will require it’s own individual care and maintenance. The water will required changing, parameters will require checking etc. If you only have the one system and it is the aquaculture farm then this will be ok however if you have both an aquaculture farm and a display aquarium then this could, over time, become a bit of a chore and when things become a chore things start to get missed.

Option 3

This option is where the display aquarium is used to house the corals. In this option a special device can be made out of acrylic, egg-crate or similar and attached to the side of the aquarium quite near to the surface. In/on this device the corals are placed and left to grow out. When grown out they are made available for other aquarists.

These device are very simple to create, the tricky part is attaching it to the side of the aquarium.

Option 4

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It does need to be noted that if fish are being bred then these should not really be done in the display aquarium. In this instance options 1 or 2 should be followed where an environment is created where the parent fish feel comfortable enough to breed. Once the fish hatch there will be limited or no predation and more fish should survive.

The final option is the easiest to create and basically the home display aquarium is used with no modifications whatsoever. In this instance once the corals are cut and attached they are either grown out directly in/on the substrate or placed on the rocks in the aquarium but not attached. Growing out on the substrate does depend upon the type of light used in the aquarium therefore if the aquarium is quite deep or lighting which is not strong enough for the type of corals being grown out then the secondary type should be used where corals are placed on the rockwork after they are attached to the coral plug.

This article does not cover how to frag corals as there are various methods and techniques which can be employed as well as various care tips to be followed once the corals are in growout. I will cover fragging corals in more detail at another time but I just want to point out at this point that corals when cut need to be attached to something for them to grow onto. If you are keeping the coral(s) for yourself then they can be attached directly to your rockwork, however if you want to grow them out and make them available for other then you need to attach them to something. These are normally called frag plugs and various methods can be employed. If you do decide to perform a spot of aquaculture then take these plugs into consideration as both the new owner of the coral will want to attach the coral into their aquarium using the plug and you will want something to stand them on whilst they grow out. As said though I will cover this in more detail in another article.

Aquaculture is important for numerous reasons of which finances, nature, enjoyment, interest are just a few of them. From the outset you do not need to plan any type of aquaculture system as the various options above can be added to numerous types of systems.

There are some people who decide to try and make abit of money out of doing this - and why not. The money they earn can be used to pay for the lighting, the maintenance, mother colonies etc. I am sure that you have probably seen websites on the internet where home grown corals are for sale. The people who operate these website are effectively running a business out of this side of the hobby, how much money they make I don’t know but even if they are making some money then in my opinion so what - good on them. They are selling corals, fish etc cheaper than larger sized corals, protecting the reefs perhaps even distributing these corals via their local dealer.

It also needs to be noted that aquaculture is not something that the beginner is recommended to consider until more knowledge is gleaned as well as more time and experience being gained. Whilst Aquarists Online is aimed towards beginners to the marine aquarium hobby I believe that it is also important to consider aquaculture for the future.

On another note if you are ever interested or have the opportunity to be able to purchase aquacultured corals then I highly recommend that you at least consider it. The reason for this is that a huge amount of different corals can be introduced to the aquarium for effectively the same price as a large mother colony. I can remember in one of my previous aquariums I decided to populate it from nearly all aquacultures corals. I did purchase a couple of larger corals just to have some corals in there with immediate impact however over the time I slowly added aquacultured corals and as these grew the amount of different corals in the aquarium was simply amazing. Even to this day I still regret closing this aquarium down to open a larger one as it really was a great aquarium.

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Tags: aquaculture, coral conservation, Coral Propagation, Coral Reef, home-aquarium, marine-aquarium

Propagation In The Aquarium

Reef aquariums are common in the hobby nowadays. With the increased knowledge of their environmental needs and the ability, with the assistance of technology, to maintain the reefs for long periods, the days of struggling with maintenance should be gone.

Some problems have arisen with the ability to maintain such excellent aquarium conditions and the import of coral rocks and specific live rock. One that springs to mind is aiptasia anemones, the weeds of the aquarium. In addition, with long term success coral growth could cause difficulties.

As corals grow they could possibly cause shadows over other occupants of the reef that also need light, or interfere with each other with ensuing damage. Though many aquarists dislike doing it, corals can quite easily be cut to form new ones, in much the same way that a gardener splits plants to obtain more. This is easier than many realize, though it is understandable that aquarists are nervous when they view the beautiful coral(s) in question. Cutting the corals is generally termed ‘fragging.’

For most aquarists there isn’t a need to have an additional aquarium specifically for growing on cut corals. Some keen aquarists have fairly large shallow aquariums set up complete with lighting etc for just this. The rest of us are able to do it in the display aquarium. The benefit of this is that the corals will continue to exist in the same seawater and under the same lighting, and there aren’t any additional costs involved.

All that is required for soft corals is a pair of sharp scissors and a spare removable rock - a rock that has plenty of holes and crevices that the cutting can be fastened to.

There is a lot of information about ‘fragging’ corals on the internet, so I’ll restrict this to a commonly kept leather coral, the toadstool, properly called Sarcophyton species. They are a good example as the success rates are high - there are plenty of other soft corals that are just as amenable to propagation.

The most straightforward way to double the coral (that is, one becomes two) is to cut the head off. (There are ways of creating multiple corals from one that will not be gone into here.) Sounds drastic! The cutting point should be selected so that at least two thirds of the stalk is left attached to the original point, leaving the rest to attach the remaining stalk with the head. The cut should be completed in one effort (though more shouldn’t destroy the coral) and be clean.

The freed head should be attached to the removable rock by the use of a wooden cocktail stick. This is pushed all the way through the lower stalk, again it sounds a bit drastic. The stick should be pushed home so that it holds tightly in a suitable hole or crevice in the rock. The rock is then carefully placed where it can be temporarily left undisturbed. That’s it! No jiggery-pokery at all.

After two weeks or so, sometimes more quickly, the aquarist will see new polyps starting to form on the stalk from which the head was removed. This will continue until the polyps are as they were when the head was present, and a new head will form over time. It really is Nature’s magic. The coral with the head will, over about the same period of time, put out its polyps once more and attach to the rock. Apart from the shorter stalk, which will grow, there will not be a noticeable difference.

Once the cut stalk is attached to the rock, the rock and coral can be bagged up and given away to an aquarist friend, or taken to the local dealer and exchanged for a credit note or some merchandise. Local dealers are usually willing to do this as it means trade and they are obtaining a saleable coral.

As said, it is not just Sarcophyton sp corals that can be propagated; there are many soft corals that will co-operate.

Hard corals (SPS) can be ‘fragged’ in a similar way. This time however, they are not cut but a branch is snapped off. The mother coral that is to be used must be healthy and vigorous; it is likely it will be as that’s why the aquarist wishes to reduce its size. Though the coral will need to be handled, handling should be as gentle as possible and minimized.

Instead of a pair of scissors the aquarist could use pliers to assist in breaking the branch off, though often the fingers are just as good. Select a good branch and snap it off near the base. Once snapped off, it could be placed in a hole or crevice in a removable rock as was the soft coral. There is a better way though which will allow the rock to be used over and over again. This is to use a short plastic tube cut from a longer length (reef safe plastic). The tube can be purchased with a useful diameter so that the cut coral sits in loosely but is held upright. Put the short length of plastic in a suitable hole or crevice in the rock, and place the coral in the tube. That’s it, job done.

After two weeks plus the coral should adhere by growth to the tube and growth should be evident at the tip. At a time suitable to the aquarist the tube with coral can be removed from the rock. It can then, as before, go to another aquarist or to a local dealer.

So with soft or hard corals, very little effort, plus zero additional expenditure, the aquarist can control any overgrowth of corals and at the same time increase the stock within the hobby. It doesn’t matter that it is only by one or two, the fact is it matters - and it’s easy.

Should there be a desire to read more here’s a link:

http://www.fragoutpost.com/frag-propagation

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Tags: Care, coral conservation, Coral Propagation, marine-aquarium, reef-aquarium

Coral Transplant

I love to just sit and look at my reef when I have the time. Its so peaceful and relaxing. I note the fish doing their thing, the corals swaying in the currents. My eyes automatically pick up any points of special note - it isn’t that I’m robotic its just that I know the aquarium intimately.

One of the things I note every time is the corals growth. They never stop. I’ve taken quite a few cuttings (‘frags’ if you like) when the corals have become oversize or have overshadowed something else. Some of these cuttings have gone to Peter who is growing them on. A few cuttings were quite a size.

One cutting was taken from the left end of the tank, as the coral branch was so large it was travelling along the top of the water and a little distance along the back length. This particular branch will have been around 12″ or so.

Having removed the branch I noticed a space that had previously been hidden. There wasn’t anything of note in it, but something needed putting there as it was fairly obvious, and the loss of the mentioned branch had meant a loss of height appeal.

For quite a while I considered various options, choosing a new coral species then changing my mind. However, my mind was made up for me.

Sitting gazing at the tank recently I noticed that a coral, a Kenyan tree (proper name Capnella sp) was not too far from the water surface and appeared top heavy and in danger of falling over because of it. I wondered if a cutting could be placed in the aforementioned gap, thus solving two problems in one go.

This was considered for a while - I like to be sure the impact on the reef would be aesthetically correct. Shape and colour need consideration. It seemed alright to me.

So out came the sharp scissors and, after the cutting point had been decided, off came a section, a fairly big one. The part that had been removed was pressed into a crevice where it appeared to be secure. The mother coral had of course gone into a serious sulk.

The next morning the cutting had moved probably because of the water currents. So out came a cocktail stick, the cutting was pierced, and the cocktail stick pushed firmly into a tiny hole in the rock. It has remained in place this time.

The mother coral has now ceased its 100% sulk, this has been reduced to 25%. The coral is partially inflated and it looks as though all will be well.

The cutting is in the same situation though of course not yet attached to the rock.

All things being equal the reef will be back to its full splendour in a few weeks.

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Tags: coral conservation, Coral Propagation, Coral Reef, coral-frag, marine-aquarium, reef-tank

Why Not Set Up Your Own Coral Propagation Unit

A lot of visitors to Aquarists Online may not yet be in a position to even consider what they would like to do in the future with relation to their aquarium. Aquarists Online is primarily aimed at beginners to this hobby (although we do get a lot of experienced aquarists visiting) however coral propagation and coral conservation is an area which I personally believe we all should be interested in.

There are lots of reasons as to why people consider starting a home marine aquarium. Mine was due to my fascination of marine life which stems back from my time as a child living around my father’s aquariums.

Anyway, coral propagation - there are lots of ways to become involved in this area when you feel ready to do so.

• When purchasing corals you could either purchase propagated corals from retailers or from other people in the hobby.
• Purchase aqua-cultured corals from your local retailer or online.
• Consider purchasing tank raised fish when stocking your aquarium.
• When the corals in your aquarium have grown and you feel comfortable doing so you can propagate your own corals and make them available for other aquarists.

All of these lessen to a small degree the impact on the natural coral reefs.

Purchasing propagated corals allows you to purchase more corals for your money. Although the size of the corals are smaller than if you purchased one from your local retailer as long as the correct parameters are maintained and the correct care and maintenance is performed then they will quickly grow. You will have more diversity in the aquarium and once they all get bigger you will be able propagate them yourself.

Of course you do not need to sell them (although some people do) - you could either give them away or exchange them for other propagated corals.

Propagated corals are also known to be hardier than wild corals.

Tank raised fish are another great option. There are many more species which can now be purchased. Again this lessens then impact on the natural reef and who knows in time you may have your own little fishies to care for!

The reason for writing this article is primarily based upon the last entry in the bulleted list.

Propagating your own corals

In this article I am not going to cover coral propagation techniques. In future articles I will be covering this for various types of corals. If there is demand for it then I may also go into more detail as to how to actually setup your own propagation unit.

There are many ways in which you can care for your propagated corals. A lot of people start off by doing this in their display aquarium. The propagated corals are either placed at the bottom of the aquarium or a shelf is made to elevate the corals nearer to the light source.

A nice, easy way to get started with coral propagation.

Other people choose to start an aquarium (or some other type of reef safe container) attached to the display aquarium. This can either be fed from an overflow from the display aquarium or from a pump/powerhead from the sump.

This type of setup has both its advantages and its disadvantages. The main advantage is that with the ‘frag tank’ being connected to the display aquarium you have just the one volume of water to care for. This disadvantage is that if anything happens to the water quality in the display aquarium then this will affect the propagation aquarium as well.

What most people normally do with this option is to purchase or make an aquarium which is shallow in depth. This allows for maximum penetration of light which does not have to be as powerful as it would be for an aquarium which is deep. What you are propagating will determine the water movement which is required.

Some people decide to place the aquarium directly on the aquarium bottom. Others, like me utilise shelves to elevate the corals in the aquarium dependant upon their lighting requirements, coral growth, age of propagation etc. I made my own out of egg-crate and whilst it is very simple in design it is very effective.

In my propagation aquarium I place soft corals etc on the bottom (I have no substrate at all). There are three shelves and I place newly propagated hard corals (SPS) on the bottom shelf. When the corals have attached onto the plug I then move them up onto the middle shelf. This then leaves me space to propagate more corals on to the bottom shelf. When the corals on the middle shelf have grown out enough I move them onto the top shelf for them to grow some more and colour up. When I am happy that they are ready I make them available for other aquarists.

I do not do that many corals - I only propagate them when the display aquarium requires ‘thinning out’ a bit.

Personally I find that this scenario works very well for, however there are numerous other setups which could be used.

The final method which is used is very similar to that of the propagation unit above however it is not attached to the display aquarium. It is self contained and has its own filtration. Corals, unlike fish produce very little bio load for the filtration to deal with therefore not as much filtration is required as in the display aquarium. Some live rock would suffice, a deep sand bed or even a canister filter.

The main thing to remember is that you have newly cut corals in this propagation unit and/or corals which you are trying to grow out. Grow out is a term which is used for when the corals have been cut and temporarily attached to a coral plug. The grow out is a term used for when the coral attaches itself down onto the plug and then starts to grow upwards and outwards dependant upon the coral.

For them to grow out you need to ensure that the propagation unit is full of water which is of optimum water quality. Corals which have been cut can get infected and this could be lethal to the coral. Although minimal bio load is being put onto the filtration you will need to ensure that all parameters are excellent.

This is the trouble with a separate coral propagation unit. If you have both a separate propagation unit and a display aquarium then you are effectively caring for both. You will need to do water changes in both systems, apply additives to both systems and ensure that the correct care and maintenance is applied to both systems.

Not hard to accomplish but you are doubling your efforts.

There are quite a few people who do not have a display aquarium and choose to have one or many coral propagation units. In this instance they could be setup as one big coral farm or as individual units.

A great website to check out in relation to coral propagation units is GARF (Geothermal Aquaculture Research Foundation). There slogan is ‘Save a reef by growing your own’. The website is an exceptionally informative website and they have a couple of sections which are suitable for this topic.

http://www.garf.org/news21p1.html#reef
http://www.garf.org/news30p2.html#unit

Another website is http://www.frags.org/ - This website has been designed for aquarists who would like to buy, sell or trade propagated corals. There is a huge amount of propagated corals available via this site.

There are many other places where this can be done. A lot of local fish shops will now take in propagated corals in exchange for store credit, a purchase or some will even buy them from you.

Personally I find it very pleasing to see how many aquarists are actually propagating corals now.

I can understand why a lot of people prefer to purchase mother colonies as they have an immediate impact when placed into the aquarium. As previously said though you do get more corals for your money if you purchase propagated corals. They do not have the immediate impact of a mother colony but you get the joy of watching them grow and colour up. Over time you will have many large colonies which you can either admire or propagate yourself and trade for more corals.

The more people that propagate corals - the less corals that will be removed from the natural reef.

Now that has got to make it worthwhile. In my opinion it does anyway.

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Tags: aquarium, Conservation, Coral Propagation, Coral Reef, frag-tank, saltwater-aquarium

Reef Gardening - Look At This!

We’ve talked on this website about helping the wild reefs by growing corals from cuttings (“fragging”).

Most of us including me do one or two as and when. But this amateur reef keeper has really taken it on board. Click below:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1215102

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Tags: aquacultured-corals, aquacultured-live-rock, aquarium-coral-propagation-reef, Coral Propagation, coral-frag

Coral Propagation - Why Don’t You Give It A Try

A lot of people especially those who are new to the aquarium hobby are a bit sceptical when it comes to coral propagation.

And I have to be truthful here - it really is not that hard.

The biggest aspect which you need to be sure of before committing to doing some coral propagation of you own is that the water parameters in your aquarium need to be excellent. [Read more]

Tags: aquacultured-corals, aquacultured-live-rock, aquarium-coral-propagation-reef, Coral Propagation, coral-frag

The Coral Propagation Aquarium

A lot has been said about wild [tag-tec]reef conservation[/tag-tec] because of the known concerns on the future of these areas. Marine aquarists will also be concerned as none would wish to see wild reefs reduce. Unfortunately, they appear to be doing just that. I’m not going to natter on about this, but am going to write about propagating corals - not how to cut corals on this occasion, but how to prepare a place to put the cuttings. It is not expensive, and no great skills are required. [Read more]

Tags: aquarium-coral-propagation-reef, Coral Propagation, coral-frag, frag-tank, propagating, propagation

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