how do you learn to id corals?

[flounder]

I'm no pro, but i can name most common corals by their common names. But other than milli, digi, and a few others i cant tell you its a tenuis vs any other scientific name. How do i get better at it?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Practice. And Books.

 

[Bunnee911]

Is there a chart of what can go next to what?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Look for compatibility charts. And chemical warfare.

Heres a nice list from ford4life. with types flow light and aggression.

http://successfulreefkeeping.com/learn/about-corals/what-your-coral-needs/

 

[reefwiser]

Always best to start with the Master. Charlie Veron's Corals of the world.
http://coral.aims.gov.au/

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Always best to start with the Master. Charlie Veron's Corals of the world.
http://coral.aims.gov.au/

Whew, I was hoping a real expert would chime in!
Thanks, great resource.

 

[reefwiser]

Charlie is the master. I have been lucky to meet Charlie at MACNA's. I have the "BOOK" signed be him years ago. I always go the the scientific name not the "collector" or Funny name of the minute for a coral because you will not find the info you need to keep the coral

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Charlie is the master. I have been lucky to meet Charlie at MACNA's. I have the "BOOK" signed be him years ago. I always go the the scientific name not the "collector" or Funny name of the minute for a coral because you will not find the info you need to keep the coral

On of my friends LFS 15 min from here is a national seller(no names), and keeps inventing names. Kinda irksome.
A question popped up a few weeks ago here with care questions based on the name, no pic, it went unanswered.
For the OP once you learn species & taxonomy etc youll be quickly ID the what and where of the coral.

@reefwiser I have pledged to get more books.

 

[reefwiser]

Example of a search:
http://coral.aims.gov.au/factsheet.jsp?speciesCode=0047

 

[scardall]

one part of it is the physical characteristics of each type.

 

[flounder]

Thanks everyone so far.

I would someday like to have a TOTM or something similar, and they usaully have some listing of all the species of corals that they have. More often than not in the scientific names too. I think it would be a skill to look at a coral (acro) and say "that is a parilis not a papillare" or look at an acro and correctly say that its a acropora valida. Or austera or hoekemai.
Right now I just call them how I see them.....blue.....green.....bluish green

 

[reefwiser]

It takes studying Charlie's book and now the website. Take one page and then spend a month looking for the coral in all the SPS post's in the forum.

 

[scardall]

Their is link in the SPS Coral Forum with an ID Data Base

 

[stevo01]

I currently have in the works a taxonomic chart that I've created using "numbers" on my iPad. It's pretty much the same as excel. Now I'm NO taxonomist, but I've been spending countless hours researching and compliling information from several sources. This is a user friendly grid chart. It will be a training tool, for everything from subclass down to species.

 

[kschweer]

Always best to start with the Master. Charlie Veron's Corals of the world.
http://coral.aims.gov.au/

Excellent resource!! I only wish it was more cellphone friendly.

 

[reefwiser]

Another good resource is Meerwasser Lexikon while it is in German. Using Google Chrome you can auto translate the page. It has hobbyist info on corals.

 

[stevo01]

One of the resources Im using to build the taxonomic chart is WoRMS "world registry of marine species". There are no pictures, so you need to know what your looking for. The web address is www.marinespecies.org

 

[stevo01]

Example of a search:
http://coral.aims.gov.au/factsheet.jsp?speciesCode=0047

I'll add this source to the chart as well. It's another source I can use to cross reference information.