Check out these Florida Hard Corals!

[VR28man]

judging by the photos both species look unhappy.

I apologize there’s no way to say this without sounding confrontational, but why do you think that?




OP, Great tank. Many people really would like to keep those corals, but can’t. Wish you all the best luck with them

 

[Brandon McHenry]

I apologize there’s no way to say this without sounding confrontational, but why do you think that?




OP, Great tank. Many people really would like to keep those corals, but can’t. Wish you all the best luck with them

Thanks! I’m really lucky to be able to keep these specimen as part of a research institute and I love being able to share them with people. I hope everybody enjoys them as much as I do!

 

[Graffiti Spot]

Wow, the Oculina diffusa is an amazing piece!!!! Love the huge polyps! Thanks so much for sharing, I am jealous of your job there and want to move down there so bad.
I don’t think anyone’s pushing an agenda here guys, just trying to get the point across about how rare and amazing these corals are and what’s the best way to care for them, long term. I really hope the palmata starts growing out for you. That’s one piece I would certainly just love to have. Please update for us so we can see how these leds grow these coral and what the formations look like.

 

[29bonsaireef]

I apologize there’s no way to say this without sounding confrontational, but why do you think that?




OP, Great tank. Many people really would like to keep those corals, but can’t. Wish you all the best luck with them

I have spent many years closely observing both species, in and out of captivity.

I don't want to turn this thread into a debate, though. As I said, I appreciate what they're doing and think it's super cool. Was just giving the OP some advice on how he could better care for these species.

 

[jda]

A. Cervicornis is in the Pacific as well, mostly around the GBR. It is quite common in the hobby.

 

[Brandon McHenry]

Wow, the Oculina diffusa is an amazing piece!!!! Love the huge polyps! Thanks so much for sharing, I am jealous of your job there and want to move down there so bad.
I don’t think anyone’s pushing an agenda here guys, just trying to get the point across about how rare and amazing these corals are and what’s the best way to care for them, long term. I really hope the palmata starts growing out for you. That’s one piece I would certainly just love to have. Please update for us so we can see how these leds grow these coral and what the formations look like.

Yes the oculina is one of the most interesting pieces we have and it’s probably one of my favorites despite its small size lol. I’m very lucky to have both done my masters and now work at HBOI. The research being done here is really pretty amazing. And I will definitely plan to keep everybody posted with the progress!

 

[VR28man]

Thanks for the answers!

A. Cervicornis is in the Pacific as well, mostly around the GBR. It is quite common in the hobby.

Corals of the World says otherwise.

http://www.coralsoftheworld.org/spe..._factsheet_distribution/acropora-cervicornis/
identified
However:

Similar Species: Acropora muricata of the Indo-Pacific has the same growth-form but corallites have thicker walls and more rounded lips to radial corallite.

it’s amazing how close muricata looks to cervicornis. I’d imagine not only that they were once ID’d as the same species, but that before formation of Panama they were all the same species. ESpecially since muricata grows from like Pitcairn island to the Sinai.

 

[Brandon McHenry]

Just trying some different camera settings ;Snaphappy

 

[Brandon McHenry]

Working on getting true to life colors with the camera.

Porites asteroides

Montastrea cavernosa

Enjoy!

 

[PatW]

I scuba dive and the Caribbean has some wonderful hard corals. And the gorgonians are really good. The hard corals are all protected. It would be nice to be able to have them in aquaculture. But the way people poach, that might put the wild populations at risk.

 

[Brandon McHenry]

I scuba dive and the Caribbean has some wonderful hard corals. And the gorgonians are really good. The hard corals are all protected. It would be nice to be able to have them in aquaculture. But the way people poach, that might put the wild populations at risk.

I agree, the Caribbean tends to have an underrepresented beauty to it. That is one of the reasons we put this display together, not only to highlight the research we do on these amazing corals but also spark interest in people. We have found that one of the best ways for people to understand the importance of something is by showing it to them. I will also say that there is some aquaculture of Caribbean hard corals being done for restoration throughout Florida which is an important first step in recovery. Im glad you enjoyed this post!

 

[Brandon McHenry]

Close-up of our Acropora palmata mini-colony. Such a cool piece! ;Wideyed

 

[Softhammer]

As a Florida local and very experienced diver with a boat in the gulf, I must say the corals looks fantastic. The land locked aquarium peanut gallery can save it. ALSO, even if these weren’t captive raised, it’s very easily to safely collect corals. Millions of frags are naturally produced by storms, fish, urchins, dolphins, boat anchors, etc. Collect them or let them get buried in the sand and silt to die. The reefs are littered with half dead corals. Amazing what the self proclaimed experts feel the need to comment on...

 

[Steve H]

Very cool project, I love Caribbean corals and wish they were displayed at more public aquariums. To me, the elkhorn looks light starved though it could just be getting established. I typically give them 700 umol/m2/s of MH. I see no issue with MH vs LED, I would just slowly increase and watch their reaction to avoid issues. People used to say that you had to use 65k lamps for them... I use 14 and 20k. ACerv is not found in the pacific. It generally is found deeper than APalm which I have only seen in 10 feet or shallower (Acerv is frequently in about 30 feet of water). I give Acerv about 300 umol/m2/s but they can handle brighter (500ish) for shorter periods of the day. The Acerv. Should start having stronger growth tips, better polyp extension. If not I would increase feeds and increase light for a few hours each day. Some of the other corals in there might react poorly to the increased lighting so placement is critical and can be challenging with corals from such different niches. Good luck! It is always fun to take your experience working with pacific species and apply it to protected Caribbean species that not many people have the privilege to work on.

 

[Brandon McHenry]

Very cool project, I love Caribbean corals and wish they were displayed at more public aquariums. To me, the elkhorn looks light starved though it could just be getting established. I typically give them 700 umol/m2/s of MH. I see no issue with MH vs LED, I would just slowly increase and watch their reaction to avoid issues. People used to say that you had to use 65k lamps for them... I use 14 and 20k. ACerv is not found in the pacific. It generally is found deeper than APalm which I have only seen in 10 feet or shallower (Acerv is frequently in about 30 feet of water). I give Acerv about 300 umol/m2/s but they can handle brighter (500ish) for shorter periods of the day. The Acerv. Should start having stronger growth tips, better polyp extension. If not I would increase feeds and increase light for a few hours each day. Some of the other corals in there might react poorly to the increased lighting so placement is critical and can be challenging with corals from such different niches. Good luck! It is always fun to take your experience working with pacific species and apply it to protected Caribbean species that not many people have the privilege to work on.

Glad you enjoy what we are doing! I am very lucky to be able to keep such cool coral in captivity!

 

[Brandon McHenry]

Just a quick photo dump from some pics I took this week ;Snaphappy. Enjoy!

Our stag garden

Some stag closeups

Porites polyp extension

And the obligatory oculina shot

 

[DuckSlayer627]

I just returned from diving and snorkeling the Cayman Islands(Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac). It's pretty amazing how different the depths of these 2 Acroporas are found. A. Palmata was never found more than about 15-20 feet deep. On Cayman Brac while snorkeling I found most colonies of A. Palmata in 2-3 feet of water getting blasted by sunshine with the tops of some colonies only a few inches underwater. On the other hand A. Cervicornis was always 40-60ft. down. I have also seen large colonies of A. Cervicornis in Aruba and St. Martin, and they were always at around the 40-50 ft. mark. It will be interesting to see if the A. Palmata will be able to stretch out and grow it's huge thick branches under LED lighting. It seems more practical the A. Cervicornis will have an easier time with the LED's. With all that said, good luck and I'm very interested in the growth of these Acro's in captivity.

 

[Brandon McHenry]

I just returned from diving and snorkeling the Cayman Islands(Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac). It's pretty amazing how different the depths of these 2 Acroporas are found. A. Palmata was never found more than about 15-20 feet deep. On Cayman Brac while snorkeling I found most colonies of A. Palmata in 2-3 feet of water getting blasted by sunshine with the tops of some colonies only a few inches underwater. On the other hand A. Cervicornis was always 40-60ft. down. I have also seen large colonies of A. Cervicornis in Aruba and St. Martin, and they were always at around the 40-50 ft. mark. It will be interesting to see if the A. Palmata will be able to stretch out and grow it's huge thick branches under LED lighting. It seems more practical the A. Cervicornis will have an easier time with the LED's. With all that said, good luck and I'm very interested in the growth of these Acro's in captivity.

Wow that must have been an amazing trip! I hope to make my way through some of the Caribbean Islands one day! Im glad that you enjoyed this post and we are both looking forward to seeing how these corals grow in the future. The palmata piece that we have has only been in the tank for a few months and has been primarily putting down a base. We have had the cervicornis longer and they have been primarily adding branches since we received them. I plan to keep everyone posted on their progress!

 

[DuckSlayer627]

Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac. All Staghorn was 40-60ft. and Elkhorn was 20ft. or less. The last couple of pics I was snorkeling in 2-3 ft. of water.

 

[DuckSlayer627]

Here is a Porites? in very shallow water, around 2ft. deep. It was the only coral that I saw that was actually purple besides gorgonians and sea fans. It's a little bigger than a basketball.