Database of Photos of Ocean Coral Reefs for Aquascaping and Coral Placement
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Rick Cavanaugh
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Few photos I took in Raja Ampat. Dendronephthya sp.
Rick Cavanaugh
Active Member
Few photos I took in Raja Ampat. Dendronephthya sp. and small leather
Rick Cavanaugh
Active Member
Small tabling Acro, about 10 feet across top is about 10 feet deep also Raja Ampat
Rick Cavanaugh
Active Member
Same tabling Acro but shot from deeper. Sun corals and lots of sponges under it. Raja Apat
Rick Cavanaugh
Active Member
What every reef tank needs. A Wobbgong shark on coral . Unable to id coral but a couple of Tunicates
Raja Ampat
Raja Ampat
Rick Cavanaugh
Active Member
Dendronephthya sp. Not a reef, but growing on pilings to a jetty. Corals grow nicely on wooden pilings. Also Raja Ampat
Okay here goes....
Back in 2005 before digital underwater cameras are what they are today I snapped photos on my trip to Fiji, specifically Matamona & Navini. If you're an SPS fan it's Acropora as far as the eye can see.
This is various types of Acropora Hyacinthus otherwise known as Table Coral.
I wasn't kidding when I said it goes as far as the eye can see. Again this is mostly Acropora Hyacinthus and some Staghorn - Acropora Cervicornis
More Acropora Cervicornis
I had a blast watching this enormous colony of Bubble Tips with host anemones. The colony coral I believe is known as Favia.
He was tired of me.
Green Chromis among Acropora Cervicornis and Favia coral.
Being new to the forum I hope this follow the spirit of the thread and shows the corals we know and love in the wild.
Back in 2005 before digital underwater cameras are what they are today I snapped photos on my trip to Fiji, specifically Matamona & Navini. If you're an SPS fan it's Acropora as far as the eye can see.
Being new to the forum I hope this follow the spirit of the thread and shows the corals we know and love in the wild.
What every reef tank needs. A Wobbgong shark on coral . Unable to id coral but a couple of Tunicates
Coral looks like Porites lobata.
Also, thanks to you and mcpx for the shallow table acro
Pics. I am sure both (reef crest) locations get a lot of wave action.
Jeremy82, i kind of like that as a reef tank idea. Like
All the fake petsmart ufos and sunken ships, but with a bit of realism (the acro and then the branch coral rubble).
OP
OP
MarsRover
Well-Known Member
This reef scape is on a semi sandy bottom on the side of a zero [ww2 plane]I was a few miles away from korror ,palau
A "Lake Wobegon" shark?!?!
Holy moly @mcphx !!! Thanks so much for your contribution!!
@VR28man thanks for helping out! Now @Rick Cavanaugh can update their post!!!
@JEREMY82 awesome photos! Thanks for posting! Can you please go back and put names of coral? That way the community can search this thread for the corals by name and find photos of them living in their natural environment! Thank you!
Few photos I took in Raja Ampat. Dendronephthya sp. and small leather
Small tabling Acro, about 10 feet across top is about 10 feet deep also Raja Ampat
Sweet photos!!! Thanks so much @Rick Cavanaugh !!!!
Looks like this thread has really taken off!!! Getting stoked! Thanks so much everyone who is contributing! Let’s keep it going!!!
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Found something in my youtube playlists.
Nemateleotris magnifica (the most common-in-the-hobby firefish) and I believe Chrysiptera hemicyanea (Azure damselfish). Interestingly, fishbase says they both have roughly the same feeding style - hanging about 1-2 ft above the substrate in high flow areas waiting for stuff to catch.
Note that this is a somewhat turgid rubble area, probably around 3m/10ft, probably on the backreef of a barrier reef, at "25mile reef" near Inhassoro, Mozambique.
A more scenic adaptation would be a maybe 30 degree slope in the tank, with rubble and more colorful, better arrayed corals. And a good amount of flow from front to back to allow the fish an corals to catch food.
Note that the purple and other more colorful firefish live in much deeper water than the magnifica firefish, but still apparently in rubble zones like this. The magnifica firefish can be found in shallow to deep water.
This rubble zone video matches my experience; my magnifica firefish spends some time in a live rock cave, and the comes out into the water to swim against the flow and troll for whatever may come.
Nemateleotris magnifica (the most common-in-the-hobby firefish) and I believe Chrysiptera hemicyanea (Azure damselfish). Interestingly, fishbase says they both have roughly the same feeding style - hanging about 1-2 ft above the substrate in high flow areas waiting for stuff to catch.
Note that this is a somewhat turgid rubble area, probably around 3m/10ft, probably on the backreef of a barrier reef, at "25mile reef" near Inhassoro, Mozambique.
A more scenic adaptation would be a maybe 30 degree slope in the tank, with rubble and more colorful, better arrayed corals. And a good amount of flow from front to back to allow the fish an corals to catch food.
Note that the purple and other more colorful firefish live in much deeper water than the magnifica firefish, but still apparently in rubble zones like this. The magnifica firefish can be found in shallow to deep water.
This rubble zone video matches my experience; my magnifica firefish spends some time in a live rock cave, and the comes out into the water to swim against the flow and troll for whatever may come.
These photos taken in several different places in the Caribbean. My ID on the following fish and Corals may not be 100% but I believe they are very close.
Labadee, Haiti
Flamingo Tongue Snail
Pencil Urchin, Sally Lightfoot Crab, and possibly a Lesser Starlet Coral
Magnificent Feather Duster, Brain Coral and a Lesser Starlet Coral
Doctors Cave Beach, Jamaica
Blade Fire Coral, and possibly Mountainous Star Coral
Blade Fire Coral, Lobed Star Coral, Gorgonian, and possibly a juvenile Bluehead Wrasse
Playa Corona, Cozumel Mexico.
Giant Caribbean Sea Anemone, Fire Coral, Blue and Yellowhead wrasse, Dusky Damselfish.
I have more photos, just need to search through the computer. I know I have some more from the Florida Keys, gotta find them and I’ll post them up.
Labadee, Haiti
Flamingo Tongue Snail
Pencil Urchin, Sally Lightfoot Crab, and possibly a Lesser Starlet Coral
Magnificent Feather Duster, Brain Coral and a Lesser Starlet Coral
Doctors Cave Beach, Jamaica
Blade Fire Coral, and possibly Mountainous Star Coral
Blade Fire Coral, Lobed Star Coral, Gorgonian, and possibly a juvenile Bluehead Wrasse
Playa Corona, Cozumel Mexico.
Giant Caribbean Sea Anemone, Fire Coral, Blue and Yellowhead wrasse, Dusky Damselfish.
I have more photos, just need to search through the computer. I know I have some more from the Florida Keys, gotta find them and I’ll post them up.
Here’s another video. Heterodactis magnifica anemone on a small patch reef in a lagoon. Black damsels colony nearby.
This imo is a great model for a clown harem tank. It could be a wide, and even shallow custom tank.
https://www.videoblocks.com/video/s...-polynesia-motionless-scene-siooog1vgiy5ckepx
The brighter the light the smaller the nem, apparently.
https://www.researchgate.net/public..._and_distribution_of_the_resident_anemonefish
ETA: found this while rummaging around my PC. Another ocellaris + nem in an unidentified seagrass bed. I like the matching colors of the seagrass, the clowns, and the nem.
This imo is a great model for a clown harem tank. It could be a wide, and even shallow custom tank.
https://www.videoblocks.com/video/s...-polynesia-motionless-scene-siooog1vgiy5ckepx
The brighter the light the smaller the nem, apparently.
https://www.researchgate.net/public..._and_distribution_of_the_resident_anemonefish
ETA: found this while rummaging around my PC. Another ocellaris + nem in an unidentified seagrass bed. I like the matching colors of the seagrass, the clowns, and the nem.
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Here's one from Walt Smith. Green Chromis on a reef flat in Fiji. Lots of tabling, staghorn, and other Acropora variants. You could do Acropora Millies (e.g. Red Planet), green slimer, and others in a tank like this.
And two more from Dr. Bruce Carlson (please "like" the video if you want; he's been a friend of home aquarists for many years, pioneered coral keeping in the 80s and 90s at the Waikiki aquarium, and has supported our hobby against those who've been trying to ban it)
Here is a special colony of blue Acropora yongei (blue slimer; same species as the green slimer) on a reef crest near Guadalcanal.
Here's another video he did of PJ cardinals in the wild.
Note that this is in a shallow lagoon in Palau, at a time with little current (slack tide?). In the background also are Talbots' damsels, azure damsels (Chrysiptera hemicyanea), I believe a branching Porites (Porties cylindrica? This is not common, but available in the hobby and easy to grow apparently), and in the background I believe two montiporae (Montipora capitata and maybe a capricornis), and possibly a Favites.
Actually, this would be a good basis for a biotope aquarium - especially an easy nano reef. Other fish you could have are ocellaris clowns, banggai cardinals, and mandarin fish. Maybe I'll do an article writeup.
ETA: pj cards near a cluster of branching/staghorn type acros. maybe a morph of Acropora yongei, one color morph of which is the ORA Green Slimer. The page has several other inspirational views of the same or nearby parts of a reef somewhere.
https://www.shutterstock.com/video/...itat-sphaeramia-nematoptera-k-ultrahd-up.html
And two more from Dr. Bruce Carlson (please "like" the video if you want; he's been a friend of home aquarists for many years, pioneered coral keeping in the 80s and 90s at the Waikiki aquarium, and has supported our hobby against those who've been trying to ban it)
Here is a special colony of blue Acropora yongei (blue slimer; same species as the green slimer) on a reef crest near Guadalcanal.
Here's another video he did of PJ cardinals in the wild.
Note that this is in a shallow lagoon in Palau, at a time with little current (slack tide?). In the background also are Talbots' damsels, azure damsels (Chrysiptera hemicyanea), I believe a branching Porites (Porties cylindrica? This is not common, but available in the hobby and easy to grow apparently), and in the background I believe two montiporae (Montipora capitata and maybe a capricornis), and possibly a Favites.
Actually, this would be a good basis for a biotope aquarium - especially an easy nano reef. Other fish you could have are ocellaris clowns, banggai cardinals, and mandarin fish. Maybe I'll do an article writeup.
ETA: pj cards near a cluster of branching/staghorn type acros. maybe a morph of Acropora yongei, one color morph of which is the ORA Green Slimer. The page has several other inspirational views of the same or nearby parts of a reef somewhere.
https://www.shutterstock.com/video/...itat-sphaeramia-nematoptera-k-ultrahd-up.html
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Keeping this thread going. The first half of the underwater footage of this is a shallow fore reef at Tutuila, American Samoa. Note how bright it is, how much flow it probably gets on a moderately turbulent day, and how full and strong the growth is. Unfortunately, cannot ID any species, though I think several of the yellow branching acros are the same species as the Green Slimer, Acropora yongei.
Second half is footage of the biggest coral so far discovered. The first polyp attached to the rock (presumably from a pelagic larval stage) around 1479. Species is either Porites lutea or lobata; the scientists are apparently not sure.
Google street view. (didn't work in Safari for me; works fine in chrome):
https://www.google.com/streetview/#oceans/big-momma-american-samoa
Second half is footage of the biggest coral so far discovered. The first polyp attached to the rock (presumably from a pelagic larval stage) around 1479. Species is either Porites lutea or lobata; the scientists are apparently not sure.
Google street view. (didn't work in Safari for me; works fine in chrome):
https://www.google.com/streetview/#oceans/big-momma-american-samoa
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Keeping this thread going. The first half of the underwater footage of this is a shallow fore reef at Tutuila, American Samoa. Note how bright it is, how much flow it probably gets on a moderately turbulent day, and how full and strong the growth is. Unfortunately, cannot ID any species, though I think several of the yellow branching acros are the same species as the Green Slimer, Acropora yongei.
Second half is footage of the biggest coral so far discovered, attached to the rock around 1479. Species is either Porites lutea of lobata; the scientists are apparently not sure.
WOW
Still keeping this going.
Potter's angelfish and various other fish. An endemic species to Hawaii; lives in live rock and Porites compressa fields. Porites compressa is a branching coral that usually (but by no means always) found at around 10+m, especially common in Hawaii. It's not available in the aquarium trade.
This could also be used for other dwarf angelfish - say a flame angelfish, which i believe inhabits similar areas. You could use deeper water corals. Just be ware of them nipping the polyps.
Potter's angelfish and various other fish. An endemic species to Hawaii; lives in live rock and Porites compressa fields. Porites compressa is a branching coral that usually (but by no means always) found at around 10+m, especially common in Hawaii. It's not available in the aquarium trade.
This could also be used for other dwarf angelfish - say a flame angelfish, which i believe inhabits similar areas. You could use deeper water corals. Just be ware of them nipping the polyps.
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