Self protected reef aquarium?

[Mr.BobDobalina]

I was an avid indoor gardener for decades. I practiced no till, living soil, biodynamic and probiotic methods. I refused to spray anything on my plants (pesticides, fungicides, etc) or use any chemical fertilizer. I relied on an army of good guy insects to hammer any pest that tried to gain a foothold and billions of beneficial bacteria/fungi/etc to keep disease at bay. In essence, feed the soil and biome not the plant, was the philosophy.

Reefing has many similarities. We use CUC to take care of our nuisance algae, as an obvious example. We may employ "cleaner" fish/shrimp to attack parasites and good bacteria to combat bad. But to what extent can a healthy reef protect or even "heal" itself in captivity? If the tank is a fully functioning ecosystem, can it work well enough to ward of disease and pests introduced from outside sources without chemical mitigation like dipping?

Much easier to do in a garden as you can decide to not bring in cuttings and start from seed to help prevent contamination. But we cannot do the same thing in an aquarium. If you have a reef that functions in such a way I would love to hear your methods. I imagine size plays a major factor.

Thanks for indulging my early morning wonderings and wanderings.

 

[mcarroll]

Yes, but we need to change how we think about disease. Is it the environment or the pathogen that casuses disease? We tend to be brain-off about this and just think pathogens cause disease – period. But this is a short-circuit or leap in logic.

Many pathogens are actually a normal part of life (or holobiont) for the creature in question. They only become problematic when the environment is disturbed from its natural state.

As a starting point, check out the three articles I have from this author to get into the details of this thinking:
https://reefsuccess.com/?s=rohwer
(Click through to the full journal article, don't just read my quotes and comments.)

The last word for you: Permaculture

 

[Mr.BobDobalina]

Yes, but we need to change how we think about disease. Is it the environment or the pathogen that casuses disease? We tend to be brain-off about this and just think pathogens cause disease – period. But this is a short-circuit or leap in logic.

Many pathogens are actually a normal part of life (or holobiont) for the creature in question. They only become problematic when the environment is disturbed from its natural state.

As a starting point, check out the three articles I have from this author to get into the details of this thinking:
https://reefsuccess.com/?s=rohwer
(Click through to the full journal article, don't just read my quotes and comments.)

The last word for you: Permaculture

Yes! Permaculture is indeed the word. I can't wait to dig into these links. TY

 

[me & my baby]

In a garden you are dealing with pest , disease and fungus that for the most part is just in your region. In a reef tank you could be dealing with pest from all over the world . Some of the pest we know what natural predator to use . There are still some we don’t . There are some predators for pest that we cannot get and more so trying to keep them in our closed ECO system just isn’t successful. The ocean has such a vast diversity of predators and prey per-say I don’t ever see having a (Green Reef ) possible.

 

[Mr.BobDobalina]

In a garden you are dealing with pest , disease and fungus that for the most part is just in your region. In a reef tank you could be dealing with pest from all over the world . Some of the pest we know what natural predator to use . There are still some we don’t . There are some predators for pest that we cannot get and more so trying to keep them in our closed ECO system just isn’t successful. The ocean has such a vast diversity of predators and prey per-say I don’t ever see having a (Green Reef ) possible.

The gardening community very much deals in the trading of cuttings from around the country/world. Many pests tag along, just like on frags, even if they are not natural in your area. So you may get a cutting with a specific type of mite that is not endemic to your area, for example.

 

[Mr.BobDobalina]

Yes, but we need to change how we think about disease. Is it the environment or the pathogen that casuses disease? We tend to be brain-off about this and just think pathogens cause disease – period. But this is a short-circuit or leap in logic.

Many pathogens are actually a normal part of life (or holobiont) for the creature in question. They only become problematic when the environment is disturbed from its natural state.

As a starting point, check out the three articles I have from this author to get into the details of this thinking:
https://reefsuccess.com/?s=rohwer
(Click through to the full journal article, don't just read my quotes and comments.)

The last word for you: Permaculture

I've only made it through the 1st study. But more than anything, thanks for the link. What a great site! I have been digging around and there is so much high quality and interesting information within.