Would I be able to possibly breed corals?

[stE26wy14]

So!! I wanna do marine biology, and whats a better place than keeping a reef tank?! Breeding corals and doing studies!! I have seen so many docs where scientists breed coral for better adaptivitiy for oceanic swings. It would be really cool to right a college essay on that
so is it possible?

 

[Uncle99]

Sure, anything is possible.

 

[timmyrules]

So!! I wanna do marine biology, and whats a better place than keeping a reef tank?! Breeding corals and doing studies!! I have seen so many docs where scientists breed coral for better adaptivitiy for oceanic swings. It would be really cool to right a college essay on that
so is it possible?

I’m following ! Sounds like a super cool idea!
But definitely not my area of expertise.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Would it be possible for you to get into contact with those that breed coral, and maybe intern with them? I feel like if you were able to do this, this would give you great hands-on experience, and you could learn from experts.

 

[KStatefan]

So!! I wanna do marine biology, and whats a better place than keeping a reef tank?! Breeding corals and doing studies!! I have seen so many docs where scientists breed coral for better adaptivitiy for oceanic swings. It would be really cool to right a college essay on that
so is it possible?

Watch this video

 

[stE26wy14]

Would it be possible for you to get into contact with those that breed coral, and maybe intern with them? I feel like if you were able to do this, this would give you great hands-on experience, and you could learn from experts.

would u perhaps know of any of these companies/orginizations?

 

[sketh]

would u perhaps know of any of these companies/orginizations?

See if you can work at your LFS. If they have marine tanks the guys working inside pretty much should know everything about keeping and breeding corals.

 

[KStatefan]

would u perhaps know of any of these companies/orginizations?

Monsoon coral in Australia is one.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I expect you will find the trying to breed corals for improved attributes is an extremely laborious task. Not a fun DIY project for most people.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

would u perhaps know of any of these companies/orginizations?

Personally? No I don't. I would reach out to your LFS or see if there are any people local to you that would be willing to help you out!

 

[LovinlifeinGuam]

I expect you will find the trying to breed corals for improved attributes is an extremely laborious task. Not a fun DIY project for most people.

I'd agree with this...

 

[Thales]

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Just to add - there is a bunch of good info available on breeding corals, and we'll only be getting more as time goes on, but, yes, it would definitely be a good deal of work.

I don’t know of any that are particularly easy to get spawning (coral spawns are still actually fairly rare events in the hobby, though the do happen from time to time). I do know that the Horniman Project Coral has some great info on coral spawning, and there are a few hobbyists working on similar projects now. From what I’ve seen, it seems currently that you either need to have excellent conditions for the corals and be lucky, or you need to pretty intensively replicate the environment those corals are found in naturally in order to get them spawning. The Project Coral I referred to above has a great document about how they basically did just that for four Acropora spp. (see the link below).
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ece3.3538With more research, we might be able to find some less intensive ways to inducing spawning in corals in the future, but, for now, (to my knowledge) we don’t know what exactly is actually needed to induce spawning in corals (i.e. we don’t what the key factors are), so this is the best we can do for now.
https://www.horniman.ac.uk/project/project-coral/https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/cynarina-lacrymalis-spawning-project-setup.899403/

 

[Cheese Griller]

would u perhaps know of any of these companies/orginizations?

The Florida aquarium in Tampa is doing a lot of work with coral breeding for adaptability. Their internships are only available to sophomores and above, but they are a super cool place!

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

I haven’t listened to it, but the Reef Therapy podcast has an episode on spawning corals at the hobbyist level.

 

[Thales]

I haven’t listened to it, but the Reef Therapy podcast has an episode on spawning corals at the hobbyist level.

Thats me. :)

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

Thats me. :)

Well how about that! Now I feel like I should listen to it even though I have no spawning plans haha

 

[amandaturciya]

So!! I wanna do marine biology, and whats a better place than keeping a reef tank?! Breeding corals and doing studies!! I have seen so many docs where scientists breed coral for better adaptivitiy for oceanic swings. It would be really cool to right a college essay on that
so is it possible?

I’ve always thought coral breeding was fascinating because there’s so much to learn about how corals grow and what they need to stay healthy. If you’re serious about exploring this further, I’d start by learning more about marine ecosystems and how different species interact. I recently came across this guide https://xray-mag.com/sponsored/step-step-guide-becoming-marine-biologist while looking into marine biology, and it explains the education and skills involved in turning an interest in marine life into a career. I think it could be worth checking out if you want to understand the science behind coral growth beyond just keeping a reef aquarium.

I think that’s a really cool idea, especially if you can connect your reef tank to your interest in marine biology. Coral breeding and adaptation to changing ocean conditions sound fascinating, and having hands on experience would give you something personal to write about. I’d focus on what you’ve learned from caring for the tank, the questions it’s made you ask, and how it pushed you toward marine biology. That could make for a much more memorable college essay than just saying you’re passionate about the subject.