Would this conservation technique work in a hobby reef tank?

[TheLost]

I was reading an article this morning about our local Aquarium's coral reef restoration program in the 'Coral Triangle' ( Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea)...

This part of the article caught my eye:

The key to their efforts is the speed at which coral grows under the new conditions. The coral has been fragmented so it has an injury response prompting it to grow faster, according to Anderson. It is also suspended, and it knows it is not anchored to the bottom, so it grows at a much more rapid rate because it’s trying to find a place to anchor to. “So when we suspend the coral on these trees, the rapid growth rate that results in each fragment, we suspend growing to the size of a cantaloupe over the span of about six months,"

I'm relatively new to this hobby (2 years) but would this technique work in a frag tank? The idea of hanging an Acropora frag on a thread in my frag tank, then moving a 'cantaloupe' size colony to my display tank 6 months later is very appealing :)

 

[joseserrano]

Would be an interesting experiment. Would need lots of room for minimal frags though. Prevent them from bumping into each other all the time.

 

[TheLost]

Would be an interesting experiment. Would need lots of room for minimal frags though. Prevent them from bumping into each other all the time.

You could anchor from both top and bottom.. that would minimize their swing and make sure they don't collide.

Has it never been tried in the hobby? It sounds like the 'coral trees' have been used in conservation for a long time.

 

[SeaDweller]

That would be cool to experiment with. I wonder if flow has a lot to do with it?

 

[29bonsaireef]

I think most of the growth has to do with them being in the ocean, they grow about that rate hanging or mounted.

They do this a lot with A. Cervicornis as well. From my understanding it is done more to keep the corals away from silt, predators, and they receive more overall flow, which of course helps with growth. I don't really know about the whole growing faster to try and anchor/encrust theory, but I'm no scientist.

 

[joseserrano]

I also imagine having them like that minimizes algae and pests issues.

 

[Steve H]

I have been using this method in an Aquarium setting for the past 7 years or so after making mini versions of the coral trees developed by Kevin and Ken of the coral restoration foundation. It allows me to stack mother colonies and better utilize all three dimensions of a taller than optimal prop tank. Corals do seem to grow faster because all of their growth is lateral (and more desirable for fragging) plus less area to battle spatial competitors. Most of the method’s benefits are more applicable to an ocean setting. One critique the method receives is that the colonies grown may be less resistant to strong water flow and storm damage as the trees spin like a mobile and the hanging corals don’t have to resist flow like they would in a fixed location. I have snapped bone cutters trying to cut some of the hanging corals so I believe they are plenty strong. With all of this being said I don’t think the little bit of extra growth is worth it in most hobbyist applications.

 

[joseserrano]

I have been using this method in an Aquarium setting for the past 7 years or so after making mini versions of the coral trees developed by Kevin and Ken of the coral restoration foundation. It allows me to stack mother colonies and better utilize all three dimensions of a taller than optimal prop tank. Corals do seem to grow faster because all of their growth is lateral (and more desirable for fragging) plus less area to battle spatial competitors. Most of the method’s benefits are more applicable to an ocean setting. One critique the method receives is that the colonies grown may be less resistant to strong water flow and storm damage as the trees spin like a mobile and the hanging corals don’t have to resist flow like they would in a fixed location. I have snapped bone cutters trying to cut some of the hanging corals so I believe they are plenty strong. With all of this being said I don’t think the little bit of extra growth is worth it in most hobbyist applications.

Any pics

 

[Jinko]

It seems like too much effort and wouldn't look aesthetically pleasing either.

For frag/coral growers it could be worth it though.
It's well known that frags will grow much more rapidly than large colonies though and placing lots of small frags of the same species together is a good and effective way of making a colony faster.

 

[Steve H]

Any pics

 

[SeaDweller]

Dang!