Eric Borneman is the author of Aquarium Corals: Selection, Husbandry, and Natural
History, and is co-author for the book, A Practical Guide to Corals. He has
authored and published many papers on marine subjects in various scientific
and trade publications and journals internationally. He is the host of The Coral
Forum at Reef Central, is a contributor to many websites internationally, has
spoken at scientific and aquarium related conferences, events, and societies,
and has taught classes on coral biology, coral propagation, and other reef issues.
He co-founded the Marine and Reef Aquarium Society of Houston and is currently
involved with coral disease, and aquarium trade sustainability issues worldwide.
He has been maintaining reef aquaria for twelve years, and has been diving
and photographing coral reefs of the world for 25 years. His current aquaria
include a linked multi-habitat system of over 500 gallons that includes a
seagrass habitat, an intertidal habitat and a large coral reef that run without
any filtration devices.
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| Eric has a degree in biology
from Rice University, and is currently working on his PhD coral reef ecology
in the specialty area of coral disease and immunity at the University of Houston. |
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The reef aquarium hobby, despite what seems to be a long time since its beginnings,
is still a brand new shiny penny in terms of its history. Because of its recent
inception and widespread occurrence and growth within a ten year period, much
of the current success in reef husbandry can be attributed to pioneering explorations
and advances in technique and methodology, along with greater knowledge of
marine animals that are kept in such aquaria. However, much more of the hobby
has its roots in marginally to dismally functional marine and freshwater systems
that existed long before live rock and corals in captvity. While some aspects
of these systems are basically relevant to reef aquaria, the nuances of captive
reefs are frequently far different. Compounding any invalid hangovers from
early models are the numerous long-standing "facts" that aquarists take for
granted as being true. Coupled with today's communication media such as the
internet, and often receiving general misinformation from multiple sources,
such anecdote has become widespread and pervasive, and compromises our abilities
to advance the state of knowledge, and the application of such knowledge to
our aquaria.
This presentation will examine a very broad range of subjects that are widely
accepted to be truths and facts, when in fact they may be far from it. For
too long, the reef aquarium hobby has been "passing stories around the campfire,"
and basing their application of husbandry on what amounts to an oral tradition
that may, in many cases, be detrimental to their own success and the advance
of the hobby. Among the many subjects I will discuss will be aspects of lighting
and photosynthesis, coral placement, nitirification and denitrification, SPS
corals, chemical competition, bacterial infections, coral coloration, the
impact of the aquarium trade on coral reefs, supplements, and the use of various
novel biological mediums for nutrient uptake (Caulerpa,mangroves, refugia,
mud, seagrass, and others).
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