Born: 28 March, 1948 in Great Falls, Montana. When I was 12 years old, I set up my first freshwater aquarium. My first marine system occurred two years later in 1962. I have had both marine and fresh water aquaria pretty much continuously since 1970. From 1971 through 1987 the marine aquaria were mostly research aquaria, and were basically concerned with animals from the Pacific Northwest. I set up my first reef aquarium in 1991. Currently, I have two reef-oriented systems: a newly renovated bulb tip anemone tank (started 1 September, 2002), and a sand-bed snail tank.

My education is in Zoology with a B. S. from Montana State University in 1970, followed by a M. Sc. in 1973 and a Ph.D. in 1977 from the University of Washington. I have taught courses in Invertebrate Zoology, Marine Biology and Introductory Biology at an assortment of institutions including the Bamfield Marine Station on Vancouver Island, where I was Assistant Director from 1983-1985.

Additionally, I taught at both the Seattle Campus and Friday Harbor Laboratories of the University of Washington, the University of Alaska in Anchorage (where I served as the Chairman of the Biology Department), the Oregon State University Marine Station, and at Montana State University.

Since 1975, I have published 23 marine biological papers in peer-reviewed professional publications. Most of these papers have focused on predator-prey interactions and molluscan systematics including the description of two new species of deep-sea scaphopod mollusks. Since 1981, I have been invited to present talks nine times at scientific symposia. I have done about 1500 scuba dives, and have many published underwater photos of marine life.

I have also served as an environmental consultant on many projects and been senior author of about 50 consulting documents. One of my consulting successes was being head of the biological assessment team on the first marine Superfund site designated as remediated by the EPA. Among my consulting failures, I am poor.

A fully functional, deep sand bed maintains the coral and other epifaunal components of a marine reef aquarium. The organisms of the sand bed dispose of excess nutrients by recycling them into coral foods or assisting in their removal from the system as a whole. Much of the functionality of the sand bed depends on the relationships between the organisms in the bed and, on occasion, elsewhere in the system. Several groups of organisms, specifically polychaete (aka “bristle”) worms, small crustaceans, flatworms, protozoans and bacteria are particularly important in determining the functionality of sand beds. I will discuss how the basic morphologies, predator-prey interactions, and reproductive behaviors of some of these organisms assist in maintaining a dynamically stable system in reef aquaria.

~ Ron Shimek's Website ~