Is it possible to "EVENTUALLY" maintain a reef tank without losing any corals?

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Ugh don't you just hate losing corals!

Is it something we have to expect or is it possible to eventually maintain a reef tank without losing any corals?

Sad image from @JMacedo

 

[Billldg]

I think their r way to many variables involved to think it will never happen, even to the most experienced reefers. Limiting loses is possible, but to never loose a coral, we can dream.

 

[siggy]

Who knows what automation and long term aquaculture will achieve 20 years from now.

 

[azbigjohn]

I would love to think so, although I think there will always be the specter of the unknown out there...

 

[EmilyXLC]

Oh, I'm sure it is possible... but have I gotten to that level? Absolutely not.

 

[Brew12]

I don't think so. Even if everything goes perfectly it would be hard to keep corals from killing each other either from shading or plating over them.

 

[Joedubyk]

Who knows what automation and long term aquaculture will achieve 20 years from now.

Agree. Controllers/probes, and auto dosing has made this hobby so much easier and lets us know when something is wrong BEFORE the tank crashes to pieces...

 

[BeejReef]

I'd think if it were established, u kept corals that did well in your system, and you maintained the chemistry and hardware zealously, you might expect to have no mortalities over an extended time frame.... so, yes, you could maintain a tank without losses in theory.

Then again, nothing lasts forever. That's a certainty. So "no," but, yeah, sort of... ;Bored

 

[brandon429]

I believe we have discovered the key to unlimited biological disease free coral production in captive reef tanks. old tank syndrome is slain, and we can make a set of basic actions on paper anyone can copy with a captive reef and get the same results regarding longevity.

The hardware luck issues always get us at one time or another though.

Its possible to make a reef that has no biological lifespan limitation, and corals aren't just going to die of a random disease one day they just live until a hardware crash occurs or true senescence sets in roughly 400 years from now heh

its my slanted opinion that nano and pico reefs hold some of the best untapped testing for this area of science because they are so fast, metabolically speaking when you lock their sum actions inside a small container.

what a 100 gallon reef takes to manifest in aging dynamics in 15 years happens in about 2 years in a pico reef, scaled amazingly accurate in fact. try different approaches to reef designs in small reefs, see how they model out.



Once you find out how to make a small reef live 15 years, you're working with biology that when upscaled back to large reefing means agelessness.

I also think that coral loss is part of the active dynamic tank. you can't keep positive biomass at all times, seasonal changes, bad luck events and some element of hardware play will always present challenges that may result in half a brain coral setback.

but its the regrowth of the good half back over that counts and proves not due to aging etc.

there's legit coral loss, and then there's coral loss one could have engineered out much better by design.

a reef that is insulted yet grows back is strong in nature, some loss and regrowth I think is part of making these tanks strong but its not total loss where zero tissue exists to regrow.

 

[neupane00]

I am surprised to see so many YES. 52% ?? I have been doing reefing for 15+ years. I rarely lose corals, but if you ask me if i can guarantee 100% then I am going to say no. way too many variables. corals stinging each other, shadowing, plating, hardware failing, small changes on parameters killing most sensitive corals. there are million ways a coral can die. I can safely say that even after years and years of reefing and with modern controls you can minimize coral loss but can never guarantee it.

 

[sfin52]

I'd think if it were established, u kept corals that did well in your system, and you maintained the chemistry and hardware zealously, you might expect to have no mortalities over an extended time frame.... so, yes, you could maintain a tank without losses in theory.

Then again, nothing lasts forever. That's a certainty. So "no," but, yeah, sort of... ;Bored

Well thats a definitive answer.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Ugh don't you just hate losing corals!

Is it something we have to expect or is it possible to eventually maintain a reef tank without losing any corals?

Sad image from @JMacedo

If we could walk out our door and go diving for corals, then losses would be rare. Unfortunately hate to say but knowing people that worked at UPS, and speaking with a Post Master one time, not a pretty picture of the way packages handled. Also who ever dives for your corals, either inexperience or may have bad day or days. Many variables, these are some.

 

[Waters]

Absolutely not lol....not at this point anyways. Even in perfect, mature systems it seems that a colony can go rogue and die almost overnight. I don't think we have learned everything there is to know about coral and their care yet

 

[Stang67]

That would be like a surgeon never losing a patient. One would hope it was the case but we're human.

 

[lbacha]

Even if we went the cause of death there are too many other variable. A snail knocking a coral frag onto another frag, pests, a coral just not liking the tank it is in etc. farming has become a science and there are still dead spots in most fields due to some natural reason. Even a natural reef has losses all the time. I think a better question is can we make it so that parameter swings don’t cause unessasary deaths now that would be a goal.

 

[Jacked Reefer]

Not in your average display or even frag tank. You would have to have a very large, very biologically stable coral flat with feet of room to get rid of the possibility of shadowing and warfare. The system would have to be very controlled without new additions or really any much interference from the outside.
Short answer: yes we can, but in a very controlled lab setting. Not in your average display or crowded frag tank.
But all that said a year into reefing and I haven’t lost a single coral.

 

[krbshappy71]

This is a great topic, particularly for new people to set a bar of expectation. I am still leaning towards FOWLR at least to start out with. So on one hand, we have coral that grows out of control and people "frag" it and sell pieces of it, is that right? But then one day it can just up and die like anything else. Can't you just grab a piece from your "fragging tank"? Still learning, thanks.

 

[flsalty]

Things happen, sure, but I do believe a reef can eventually be set up to not have losses. I think it starts with keeping it simple. The less hardware you have, the less possibility of a catastrophic crash. Also, never go on vacation .

I kind of look at it like my garden. I used to be a plant collector. I would buy as many plants as possible to fit into my back yard. Some did well, some didn't. Some did TOO well...lol. Eventually I achieved a balance I was happy with. Then it came down to just maintaining the plants. I think many reefers don't do reefing that way. It can get boring after fitting that last coral in there. We like to fiddle around too much.

So I said yes, even though some death from natural causes is going to occur, I think eventually a balance can be reached and the tank is "done" except for maintenance, if you let it.

 

[KrisReef]

I’ve never been On a reef that did not have some dead or dying corals alongside thriving colonies. Even after a hurricane some are fine while many are dead or badly injured.

Can we do better than nature? I’m skeptical that we can especially over time.

 

[Brandon Smith]

I voted yes, but I based that vote in the thinking a person would have to specifically choose ever coral and place in the right place in their aquarium. Eventually you have to frag the corals to keep some of them from doing harm to their neighbors. I do believe that it could be done as long as everything is properly being paid attention to.