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

[Daniel92481]

I believe that nature is our best example here. Corals perish from time to time in the wild, even though the waters are ideal for life. Although, a lot of people have pristine conditions in their tanks, corals will always die from time to time. Our job as aquarists is to minimize this loss with proper husbandry habits. That’s what someone really smart told me anyway.

 

[ca1ore]

No because conditions are as much relative as they are absolute. You could have absolutely perfect environmental conditions yet lose a coral to light shock because it came from different relative conditions. Diseases will never be entirely eradicated either.

Corals are more successfully kept today than they were 10 years ago, and will presumably continue to improve over the next 10, but it will never be perfect.

It’s a good thing too because I think the time is rapidly approaching when wild harvested corals will no longer be available - either as a result of regulation or the lack of wild colonies.

 

[sixty_reefer]

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.

Disease is only a small part on the cause of coral mortality, there’s so much more to it.

 

[JDnKY]

Where there is life, there will eventually be death. We can provide great living conditions that will prolong life in our aquariums but eventually there will be loss of life.

 

[Jay Z]

Things die, thats just how it works. Sometimes randomly without reason.

If thinking all the tech out can guarantee corals won't, I need to start drinking whatever the rest of you are!

Plus everything living is like getting a participation trophy. It wouldn't be much of a hobby if it was easy or guaranteed.

 

[andrewkw]

It's probably possible, but not the kind of reef I want to have. Of course I'd like to have 0 losses ever. I am however okay with 1-10% losses (guestimate number I'm making up while typing). I have a mixed reef, which means keeping everyone happy is always going to be a challenge.

If you have say 4-6 similar types of coral and that's it, then it will be a lot easier. Especially if you let them grow to giant colonies, as even if they do experience some problems or die off you can usually save part or most of the colony. When you get into the dozens or even 100s of different types of coral there is going to be some unexplained problems, especially if you tinker even in the least.

 

[reefluvrr]

If we are losing corals out in the wild, (disease, global warming). I think it be hard to not lose any in our home. . .

 

[X-37B]

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.

Great info as I do city p&d for a major freight company. Time is money so freight is flying off the trucks onto the docks and reloaded. I see so much damaged freight on a daily basis its hard to imagine unless you are doing it.
Example: we deliver to the local post office. I can not tell you how many times I have waked into the dock area and smelled dead live animals, mostly chicks at certain times of the year. They still have to deliver the dead ones!
They have bins that they just toss in the priority boxes. No stacking just throw them in.
I could go on and on.
Sometimes corals just die for unknown reasons so I dont think its possible to have a reef tank with zero losses.

 

[Nano sapiens]

It is certainly possible to maintain an established reef aquarium without coral losses for an extended period of time, but not 'forever'. Equipment failure, extended power outages and human error (or mismanagement) will eventually come into play and then there is the very real potential for losses. While disappointing to us aquarists, it is the way of things both in nature and in captivity.

 

[foxt]

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?

Never, ever, speak in absolutes!

A reef tank is a living thing. Stuff happens. We're at the point now with the science and technology available to us to provide an environment for this life that will support it in the same way, or maybe even in some cases, better than the conditions in the wild. The rest is ultimately up to the animal.

 

[TropicalReefCorals]

I say yes. Create a stable tank and keep it that way. Leave it alone and let the corals grow and it will thrive.

 

[Karl M]

Immortal coral ? I would have to be in the no camp on that one. Though we have come a long way since I started in the early seventies

 

[EJReef]

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.

Rarely losing corals is losing corals

 

[Ksmmike]

I think what you can do is reduce the amount of death to corals over time by your tank and the reef keeper maturing at the same rate or the keeper maturing faster in their wisdom. I'd like to think that I'm doing by best to learn and mature as my tank ages. I know I've lost far less coral in the past 6 months than I did in my first 6 months.

 

[Flippers4pups]

More research on the microbiome of corals needs to be researched to understand coral disease and cures. Until then, no. There will be losses.