Reefs

As a kid, I grew up in Rhode Island and was exposed to the life that the oceans contain. But a documentary on giant clams, specifically Tridacna maxima, led me to fall in love with the reefs. Other strange organisms like the Venus’ Flower Basket and bioluminescent Dinoflagellates led me to learn about bio-inspired engineering.

I’ve attempted in the past to start a reef tank, but the requirements are quite strict and requires a lot of investment when starting out. Fast forward to the future, I’ve gotten a chance to try my hand at reef keeping here in Illinois and I couldn’t be happier! I’m still very much a novice, and even stabilizing each of the 20 gallon tanks I’m working with has been a challenge. However, my hands-on experiences have been invaluable, and talking with local pet shop owners and reefers gave me the chance to develop my own, practical intuition.

The oceans have given me a lot of inspiration, and I hope that my research on coral imaging can help the hobby, aquaculturists, conservationists, and more. I’ve found that keeping an eye on polyp extension, bleaching, flesh recession, macroalgae coloration and coralline growth has been instrumental at deciding what supplements to dose. If we can isolate more stress-tolerant “super corals,” or find better, predictive indicators of non-ideal conditions, I believe we can still save the reefs.