Coral farming in PR, Florida Aquarium Discovery and Fuzzy Sticks. This week we catch up with Jeremy making progress on the frag tank and seeing some nice growth in the big tank and Peter has some top-secret developments for his tank in the works that he will reveal at a later date all this and more on Episode 112 of the Reef News Network!

News:

Jeremy- 2018 Coral Propagation in Puerto Rico Report from NOAA This project will provide support for Acropora nurseries in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Over the last 5 years, coral nursery operations have expanded exponentially in PR and the VI. The report outlines that 2,368 corals were outplanted from the coral nurseries to 13 different sites. This includes 1,821 Acropora cervicornis (Staghorn Coral), 467 Acropora palmata (Elkhorn Coral), 35 Dendrogyra cylindrus (Pillar Coral) and 10 Xestospongia muta (Giant Barrel Sponge). In addition to outplanting these facilities are conducting genetic analyses of the farmed species. With only a small number of the total samples taken analyzed, the results from 73 samples, 41 different genotypes are present in the nurseries at La Parguera and Guanica. Genotype diversity is very important as it increases the odds of survival by providing a specimen system more capable of adapting to pest and environmental stressors.

Peter- The Florida Aquarium celebrated Earth Day this year by announcing a history-making accomplishment that could help save the United States’ only living coral barrier reef from extinction. For the first time, scientists at the aquarium’s Center for Conservation reproduced ridged cactus coral in human care.

Tip of the Week: Go back and check out the happy hour livestream we did with CoralVue (easy to find on FB, Instagram or YouTube). Cheers!

Main Topic: Fuzzy sticks are a sight to see for the SPS enthusiasts. These three families go above and beyond to stand and deliver that amazing PE. These are the coral that generally look hairy even if they aren’t all that happy. These are some of the best starter SPS we can think of and there is a ton of color variants available to hobbyists. All of the coral we will go over today fall within the family Pocilloporidae, we will be looking at the genera Pocillopora, Stylophora, and Seriatopora. There are obviously some similarities between these corals, this week we will go over the information on the species, care and parameters along with some tips to help get the best polyp extension out of your coral.

Reef News Network: www.reefnewsnetwork.com