Graduate Research

[Pwamf]

I'm going to be doing graduate research on reef aquariums and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for areas where further research is needed.

[TucanSam007]

Pwamf, great to hear your going into research in reef aquariums for your graduate program. My career is in agriculture and I'm looking to move into a combined agriculture/aquaculture field moving forward. I think we could certainly brainstorm some good ideas on here but whats your criteria? Are you looking at ornamental stock breeding in reef aquariums, or the saltwater hobby it self as a whole? I think further research is needed in the advancement of Led's and the correct spectrum.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Originally Posted by Pwamf

I'm going to be doing graduate research on reef aquariums and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for areas where further research is needed.

Is you background biology, chemistry, or something else?

[Pwamf]

Guess I should have clarified that: its for a grad degree in biology, but I can analyze water chemistry and its impact upon organisms or the aquarium ecosystem.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

OK, because there are some strict chemistry things (like analyzing organics in the aquarium), but that's probably not what you'd want.

There are tons of questions, and some will be much harder nuts to crack than others.

For example, in ultra low nutrient systems, some SPS corals are said to get "burnt tips" when the alkalinity is higher than 7-8 dKH (say, at 11 dKH), while those same corals in higher nutrient systems seem not to suffer that way. First off, is it a phosphate or nitrogen effect, and beyond that, why does it happen?

I expect I know the answer to this one, but is any strontium needed in the water for hard corals to thrive (I expect not). Many reefers seem to think it is useful, but the number of folks thinking so has declined over time. A DIY salt could be made with and without strontium, and you could compare coral frags from the same parent in side by side aquaria.

That same format could be used to test a lot of hypothesis (iodine, phosphate, nitrate, etc. ).

[AC2020x]

That is certainly a cool idea.. I will be following along with this thread as well.. I'm working as an undergraduate student under Dr. Todd Lajeunesse at Penn State and may have the chance to do some biology related research of my own as we are setting up a couple coral aquariums right now for research purposes.

[Timfish]

Originally Posted by Pwamf

Guess I should have clarified that: its for a grad degree in biology, but I can analyze water chemistry and its impact upon organisms or the aquarium ecosystem.

Seems to me this subject's complex enough for a bunch of grad student to get degrees for years to come.

[Majority_Rules]

Could you research why exactly vitamin C helps zoas? No one REALLY knows why it works so well. It's all just speculation at this point. There are tons of theories but it would be cool find out what exactly the vitamin C is doing to help.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Originally Posted by Majority_Rules

Could you research why exactly vitamin C helps zoas? No one REALLY knows why it works so well. It's all just speculation at this point. There are tons of theories but it would be cool find out what exactly the vitamin C is doing to help.

If anything. Showing it has an effect different than vinegar would also be interesting to see side by side.

FWIW, showing why something happens can be an almost impossible task in many cases, while showing what does or does not happen is much more straight forward.

[JustinBT]

Tagging along, interested to see what you choose as a topic. I'm hoping to get into school soon, something in the marine science realm

[coralreefdoc]

Originally Posted by Randy Holmes-Farley

OK, because there are some strict chemistry things (like analyzing organics in the aquarium), but that's probably not what you'd want.

There are tons of questions, and some will be much harder nuts to crack than others.

For example, in ultra low nutrient systems, some SPS corals are said to get "burnt tips" when the alkalinity is higher than 7-8 dKH (say, at 11 dKH), while those same corals in higher nutrient systems seem not to suffer that way. First off, is it a phosphate or nitrogen effect, and beyond that, why does it happen?

I expect I know the answer to this one, but is any strontium needed in the water for hard corals to thrive (I expect not). Many reefers seem to think it is useful, but the number of folks thinking so has declined over time. A DIY salt could be made with and without strontium, and you could compare coral frags from the same parent in side by side aquaria.

That same format could be used to test a lot of hypothesis (iodine, phosphate, nitrate, etc. ).

Tying into/building upon this insightful comment ... Potassiums crucial role

Misunderstood by many and would be an interesting research analysis, inevitably well received within the advanced reef community

[VectorAKA]

Originally Posted by JustinBT

Tagging along, interested to see what you choose as a topic. I'm hoping to get into school soon, something in the marine science realm

same