There is a great member of our clean up crew that is always over looked and they are the brittle stars (ophiuroids). We all have hitchhiker brittles in our tanks but I added two more into my system. I have a pink bubbletip brittle and a black brittle and without them I could never get away with the amount of feeding my tank gets. Every two or three days my tank gets up to four cubes of mysis into it to feed up my tubastrea colonies and balanophyllia. There is a lot of waste from this but thankfully these guys do some great scavenging throughout the whole tank and clear up all the waste.

However please be aware that there are a lot of big green brittle stars (Ophiarachna incrassata) on the market and these are fish eaters. They will set up basket traps to await a fish swimming under and then wrap it up and kill it. I have heard of people keeping these long term and losing no fish but I wouldn’t personally take that risk.

Be careful with this brittle starfish, it's a known fish eater. © Wikipedia

What are you experiences like with brittle stars?

No related posts.

Using T5’s over reef aquaria isn’t as groundbreaking as it was a few years ago, it is now considered a viable alternative to metal halide lighting. When T5’s first debuted in this hobby, as most new things, they were considered an inferior light source, however, now you can see a multitude of amazing reef aquariums lit solely by these flourescent tubes. Most aquarists swear by T5’s and those who have swopped out their halides for T5’s have reported increased growth in their corals. Yes there will still be those against T5’s in this hobby, but the proof that they work is evident on every forum.

I have recently taken the all T5 plunge, so can’t offer too much hands on advice with regards to this type of light. What I will do is outline some of the reasons for going the T5 route, and of course a few od the disadvantages. Nothing in this hobby is 100% no matter how much we want it to be.

One of the biggest reasons for wanting to go with T5 lighting is the enormous range of colour options available – I’m not referring to the actual fixtures, but the lamps themselves. With this diverse range of lamps it is a simple case of adding another lamp to shift your reef to a bluer look, and if you need more white light, just swop out a blue tube for a white one – simple. Various aquarium manfacturers have designed lamps to promote specific colours especially those in the red spectrum. There are all sorts of  T5 tubes available, ranging from blue white, pink, yellow, through to actinic. You’ve got 10K, 12K, and 15K lamps to choose from. I think the list of available lamps in the T5 range is really an open book as some aquariusts have found a few non-aquarium (read: cheaper) specific lamps that produce excellent results.

You can also dim T5 lamps if used in conjunction with the correct ballast – thus further allowing for more natural dawn and dusk lighting helping to reduce the lights on/off jumps by fish. With lamps being dimmable, it is possible to dim your lamps when introducing a new coral to your aquarium to help it adjust to it’s new parameters.

Another benefit of T5 lighting is the heat they generate isn’t directed down on your reef as is the case with a point light source such as a metal halide. Although T5 do get very warm, they seem to transfer less heat to our aquariums.

The biggest downside of T5’s for us nanoreefers is the limited sizing options. T5’s shortest length is just shy of 2ft (600mm) when you add end caps etc. This alone makes placing T5’s over little reefs an issue. Many reefers have 2ft long T5 fixutres over their nano’s but do suffer from light spillage due to the unit being longer than the aquarium.

With regards to some T5 options, one can go with a retro fit option (be sure to use high quality reflectors, one per tube) or if you want the full effect, why not go for one of the numerous stylish T5 pendants available from companies* such as ATI, Fauna Marin, Tek, IceCap, Reflecta, KorallenZucht, Paradiso and many others.

Paradiso by Easy Life NL

FaunaMarin Starfire

ATI Powermodule

*these are a few companies that are known to supply 24w T5 units, some other companies have 39w T5 units as their smallest size.

In the next part of the Lighting up nano reef aquariums series, I will take a look at possibly the biggest trend in reef aquariums right now, the use of LEDs.

If you have any questions, suggestions or comments about lighting a nano reef tank, feel free to post them in the comments below. Looking forward to your input on this series.

Don’t miss a thing!

Be sure to subscribe to the email list or RSS feed, follow @nanoreefblog on Twitter or connect on facebook to get follow this series on nano reef aquarium lighting.

Related posts:

1. Metal Halide lighting: Lighting up nano reef aquariums. Part 2
2. Lighting up nano reef aquariums. Part 1.
3. 18″ High Output T5 lamps

Although already considered ‘old school’ by most aquarists – metal halides still offer our animals most if not all the light they need to thrive in our glass (sometimes acrylic) boxes.

I’ve had the pleasure of running a 60g reef system lit by dual 250w Radium lamps while my most recent tank, the 12g nano reef, was lit by a variety of 150w lamps including Radium and Icecap 14k and 20k lamps.

The biggest draw back of running halides on a nano system is the amount of heat these lights aim at the relatively small water volume. If you don’t have effective cooling methods in place (either chiller or fans, maybe even both) you will quickly create yourself a nice bowl of reef soup. And if you’re using fans to cool the tank, ensure you’ve got an auto-top off system in place as you’ll most likely have some major salinty swings due to the evaporative cooling.

With the heat being such a negative aspect of halides why should we even bother using them? Their intensity allows us to keep just about every light loving animal we would want in a reef aquarium. Halides are generally fairly small units therefor allowing them to be used over tanks as small as a 12″ cube. To help with heat issues, it is recommended that you run a metal halide lighting on an open top tank. There numerous ways of ensring your halide looks good over your tank. Here are just a few of the more common examples:

Aqua Medic Ocean Light pendant

Current USA light 'bowl'

Corallife pendant

Clip on halide

Nova II by Giesemann

Possibly one of the coolest reasons to use a halide, the glitter lines it produces within the aquarium, replicating the same illusion you would see if snorkelling in a shallow reef lagoon.

There are numerous colour temperature lamps available from a large selection of manufacturers. The most common K rated bulbs would be 10k, 14k and 20k. There are others such as 12k, 15k and if you fancy the midday sunlight look, you can opt for a 6500k lamp. Peformance of each brand various and each lamp has the perfect ballast for you to really get the most out of your metal halide setup.

If you want more information on halide lighting for reefs’, then swing your browser at the following links:

• Lamp & Ballast combinations
• Talking Reef podcast – Sanjay Joshi interview
• Different lamps & ballast reviews
• Everything You Need to Know About Metal Halide Lamps and Ballasts

In the next part of the Lighting up nano reef aquariums series, I will cover high output T5 lighting.

If you have any questions, suggestions or comments about lighting a nano reef tank, feel free to post them in the comments below. Looking forward to your input on this series.

Don’t miss a thing!

Be sure to subscribe to the email list or RSS feed, follow @nanoreefblog on Twitter or connect on facebook to get follow this series on nano reef aquarium lighting.

Related posts:

1. T5 high output lighting. Lighting up nano reef aquariums. Part 3
2. Lighting up nano reef aquariums. Part 1.
3. First look: ATI 6 x 24w dimmbar Powermodule T5 lighting unit

Shallow sunlight coral reef ©mattk1979 via flickr.com

Why do we need light?

Our light dependant aquarium residents use light to generate the energy they need to grow and reproduce, light is their breakfast, lunch and dinner – and all those snacks inbetween. Just as the food we eat, we need to ensure the lighting on our tanks satisfies the energy needs of the animals – sure you could survive on a diet of bread and water, but just adding a healthy helping of vegetables to the mix will drastically improve your well being.

As much as you could stick some mushroom corals under a normal off-the-grocery-store-shelf light (highly not recommended, just using this as an example!), they might survive but don’t expect them to be happy let alone expect them to grow and multiply. They would be using what little useful light energy just to stop themselves from heading to that big tank in the sky.

Light is not only an energy source it helps fish and other animals to live a normal life – imagine if you lived in a sewer and never ever saw any form of light? Your concept of day and night would severly be affected. Lighting we use on our reef aquariums also influence the colours of corals and other light loving critters – let’s not forget that these animals originate from tropical regions where large doses of sunshine are the norm.

Myriad of lighting options

At the moment, we as hobbyists have a huge array of suitable lighting to choose from and this can make selecting the ‘perfect’ light that much more difficult. With the pending new tank, ZEOnano9020 all-in-one system, in the works, I decided it was time to explore the various lighting options available to nano reefers and see what will suit the needs of the animals I intend to keep. (You see that, not what lighting suits me, but what suits the inhabitants of my new tank.)

Rather than cram this post with small paragraphs on each major lighting option available, I’ve opted to split this reef lighting article into a 5 part series, starting with this post followed by:

Part 2: Metal Halide lighting


Part 3: T5 high output lighting


Part 4: LED and other alternative lighting options


Part 5: Lighting the ZEOnano9020

If you have any questions, suggestions or comments about lighting a nano reef tank, feel free to post them in the comments below. Looking forward to your input on this series.

Don’t miss a thing!

Be sure to subscribe to the email list or RSS feed, follow @nanoreefblog on Twitter or connect on facebook to get follow this series on nano reef aquarium lighting.

Related posts:

1. T5 high output lighting. Lighting up nano reef aquariums. Part 3
2. Metal Halide lighting: Lighting up nano reef aquariums. Part 2
3. 5 reasons why nano reef aquariums are cool

Micronesia coral reef from above © mattk1979 via Flickr

The Great Migration

For the reefkeeping community the information we all crave has for the longest time been found in printed books. We knew that we could pick up a copy by a well-known authority in the hobby and we could trust his or her advice. While we devoured this info, we started talking about these ideas and sharing our experiences online – enter the infamous reefkeeping forums.

Death of Print

I am not saying that the online world has replaced the need for good aquarium literature – but the pace at which this hobby moves (perhaps a direct result of sharing info online?) published material easily becomes out dated in under a year. With the web becoming increasingy mobile – do we really have the need for aquarium books? Why spend money on a good-looking book only to find the latest trickle filter method is the way to do things? Perhaps I am saying that printed aquarium material is headed the way of the dinosaurs…

On Tap

The Internet has definetly had an impact on all printed aspects of this hobby – why buy a reefkeeping magazine when you can research and find all the information you need online? Sites, like this one, nanoreefblog and others such as Glassbox-Design (GBD), Reefbuilders, Aquanerd, Captive Aquatics, OCRD, PracticalFishkeeping and many others all deliver news from the aquarium community as and when it happens. In addition they review products, and talk about the hobby in general while offering their readers the option to voice their opinions. But they do seem to lack in good solid well written reefkeeping literature (yes, they all have published some great posts, I’m just saying, and yes, I’m also pointing fingers at myself). Would be great to see some reefkeeping.com (rip) and Advanced Aquarist magazine style articles.

Melting Pot

Long gone are the days when we listened to the advise of a handful of professionals and hung onto each of their printed words – hobbyists are leading the way forward with their discussions and rants on forums, all sorts of methods are being documented on blogs all over the internet, even if it is limited. All kinds of advice (some backed by years of experience, some based on hearsay) is being traded in an almost real time fashion across the world. Without the Internet I highly doubt the melding of US, Euro and Japanese reef aquaria styles would have occurred.

Less is More

I would like to see more of the respected reefers (and the not so respected pioneers) setting up their own blogs and sharing their experiences – not another site postings news, the other guys have that covered – with the world – I’m tired of scrolling through reams of useless one line posts on the forums, just to find some relevant information. Publishing articles on forums is not very user-friendly – use a blog instead please. Deliver the information once and allow people to learn instead of just giving the same recommendation 29 times a day on a silver spoon…

Information Overload

We have the forums, we have the blog/news sites, we even have a great community of reefers on Twitter and a few niche groups coming together on Facebook – there are even dedicated reefkeeping social media sites too. Is there too much choice? Is the overall reefing community fragmenting and returning to the ‘dark pre-Internet’ age where we all lived in small isolated villages? Is everybody trying to be ‘that person’ who creates the next Reef Central?

Conclusion

What is the point of this post? To be honest I’m not entirely sure, I’m just really thinking out aloud about this hobby and the online space it occupies.

What do you think of the online reefkeeping world? Please share your thoughts below, or get in touch if you’d like to add something more substantial in the form of a guest post.

Related posts:

1. The great debate: Is it a ‘rimless’ or a ‘braceless’ reef aquarium?
2. Elos USA launches dedicated website with online store and blog
3. Are you addicted to the reef aquarium hobby?

The 'tank' as of 24th February 2010

The idea for a truly long term micro/pico reef (for this article, one gallon or less) came to me as I was graduating college and searching the early internet forums for ideas on small reef aquaria in 2000-2001 to see what was possible and establish the current limitations of small marine aquaria. The smallest I could find, in the history of reef aquarium work altogether and in a lot of searching online, were 2.5 gallon tanks- some ranging back into the 1970’s (Thaler Puddle, Dr. Ellen Thaler for example) and an article on Reefs.org interviewing DC Potts about his successful pico tank from the late 90’s.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XOsitYhihc

In 2001, even pictures of quickly-assembled gallon and half-gallon experimental aquariums (now common) were not available across the web, especially those using synthetic saltwater, so it was truly untested waters to work with half gallon aquaria that had to meet strict criteria to be valid in my opinion: they had to develop and sustain a diverse population of stony corals, benthic organisms and coralline algae, meet all water support needs with reasonable care (for example, no daily water changes) and they had to last-as long or longer than large aquaria without going eutrophic (high nutrient/algae dominated) relying on biology, not mechanical devices, to run the micro ecosystem. In hindsight they would break every rule the current establishment held against ultra micro aquaria, using simple science anyone could replicate, and the vast resources of the web had the friends I’d need to do it.

Lastly, they had to stand the test of master aquarists across the internet when reviewed-the technophiles like the guy at the rock concert who can tell when the guitarist messes up a single note. Emerging from all that scrutiny and time in preparation should be a new way keeping corals in the home…it’s still evolving as we all exchange ideas and new designs on blogs like this one.

The Reefbowl

One day when walking through Wal-Mart and thinking about design options, I noticed the curved 1.5 gallon vases for a few dollars and thought that would be a neat trial run, a seven dollar reef aquarium. When looking at the vase and thinking about substrates, pumps, etc it dawned on me the little plastic dishes I was using in the lab to keep pothos vines watered seemed the exact diameter of these large vases, maybe it would function like a lid if inverted? So I took the vase home, filled 1/3rd of it with oolitic substrate and saltwater and decided to bubble it instead of a pump, primarily I wanted to use gear I already had and the old aquarium pump happened to be there.

I knew not to add animals; this was just to test heating and salinity control. Well in four days the salinity had only increased from 1.023 to 1.024, the water line dropped only a quarter inch, and that was it-the design was lucky and worked perfectly with no further modifications. For the first time, a gallon reef aquarium had surpassed the top off requirements of a 100-gallon aquarium without complex equipment, and it was easily repeatable to anyone who wanted to try with common Wal-Mart supplies. The air stone met all the circulation requirements of the tank, it kept CO2 from accumulating so it lent strong pH support, it is the absolute ideal way to run a vase reef for these reasons, above any water pump. No animals in situ mind the air bubbles whatsoever… Normally, this combination of gear would be frowned upon in the established reef circles, so this presents another way to bend the rules unique to pico reefs.

The vase continued to evolve and it can be found by searching for anything with vase reef or reefbowl (non spaced) in the wording, there are thousands of threads about it all over the web because I spend a lot of time promoting, discussing and helping others replicate the art. My current vase reef is 4 years old and I expect it to run much longer barring hardware failures (knock on wood). Recently my friend Mark K. (Warlion) developed the vase even further by drilling the line access into the vase, rather than over the lip. This has added two more days between top offs, an unheard of maintenance schedule for any reef aquarium.

Additional pico reef photos can be found here.

The 1/2-gallon PalmTop Reef-No Evaporation

As the reefbowl sat and inspired me further, collecting simple corals that got along well, other ideas such as complete sealing came into mind and one day it snapped in my head to simply include a refugium as a rear subdivision in a tank, obscured by a false reef wall, to use photosynthesis to pump out oxygen under a sealed lid. This would bind respiratory waste CO2, stop evaporation altogether, it would bind up nitrogen and phosphates in the macro algae to some degree, and combined with weekly water changes (something not procrastinated if only one gallon and three minutes) the Palmtop Reef was assembled out of a special beta tank available at the time.

The first long term half gallon reef aquarium documented on the internet, and still the only fully documented sealed reef aquarium (non evaporating) of any size, this helped pico reef keepers find a unique niche among large-tank husbands who were once sure such a thing was impossible I could see in the web forums. Together online we worked out a carbonate dosing system for the micro tank which produced miniature acropora tabular growth and copious coralline algae, this indicated the ion support was spot-on even with no testing of any water parameters outside of salinity! My simplicity requirements had been met--no exceeded.

There was so much helpful input from other posters along the way to help me further my cause, Lunchbucket (Eric Peterson) is a fine example, he and I go way back in the reef forums (before 2003) and his tanks were a source of wonder for me as well along with many other board regulars who chimed in with support and help as needed …all the help needed was on the internet and for that I am so grateful.

Chemical/Physical Changes

Over the years in discussing forum threads about keeping marine aquaria in odd shaped containers, we are starting to see how shapes beyond the standard open square aquarium greatly change, and assist, the keeper if they are willing to make tradeoffs. The first tradeoff is fish, don’t use them in any pico reef is my best advice. I have experimented with fish like gobies before, and don’t agree they should be kept in ultra small aquariums.  By excluding fish in the design, there are no size restrictions for aquaria that can grow scleractinian corals.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3lhEeOCpao

For example, the fluted vase reef design is an absolutely critical shape for many reasons. The slant of the neck above the water line and under the lid forms a catch surface where the popping bubbles eject various fragments and wastes from the water column; this can be wiped periodically and is essentially a functioning skimmer. The lid rests on the inner diameter of the vase neck, something not possible in square tanks, and this directs the splatter back down into the bowl and away from the edges where salt creep would form in the usual situation around a lid, and it also seals the tank, taking it from a 2x daily top off opened to a twice weekly top off with a lid!

Continuing the ways container shapes change the physicality of a reef aquarium, Orb-type nano reef aquaria reveal an ever-increasing surface area for evaporation to occur as the water level drops (small surface area when full, large surface area approaching the equator of the orb or bowl) so the salinity increase is on an apparent log-scale just like pH, it’s not a consistent evaporation rate when compared to a square tank. Evaporation rates between days 3-4 are markedly faster than on days 1-2 on a globe/orb saltwater aquarium after a top off because as the water level drops more surface area is exposed to amplify water loss.

For total salinity control, small containers that can be sealed, and subdivided for plant growth, are the right size to use small lights and pumps that would otherwise overheat a larger sealed reef attempt and these small containers are also dwarfed by a basic desk fan when cooling needs arise during summer months. Knowing these variables ahead of time greatly hastens reef work in odd or small containers; this is helpful to keep in mind.

Just to mention a few final observations, which are better left as subject material for expert marine biologists, pico reefs are also changing what we observe as allelopathy or “war mechanisms” in scleractinian or “stony” corals because of the concentration ratios seen in these tiny tanks. How is it possible for 15 genera of coral, plus assorted invertebrates and mollusks, to share a gallon of water day after day in between servicing for years and not nettle the water into a mucus-laden soup?

These answers can be found in the further study of pico reef biology, there should be lots more to come over the new year as others make their observations known and we all continue to create a collective knowledge pool for the matter.

In closing, some people feel the micro reef designation will soon become the most popular in the hobby for a number of reasons listed in common nano reef articles (cost/footprint etc). A keeper or a future keeper of pico reef aquaria will have done much online research to get where they want to be since that is the only material available on the matter, so this networking combined with the use of maricultured corals and tempered experimentation should continue to bring our hobby into new homes at an astounding, and ethically sustainable rate.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss pico reef biology even further, be sure to leave a comment below.

Related posts:

1. Reef Bowl videos – pico reefs in vases and jars
2. Reef aquarium close up’s with the D-D NanoScope

There is an amazing thread(s) on Reef Central, Rimless Aquarium Club, (Part 1 & part 2) which showcases a variety of beautiful systems including the following, which happen to be some of my personal favourites:

Surely ‘braceless aquarium’ is the correct term?

But, there is always a but, why have they all be deemed ‘rimless’ aquariums? They all have a rim, an edge, don’t they or am I missing something here? None of the tanks are braced though. Perhaps the term ‘open topped’ gets thrown around too, but I’m having a hard time understanding why these tank are known as ‘rimless’.

Is it just a cool sound term for great looking aquariums? Was something lost in translation? Does the term really convey the true idea behind this style of aquarium?

I for one will refer to my new system, the ZEOnano6012, as a braceless aquarium – calling it rimless just doesn’t sound right.

Credit: Photos in this post are from the threads mentioned in this post and belong to the user who is mentioned in the caption

Related posts:

1. Great online reef aquarium debate
2. Reef Aquarium Aquascape Inspiration from the Maldives
3. Chalice Corals – The Nano Reef Aquarium Coral Collection (part 1)

1. Money

With so many great off the shelf nano reefs available today, you can simply pick the one that will work for your budget. Smaller volume means less salt to buy for water changes, less money to spend on livestock (you can only cram so many animals into that little box!), less money on running costs – you get the picture.

2. Space

I’m sure we’d all like to have a huge 6ft x 2ft x 3ft slice of reef in our houses, but as living areas are getting smaller and smaller, one needs to be practical, and well, a nano fits in just about anywhere – and yes, putting it on the kitchen counter is a great location too!

3. Observation

With a small aquarium, you can easily observe your livestock. Smaller creatures take center stage. Imagine trying to look for your Hymenocera elegans (that’s Harlequin Shrimp to you non latin speakers) in a 300g reef.

Harlequin Shrimp © daikiki

4. Cool factor

Having a nano reef makes you cool. Besides, why would so many reefers with large tanks start nano’s – they know it to, having a nano reef aquarium is the way to go.

5. Less back problems

With a smaller volume of water, those weekly water changes will be a breeze. Changing 20litres of water once a week sure does sound better than 200litres per week. Also, if your nano goes ‘bust’ in the evening, the amount of water to mop up is a lot less than if your 100g system purges it’s on your expensive lounge (or any other room) floor.

Although these five points make nanoreefing attractive, this small side of reef aquariums does come with it’s challenges – more about that in another post.

I’m sure you have your own reasons why nano reef’s are a good choice, let’s hear them in the comments.

Related posts:

1. Lighting up nano reef aquariums. Part 1.
2. Metal Halide lighting: Lighting up nano reef aquariums. Part 2
3. T5 high output lighting. Lighting up nano reef aquariums. Part 3

Stunning, wouldn't you say?

The red of this coral almost glows

Bleeding Apple Chalice close up

There are apparently five frags of this beauty available, no word on price, but I’m sure it won’t be cheap.

Related posts:

1. Chalice Corals – The Nano Reef Aquarium Coral Collection (part 1)
2. Ultra Australian Chalice, Favia, Bowerbanki and SPS frag packs from UniqueCorals.com
3. Reef Aquarium Aquascape Inspiration from the Maldives

© Vince (UniqueCorals.com)

They are all the rage, they come in just about any colour combination, they command crazy prices – this is the group of corals known as the Chalices and they are ideal corals for a nanoreef (if you can afford them).

Today it is almost impossible to see a photo of a reef tank (nano, medium and large systems) and not see at least one chalice frag sitting on the sandbed.

© Vince (UniqueCorals.com)

But what is the appeal of these seemingly expensive and most times well overpriced (in the USA) LPS corals? Undoubtfully it is the myriad of colours they come in. You name the combination and I’m sure somebody will stand up and say they have it. Perhaps it’s the interesting common names which so often come along with these corals? I’d like to tell somebody I have two “red peppermint rocknrolla high on life” chalice frags, care to swop one for one of your “pop’n flying saucer of Pluto-o-death purple highlight delight” frags? I’m sure you get the picture – however this naming trend is only confined to the USA and at times comes up in the Canadian circles. In the UK and Europe, the ‘cool’ names don’t seem to have caught on, yet…

One would think that this “colour’tastic” coral collective would be a challenging coral to care for but that is not the case. Most of the corals labelled as chalices’ are relatively easy to keep, only commanding decent lighting, adqueate flow and some feeding (if you’d like to speed up growth). Much like every coral we keep, each frag and colony responds differently to their environments and by just changing one aspect, you can either help the coral grow faster or even change colours and patterns. It is because of these relatively basic by ‘reefkeeping standards’ requirements and their slowish growth that make chalice corals practical and wonderful additions to our nano reef aquariums.

Meet the Chalice family

The term Chalice coral was possibly coined by American, Steve Tyree, back in 1996 when he successfully kept and maintained the now famous Blue Chalice.

Steve Tyree Blue Chalice coral © ReefFarmers.com

The chalice title has since become a common name to various genera of corals under the Pectiniidae family.
These genera include:

• Echinophyllia
• Echinopora
• Oxypora
• Mycedium
• Pectinia
• Physophyllia
• Echinomorpha

Echinophyllia

This group of the Chalice family is made up of some of the most frequently seen varieties in the hobby. Echinophyllia aspera is probably the most common coral  followed by Echinophyllia echinata, Echinophyllia orpheensis and Echinophyllia pectinata.
While the following are seldom, if ever, seen in the hobby, Echinophyllia echinoporoides, Echinophyllia maxima, Echinophyllia nishihirai, Echinophyllia patula, Echinophyllia taylorae, Echinophyllia tosaensis and Echinophyllia costata.

Echinopora

I suspect that the two “Echino’s” of the Chalice world get mixed up a fair bit. But as previously mentioned, the Echinopora group was probably the first chalice coral to make it into the hobby. Aside from Echinopora lamellosa, the genera is comprised of the following other species: Echinopora ashmorensis, Echinopora forskaliana, Echinopora fruticulosa, Echinopora gemmacea, Echinopora hirsutissima, Echinopora horrida, Echinopora mammiformis and Echinopora pacificus.

Oxypora & Mycedium

These two genera are another relatively common group of corals that carry the Chalice badge. Species that fall under the Oxypora genera are: Oxypora convoluta, Oxypora crassispinosa, Oxypora egyptensis, Oxypora glabra and Oxypora lacera. While species under Mycedium are: Mycedium elephantotus, Mycedium robokaki, Mycedium spina, Mycedium steeni and Mycedium umbra.

Other genera

The remaining genera’s are comprised of Pectinia, Physophyllia and Echinomorpha.

We have collect a selection of Chalice corals to share with you. Can you ID them by genera or even species? I think going with the name, Chalice, works just fine.

A big thank you to Gary McKinney, Vince @Unique Corals and  Andy Young for the usage of their photos.

The beginnings of a trend? Perhaps.

While researching this article, I stumbled across “The Easily Over-looked Echinophyllia” from Advanced Aquarist Online magazine back in June 2002. I really find the opening paragraph quite funny seeing as how the Chalice coral has bloomed into a vividly coloured modern reefkeeping trend.

Not too many hobbyists are familiar with the corals of the Echinophyllia genus, from the Pectiniidae family. In many ways, that’s not surprising. It’s received very little mention in aquarium books, which is understandable considering how infrequently Echinophyllia shows up for sale. Even when it is available for purchase, though, most hobbyists usually won’t give it a second look. It usually comes in as a very drab brown or gray, with no trace of another color to be seen.

I highly doubt author Charles J Devito knew that his article could well have been the catalyst for this coral trend… or did he?

Coupled with its undemanding nature, its remarkable coloration makes it a gem the aquarist should make an effort not to overlook.

Would love to hear what your experience is like with these extremely colourful yet relatively easy to keep corals. Over to the comments, you turn to speak.

Look out for the next installement of The Nano Reef Aquarium Coral Collection series. In part two, we’ll be looking at Zooanthids. Which type of coral do you think is a suitable for a nano reef? Let us know.

Related posts:

1. Bleeding Apple Chalice
2. Untouched coral reef system discovered
3. The aquarium that spawned the SPS coral nano reef generation