Anthony Calfo talks nano reefs, LE corals and the current state of the hobby

Anthony Rosario Calfo was born in Hawaii and currently lives in Pennsylvania, doing aquaculture and working as an active writer, publishing books and magazines on aquatic science and other genres. He is a lifelong aquarist and an aquarium professional that has worked at almost every tier in the industry chain. Part of his journey has included pioneering work as a commercial coral farmer, producing cultured reef invertebrates in a greenhouse environment for the ornamental and zoological trade.

We got in touch with him to get his views on the nano aspect of our wonderful hobby.

Hi Anthony, how are things going? You have been busy with some appearances at a few aquarium conferences recently – how were they? What did you talk about? What other upcoming events are you speaking at?

Cheers, my friend! I’m doing very well and delighted to hear from you as always. I’m especially pleased to see a nanoblog and so much support worldwide for keeping nanoreef aquaria. Aside from being a challenging and fun way to keep and study aquatics, nanoreefs play a crucial role in our hobby by allowing more people to affordable participate. In recent years of economic troubles, it’s been especially helpful to have folks and friends like you supporting and promoting this great way to keep reef creatures. Kudos!

Hmmm… regarding appearances. It has run a bit of a gamut recently. Quite a mix actually, including the national conference in America (MACNA XXI), some great hometown hobby clubs (Idaho is next), a lovely trip to South Africa for a regional show and some business consults (coral farms and government work). The next interesting trip is to Australia for a hobby event focusing on coral propagation.

My topics of discussion run the gamut from conservation through propagation, fish breeding, ornamental marine trade business, and of course good old-fashioned reef keeping.

How did you get involved in the guest speaking realm of the hobby? Is it an extension of being an author?

Actually, no. I was an active speaker long before I began writing substantially. I jumped on the lecture circuit about twenty years ago as a teenager. I had earned a reputation as a hardcore “fish nerd” with a knack for breeding fishes (fresh and saltwater). My early work growing corals under natural sunlight (skylights back then) also contributed to the invitations. I guess you could say I have been a road warrior for quite some time. I now travel to lecture monthly and have only had one month off that I can recall since 2001.

One of your best known books is the Coral Propagation book – do you have any new books lined up?

I do… though it’s a bit of a sad story. Publishing hobby books (niche and boutique markets) is a tough road. The profits are very lean, the time before a return is very long, and the capital needed to print a single edition (not to mention reprints) is very dear. While few of us write aquarium content to earn a living, the reality is that penning even as a volunteer for the love of the hobby takes a lot of money (to bring a new work to print). I have several new books written and finished that are simply waiting for me to scrape together enough money to print them. My focus in recent years has been on marine fishes… particularly breeding species that will contribute to our hobby becoming self-sustaining. That’s the sort of information that really needs disseminated right now, in my opinion.

How are things with your magazine, C Journal? What is your view on the various marine specific magazines available? Do you have a favourite? Do you think the Internet has made printed material less relevant these days?

The Internet clearly has not made printed works less relevant. On the contrary, it has fueled the business and vocation of print publishing. The growing success of huge online booksellers notwithstanding, there is an inalienable part of avid readers (if not book collectors) that simply want to hold and possess a printed work. For some it’s comfort, for others it’s convenience, and for others still the reasons abound. But I don’t see electronic media extinguishing printed material in our lifetime.

As for my reef journal, it is going very well. We are in our third year and I must say that publishing this magazine is perhaps the single most enjoyable thing I have done in the industry! The freedom to publish unique and interesting articles the likes of which mainstream magazines never could or would publish is deeply rewarding to me.

And for my favourites, I must say hands down that the German Koralle is tops. Daniel Knop is a brilliant editor, photographer and aquarist.

How do you feel about the popularity of nano reef aquariums?

Without exaggeration, nanoreef keeping may be the single greatest thing to strengthen our declining hobby. Aside from letting more folks buy into the hobby more affordably, it is recruiting more young people which will be the lifeblood of our hobby in the long run.

For a typical off the shelf 24g nanoreef, what kind of stock (fish, corals, inverts) would you recommend for the average hobbyist?

This may surprise you, but I’m not a big fan of keeping many fishes in a nanoreef, especially for the average or new aquarist. The reality is that the small volume of water in a nanoreef is too prone to a range of changes that most fishes are not evolved to endure. Numerous invertebrates, plants and algae, however, commonly occur intertidally and are well adapted to sometimes-extreme fluctuations in temperature, light and water quality.

That said, I’d like to see even the average aquarist focus on more of a biotope style aquarium. Without trying to be a purist, the assembly of species from the same biological niche simply “works” better over time. In contrast, mixing species from different niches or even different oceans(!) often leads to ongoing struggles… not the least of which is higher rates of morbidity. Many aquarists have observed that Atlantic and Mediterranean species commonly infect Pacific ones with parasites; the xenopathogenic component is too severe for small aquaria particularly.

Do you think certain popular animals shouldn’t be considered for a nano reef? Why?

Indeed. There are a number of species that simply need larger spaces for a variety of reasons. Tang species, for example, generally swim over wide ranges of the reef whereas eels, by comparison, lives a very sedentary life. The latter is far better suited for aquarium life and there are “dwarf” species that can even live quite well in a nanoreef.

Other creatures simply need more substrate from which to feed adequately. Asteroid starfishes (the stiff-armed sea stars) are a prime example. Where most Ophiuroid starfishes (brittle and serpent stars) are opportunistic and well suited to aquarium life, the Asteroid stars (such as the Blue “Linckia” varieties) need a staggering amount of surface area – without competition – to feed upon. As substrate grazers, a 100 gallon aquarium is usually still too small (especially with snails, blennies, tangs and other herbivores) to keep an Asteroid sea star alive for something close to a natural lifespan.

With the whole world becoming a lot more Eco friendly, what is your opinion on LED lighting for our reef aquariums? Do you think they’re a viable alternative for the growth and success of keeping corals?

I have worked extensively with LEDs now for a couple of years and discussed this topic with other industry leaders, such as Eric Bornemen, and the consensus as I see it is that LEDs are not even close to par (pardon the pun) for keeping and growing corals. For fish only tanks they seem to be great for a number of reasons, but they simply produce dismal results with too many zooxanthellate species at present. While the par output of some LED fixtures is very much in the expected range of success for reefkeeping, the individual bulbs are too focused in spectra it seems.

I have done experiments with nearly a dozen clones of the same coral (from different lighting schemes) and numerous species. Categorically most have suffered under the current LED technology. I pulled about three quarters of the trial specimens and returned them to their original systems (halide, T5 and natural sunlight variously) because it appeared as if they would eventually die.

On the subject of being ‘green’ – do you ever see a time when wild/imported corals and animals will stop being available to the hobby?

I think the writing is on the wall for stony corals in the next decade if not much sooner. It’s hard to say if fishes and soft corals will be restricted any time soon. Perhaps. The pressing question is will we – the hobby – properly self-police our use of these limited living resources until a time when we can be self-sustaining with domestically cultured specimens. I am concerned that legislation will restrict imports before we are fully prepared to wean off of wild stocks.

Will we ever see an Anthony Calfo Limited Edition coral? How so you feel about the whole ‘collectors’ aspect of this hobby – do you think it’s out of control? Did you see that a chalice coral frag recently sold on eBay for $2000!

I find the so-called limited edition, “rare” and designer corals horrifying. It is a staggering misrepresentation of what among collectible specimens from the reef is actually rare (few) and what is not (most). If you look at the model by which gouging sellers is doing business, it is almost always nefarious. Is a coral rare because a small importer can’t afford to buy 100 corals to get 20 select colors? But instead buys 5 or 10 pieces and statistically gets less of what they want? Is a coral rare because an aquarist frags a tiny parent colony monthly and can only get a few of pieces rather than act as a proper farmer and let the broodstock growout to a size that affords the monthly collection of dozens of frags (or better still… let the parent colony mature to a size at which it will planulate and yield thousands of new colonies per year). That’s not rare… that’s just bad business. Such sellers are ignorant at best and too often nefarious (ahem… a waiting list? Really?!?!). At the end of the day, however, it comes down to the (modified ) P.T. Barnum wisdom, “A fool and his money… were lucky to ever get together in the first place.”

For yourself personally, what would be your perfect nano reef setup? size, stock, equipment etc.

I like too many things to pick one, but it would be some sort of biotope. A paddleweed (Halophila) niche (the nano version of a lagoon tank) would be nice. I’d also enjoy a deepwater rubble zone with a dwarf angelfish or one of the microdesmids (Helfrichi Dartfish… so lovely!).

What do you think have been the most important changes within the hobby over the last 5-10 years? What do guy think is the next big thing for the hobby to overcome?

I think the single most important change has been the promotion of refugia. It has focused aquarists on the benefits and need(!) for a more complete, balanced and natural microcosm.

The next big thing is frankly our ability – or not – to become less dependant on wild collections. We may frankly be staring down the barrel of a gun with annual legislation proposed to limit or halt our hobby. We either become self-sustaining in the next decade or our hobby gets crippled.

Is there anything else you’d like to add? Any words of advice to budding nano reef hobbyists?

Have patience and seek to practice finesse. A nanoreef is a disciplined style in many ways. To keep the same range of species as one would in a larger aquarium, the nanoreef requires more attention to detail, water quality, species selection and habitat. The choices we make for smaller aquaria are in some ways more critical. For success, you need patience and finesse. Read all you can, see as many like displays as you can… and don’t stop hungering to do this and learn.

Thanks for taking the time to speak to us here at nanoreefblog.

It has been my pleasure.

Anthony Calfo’s published works include, “Book of Coral Propagation, Volume 1,” “Reef Invertebrates,” (2003), “C… The Journal of Aquatic Science, Travel and Adventure,” (2006-present) and an ongoing (now 7-part) Reef Poster series. Anthony travels monthly to counsel and share information with governments, commercial and private organizations about aquatic science and business. Find out more here: www.readingtrees.com