Database of Photos of Ocean Coral Reefs for Aquascaping and Coral Placement

[MarsRover]

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General Posting Guidelines:
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I’d really like this to NOT become just another pretty pictures thread...the intention is to be a database so that it may be useful to others. With that in mind, PLEASE follow the guidelines below when posting:

• Post a photo, that you have taken yourself or found on the internet (citations please.....) of a real reef in the ocean!
• Include the location in the world of that photo (if known!)
• PLEASE: Include all/some the genus/species of coral (and fish if you so choose) that you know of in the photo (common names are "OK". Scientific names are better....) This is the most important part! I know it takes time to do this but this thread has no pointif you don't list at least some of the animals..... so please contribute to our community!!
• Optionally also include the type of reef form: Pinnacle, shelf, wall, mound, sandy bottom, arch, etc...

This thread, if accepted by the community, is intended to build a searchable repository of photos of coral reefs in the ocean containing corals we have in the aquarium trade for the purposes of aiding in aquascaping, placing corals, and naturalizing our reefscapes.

For uniformity of posts, please copy and paste the below into your post:

<PHOTO>​

• Link to photo:
• Location of photo:
• Species in photo:
• Type of reef form:

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Hello Everyone,

This seems like a reasonable place to plunk this thread.

For some time now I have been searching for a thread like this with no luck! So i figured it's time to start one, either people will love it or hate it.....

I don't know about everyone else, but when it comes to my DT, it is the center piece of my home. I also may be a minor purest when it comes to coral placement; wanting my mixed reef to look at "natural" as the ocean.

I recognize there are many locations where, say, a plerogyra sinuosa may live in the world, and it's neighbors may vary. I'd love to have a place where someone looking to place their coral in their tank can search the name of the coral and find a ton of photos of how and with whom that genus/species lives in the wild!

I'll start us off:

• Link to photo:Link to photo
• Location of photo: Red Sea somewhere
• Species in photo: Turbinaria reniformis (?), Anemone, Sarcophyton, SPS

• Link to photo: Link to photo
• Location of photo: <unknown>
• Species in photo: Tabling SPS, Dendronephthya (?), Umbellulifera (?), Capnella (?), Gorgonia

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[playapixie]

This is great. I’ve searched for images like this lots of times. Sometimes, I have a hard time even finding photos of what a grown colony of a particular coral looks like, when all there is to go by is what a tiny frag looks like. Following.

 

[MarsRover]

bump! Anyone interested in participating???

 

[MarsRover]

bump!

 

[VR28man]

This is a topic that interests me a lot, and I intend to post more when I have more time.

But, to start out, I offer this video. I think it should be basic viewing by everybody who keeps a reef tank.



The point is different animals and corals come from different zones, with different lighting and flow requirements.

 

[Sarah24!]

Hello,

I think this would be awesome to do and have as like a data base for new and old reefers. It would be like a old school card catalog system but more advanced.

It will take me a few to do some research but this would be fun in several ways.

Sarah

 

[User1]

This is a topic that interest me a lot, and I intend to post more when I have more time.

But, to start out, I offer this video. I think it should be basic viewing by everybody who keeps a reef tank.



The point is different animals and corals come from different zones, with different lighting and flow requirements.

@VR28man thanks man! Just great...now I'm itching to go diving Just kidding - but it is a important video along with some of the books that we have that also discuss this. Also interesting to see the colors under the water of the corals vs. fish. Does not look like a box of skittles down there.

 

[VR28man]

Not a reef but a rocky inshore area.



And confirmation of the conventional wisdom that BTAs like crevices in rocks. And that Clarkii clownfish will aggressively defend their territories, and not back down.

Longdong, New Taipei City, Taiwan. Where i got my dive certification.


ETA another, rather than bump the thread.

Just looking at the coral growth, this is about a 20 degree angled upper fore reef. (lots of encrusting Porites lobata heads, with the occasional Pocillopora damicornis, and shallow living species of table Acropora. This area almost certainly gets lots of surge and waves, and the video is on an uncommonly calm day). Fish seem to be antias, and the large tangs (blue, naso, achilles, Moorish Idol, etc.).



This would be an awesome model for a longer tank. But you would need more acros or an appropriate other Porites species, since P lobata is not available for sale. (despite being possibly the most common coral in the world)



One further recommendation, which I've ETA'd, rather than post a new, due to copyright. The BBC series, South Pacific, narrated by Benedict Cumberlatch and available on Netflix in the U.S. right now.

I just watched episode 4, Volcanoes, which has excellent views of how reef zones look on Bora bora, among other places. They show some lagoon areas, to include Mandarin fishes in coral heads. An awesome trip through Kingman reef, as well, home of allegedly the densest collection of Giant Clams in the world. Do you want acros and pocillopora growing on your Giant Clam? That's the place.

Episode three also, towards the middle, has excellent footage of a shallow fore reef sloping down at around 45 degrees.

 

[samnaz]

My goodnesss I have so many inspiring/astonishing photos to add to this thread. Will do once I get my WiFi working...

 

[Daniel@R2R]

Awesome thread idea!

 

[samnaz]

Awesome thread idea!

Bump I agree but it needs more photos! Let’s see em!

 

[samnaz]

I'll start here... one of my all time favorite reefs, and the inspiration for my upcoming tank I'm setting up now.


Lembeh Strait, Sulewsi, Indonesia

Incredible shapes, textures, colors.... one of my all time favorite photos.

I'd never try to keep crinoids, but love this photo and the colors so much, I think it could be emulated with other similarly shaped and colored corals.

Great depth in this one. Hard to recreate though...

Beautiful colors, the round shape isn't exactly interesting though (imo).

 

[samnaz]

Watched a documentary on the Red Sea coral reefs. It had some spectacular and interesting reefs so I snapped a few photos with my phone of the best ones. Not great quality.

Check out this crazy pinnacle!


The pinnacle, closer up.



These are great too - ample open white sand spaces, littered with mounds of interestingly shaped corals.



Location: Red Sea
Species: too many to list, sorry all.
Link: n/a

 

[MarsRover]

I'll start here... one of my all time favorite reefs, and the inspiration for my upcoming tank I'm setting up now.


Lembeh Strait, Sulewsi, Indonesia

Incredible shapes, textures, colors.... one of my all time favorite photos.

I'd never try to keep crinoids, but love this photo and the colors so much, I think it could be emulated with other similarly shaped and colored corals.

Great depth in this one. Hard to recreate though...

Beautiful colors, the round shape isn't exactly interesting though (imo).

I really want to prevent this from becoming just another “pretty pictures” thread.

Pleas don’t forget to list species! At least some of the more common ones in the photo. Common names will do to.

The data base only works IF you post names of things! Otherwise you’re just posting photos (albeit very pretty photos) of the ocean!

Thanks to everyone for your contributions thus far! Keep it up!!!

 

[VR28man]

Here is an interesting one. For a seagrass tank. Or even a display refugium.



This is in a lagoon zone in Jamaica. Gentler and (i think the key is) less strong random flow than the fore reef. But still pretty strong oftentimes.

Brain is Colpophyllia natans, i believe (I’ll do more sleuthing later). I don’t believe this is available commercially. But substitutes would include many encrusting species. War corals, or other Favites or Favias, for instance, will grow in massive (brain) shapes like this.



The allegedly largest coral on Oahu, Hawaii, grows similarly. A 2m atoll-like Porites evermanni, growing out of the sand right next to the shore in the backreef lagoon area. It is probably like 500 years old.
https://goo.gl/images/kNVah2

(best pic i could find )

 

[vetteguy53081]

Off the coast of ocho Rios, Jamaica. goatfish, groupers, yellow line and yellow lined snappers

 

[jzw]

sorry for the bad pics, but can you get the idea? they're all low quality screen grabs, lazy me.

location: raja ampat, indonesia (papua province)
dive sites: mioskon, blue magic, surgeonfish slope
species: umm too many to name
corals: umm, same

placement: basically the flatter surfaces are the reefcrest areas, the slopes are the forereef, and caverns are usually at the base of the forefreef.

the best breathtaking pinnacles are on another famous dive site called sardine reef, but sorry, i'd have to dig deep thru old harddrives to find it. but awesome pinnacles. i should do it, uggg.

 

[jzw]

 

[choss]

MarsRover - thank you for starting this thread. Just yesterday I was googling "acans in the wild" and similar things to determine if there are any good pictures out there of natural reefs with acans to help me place these corals as I start my new tank build. My goal is to make it as natural as possible. I hope this thread takes off and I will post pics as my research bears fruit.

 

[MarsRover]

I'll start here... one of my all time favorite reefs, and the inspiration for my upcoming tank I'm setting up now.


Lembeh Strait, Sulewsi, Indonesia

I'd never try to keep crinoids, but love this photo and the colors so much, I think it could be emulated with other similarly shaped and colored corals.

Location: Red Sea
Species: too many to list, sorry all.
Link: n/a

^^^ This is exactly why we need species names in these photos! So that others can use the real ocean as inspiration for placement of their corals, by name! @samnaz thank you for trying to follow the format I laid out in the OP. Can you please go back and put some more names of animals by your photos? These photos are exactly what we need in this database but they need animal names to be useful! I know more people than just myself would appreciate it! Thanks!!!

Off the coast of ocho Rios, Jamaica

@vetteguy53081 Can you please go back and edit your post to include some animal names? Thank you!

sorry for the bad pics, but can you get the idea? they're all low quality screen grabs, lazy me.

location: raja ampat, indonesia (papua province)
dive sites: mioskon, blue magic, surgeonfish slope
species: umm too many to name
corals: umm, same

placement: basically the flatter surfaces are the reefcrest areas, the slopes are the forereef, and caverns are usually at the base of the forefreef.

...

@jzw thank you for following the posting guideline's formatting! I also love that you included placement/reeftype. I'm actually going to add that to the list of things in the OP! Can you plese go back and try and name some of the species? I know the community would much appreciate your contribution and your contributions will serve this database well if you do!!


Thanks everyone for your contributions! Keep them coming!

Please post animal names with your photos! This is pointless if you don’t post names of anything in your photos! Contributing to the community takes time, this is why a database like this doesn’t already exist!