What does it actually take to keep a 212,000-gallon live coral reef thriving for decades? On this episode of Inflow, Charles Delbeek, coral expert at Steinhart Aquarium (California Academy of Sciences) and co-author of The Reef Aquarium book series, joins the show to walk through nearly 30 years in coral husbandry, from hobbyist reef tanks in Toronto to professional exhibit design at Waikiki Aquarium and Steinhart.
Charles breaks down coral husbandry as a balance of science and art: exhibit design fundamentals like surface-area-to-volume ratio and hiding life support equipment from public view, protein fractionation and surface skimming, ozone dosing and ORP/color-based control, and the structural realities of building coral systems that last: concrete quality, rebar corrosion, cathodic protection, and sacrificial anode choice. He shares a cautionary tale about a value-engineered ozone manifold that nearly over-dosed an entire system, walks through alkalinity and calcium maintenance approaches on both sides of the Atlantic, and explains why water motion and lighting are just as much life-support components as filtration. Charles also corrects a common myth about coral growth rates, recounts a striking observation from the 1997-98 global bleaching event in Palau, and closes with a candid look at the knowledge-transfer gap facing the aquarium industry as veteran staff retire.
This episode is brought to you by MDM Pumps and Longhorn Organics. Thank you for supporting Inflow and the LSS community!
Inflow is the podcast where we discuss all things related to aquatic animal life support. Subscribe, leave a review, and find more episodes, show notes, and sponsor info at https://inflowlsspodcast.com/.
- (2:28) Guest Introduction: Charles Delbeek of Steinhart Aquarium
- (3:09) Charles's Background: Toronto Hobbyist, Scuba and Photography in the Keys
- (3:53) Reef-Tank Pioneering with the Toronto Aquarium Society and Writing The Reef Aquarium
- (5:58) Master's in Zoology and Starting a Career at Waikiki Aquarium (1995)
- (7:08) Science vs. Art in Coral Husbandry
- (10:35) Exhibit Design Fundamentals: Surface Area to Volume, Hiding Equipment, Spacing Corals
- (13:52) Surface Skimming and Protein Fractionation
- (17:13) Moving to Steinhart Aquarium and the 212,000-Gallon Live Coral Tank
- (18:18) Ozone Use and ORP/Color-Based Control
- (18:44) The Value-Engineering Ozone Manifold Story
- (23:49) Industry Staffing and the Knowledge-Transfer Gap
- (30:00) Structural and Construction Concerns: Concrete, Rebar, Corrosion, Anodes
- (34:47) Alkalinity and Calcium Maintenance: Reactors vs. Dosing, Kalkwasser
- (38:35) Water Motion: Diffusion Boundary Layer, DC Pumps, Closed Loops
- (40:11) The 1997-98 Bleaching Event: An Observation from Palau
- (45:22) Lighting as a Life-Support Component
- (50:23) Source Water Treatment and Nitrate/Phosphate Management
- (56:05) Closing Advice and Key Takeaways
- (59:31) Corals Are Not Slow-Growing: The Pruning Misconception