Coralite Podcasts
10.15.06 It's been about a year since I downloaded my first podcast and had the idea that I would be interested in doing a reef podcast. I published my first podcast in March and I now have 5 podcasts finished, 3 of which have been published so far. I started doing crude recordings but as of this writing, I am working to polish my audio editing skills and I am also writing a little intro jingle with a friend of mine. It's been pretty fun and I have a few more show ideas but I would love to get your suggestions for shows. Don't hesitate to send me some feedback via coralite at gmail dawt com.
Coral Spawning
1.16.07 With so much success and emphasis placed on propagation of corals by asexual reproduction, there has been very little attention placed on sexual reproduction. Accordingly, there is very little information available in the aquarium hobby about how sexual reproduction of corals actually takes place. Thankfully, the scientific community has been making great strides in this field of coral science research and this knowledge has started to trickle into the aquarium community. I was very fortunate to see over a decade of sexual coral culturing experience in action when I worked for Alina Szmant in Puerto Rico this summer. You know I wasn't gonna spend several months working with her without getting an interview about coral spawning. This is a topic which is very dear to me so I hope this recording will encourage more aquarists to think about sexual coral culture.
12.11.06 This is one for all the invert lovers out there. Fish and corals may be the high profile stars of reef aquariums but most reef tanks wouldn't function without an abundance and diversity of invertebrates. In this 'cast I catch up with my old Invert Zoology professor, Dr. Steve Stancyk. Him and I had a 25 minute discourse about the characteristics of brittle stars, we talked about how they compare to other echinoderms and we went over a few important functions of brittle stars in various marine environments. Dr. Stancyk focuses his research efforts on predator-prey relations of brittle stars and he tells us a little about some of the projects he has done.
10.15.06 The following recording is an interview with Dr. Joseph Pawlik, a marine ecologist at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington (UNCW) who focuses his research interests on the chemical ecology of reef sponges. Joining me for the interview is Chris Jury who is a recently enrolled graduate student at UNCW. Some of the topics discussed in the 45 minute podcast are the basics of how sponges function, the ecological significance of sponges, how sponges interact with corals and some of the symbiotic relationship between sponges and other organisms. The program is filled with anecdotes and stories about sponges so even if you're not that into sponges, I hope that this audio presentation will be entertaining nonetheless. Enjoy.
5.18.06 While I was at IMAC 2006 I caught up with Scott Whitlow and Jeff Hasselton to discuss the (relatively) new reef keeping system called ZEOvit. ZEOvit was developed and brewed by Thomas Pohl of Germany and it was designed to provide really low nutrient conditions to encourage strong coloration in corals. The unfamiliar and uncertain processes which the system encourages have led to a great deal of hype and controversy around ZEOvit. A lot of reefers are rightfully uncomfortable about using a solution without knowing what it contains but the exceptional results seem to be catching the eye of more and more aquarists. The podcast covers many of the basics of the system and more importantly we also introduce the unique internet community which thrives at zeovit.com.
Zooxanthellae
3.24.6 So i have just published my first podcast through talking reef (thanks Rob) and I am excited to hear how it is received. Coral people, aquarists and researchers alike, are all
becoming increasingly aware of the importance of the coral-algae symbiosis in terms of coral husbandry and reef ecology. This episode is a nice
distillation of the advances in our understanding of this relationship over the past few years. Many thanks to the Schmidt lab for hosting me recently and to Dr. Dan Thornhill for
participating in the interview.
