Rainbow Corals

Shortly after receiving the donation of the large reef tank, the Biological Oceanography program at Florida Tech received donation of many fragments, or “frags” of corals of all shapes and colors.  The Biological Oceanography students then drilled holes in rocks in which to mount the coral frags, and glued them in using a two-part marine epoxy putty.  They were eventually placed in the Pacific reef tank after adapting to their new bases and overcoming the trauma of being out of the water and glued.  Those which have done best in our reef tank are the bird’s nest (not Acros, but another small polyp, stony coral or SPS) the thick, yellow-green Acro, to the right side of the image shown, and the rusty plate coral (far background of image).  These have done very well in the reef tank and today you can still see the plate coral and a small piece of bird’s nest growing in the tank where it resides in Panther Dining Hall.