On his newly set up 700 gallon display/mother colony tank he uses the ReefBrite LEDs along with Actinic t-5 lamps and 5 250-watt metal halides that he only runs for 6 hours each day. The only commonality among all of his tanks is that on each of them he uses blue ReefBrite strips to maximize the coloration of the corals, sorry Sanjay. In terms of lighting, Jason uses a wide variety of lighting types on all of his tanks and with what looked to me like equal success. I would love to tell you that Jason told me some secret recipe that contributes to his success, but after talking with him now over several hours and seeing his corals at numerous events and visiting his home twice I have actually figured out the three main things that are producing his success: good but not crazy intense lighting, strong to very strong water movement and very low fish loads with most of the fish being herbivores. In every tank, no matter the size or type of coral that Jason was keeping was an example of what pristine perfect corals could look like. I looked in every tank, in every vat, and in every nook and cranny in these vats and tanks and amazingly there was no algae of any type anywhere, there were no dead or bleached spots on any of the corals. But it is not the color and the variety that is impressive, it is that virtually every coral, whether small frag or large colony is in absolutely pristine condition. The first thing that strikes you after getting over how much water is moving around and the sound it makes when you enter the basement is just how many perfect brightly colored corals Jason is cultivating in these systems. The overall design, with the many interconnections may not look elegant, but it is not only efficient but it also is easy to maintain according to Jason, which is pretty much what we are all looking for in our tanks. The other systems are separate, with the quarantine tank almost being in isolation off is a corner by itself to prevent there being any chance of anything new being brought in contaminating the other tanks and corals.
Several of the vats and 2 of the display tanks are all connected to a 300 gallon sump. These include 3 x 220-gallon vats, a 400-gallon tank, a 120-gallon tank, 150-gallon cube, the new 700-gallon display tank, a 200-gallon upstairs display tank and a 110-gallon quarantine tank. Jason has almost 2500 gallons of corals in a variety or tanks and vats throughout his basement/ coral farm. While his systems two years ago were impressive, his new revamped systems and especially his display tank is awe inspiring. I had visited Jason’s home almost 2 years ago, and like most of us, Jason spent the last two years improving everything about systems. While traveling to Washington DC, to give a talk this past weekend I made a small detour to visit Jason’s new and improved fragging facility and see first-hand his new 700-gallon display tank. But a coral aquaculturist is a pretty much an apt description of what he does for a living. In fact to Jason, calling him a coral fragger are fighting words as he is not someone who just frags wild colonies of corals and sells the fragments.
DREAM REEF TANK PROFESSIONAL
However, even among these few there is one who has taken his passion for the hobby and love for corals to the next level and he is for lack of a better term, Jason Fox is a professional coral aquaculturist, which is not to confuse him with a semi-professional coral fragger. A lucky few take their passion for the hobby and do things like become shop owners, or marine biologists or professional reef bloggers. Unfortunately for most of us this is not possible and many of us are content to simply find a vocation that will help us pay for our addiction. To paraphrase the old adage, you should find a job that you really enjoy doing and then every day going to work is a pleasure.
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