What do we know about coral diseases in aquaria?
Coral diseases and syndromes generally occur more frequently in response to some form of abiotic stress such as variations in sea water temperatures, salinity, pH, ultraviolet radiation, visible radiation (light), sedimentation and pollutants such as heavy metals.
Currently many scientific papers attempt to link these diseases to specific microbial pathogens such as bacteria, fungi and viruses, however there are almost always multiple causes of disease and whether these micro-organisms are the ultimate causal agents or players in a complex process of disease causation is not clear. As with human diseases, we are now routinely detecting coral pathogens on healthy corals, so the process of disease causation is typically more complex than the simple exposure of the host to a pathogen that it has not been exposed to before. In fact, it can be argued that the well-established test for pathogens known as Koch’s postulates has not been satisfactorily completed for any coral diseases either in the wild or within aquaria.
Therefore, the aim of this site is to evaluate all evidence to date for both wild type diseases and those in the aquarium and allow you to;
> Identify the most common diseases affecting corals,
> The symptoms these corals will show if they contract these diseases,
> Likely pathogens (proposed in the literature),
> and potential cures to trial if your corals contract any of them.
Currently many scientific papers attempt to link these diseases to specific microbial pathogens such as bacteria, fungi and viruses, however there are almost always multiple causes of disease and whether these micro-organisms are the ultimate causal agents or players in a complex process of disease causation is not clear. As with human diseases, we are now routinely detecting coral pathogens on healthy corals, so the process of disease causation is typically more complex than the simple exposure of the host to a pathogen that it has not been exposed to before. In fact, it can be argued that the well-established test for pathogens known as Koch’s postulates has not been satisfactorily completed for any coral diseases either in the wild or within aquaria.
Therefore, the aim of this site is to evaluate all evidence to date for both wild type diseases and those in the aquarium and allow you to;
> Identify the most common diseases affecting corals,
> The symptoms these corals will show if they contract these diseases,
> Likely pathogens (proposed in the literature),
> and potential cures to trial if your corals contract any of them.
