Spotlight of the Week- 9/3

One of Madison’s ongoing projects in the lab is to maintain the coral tanks. In their natural habitat, corals can be sensitive organisms. They thrive in very specific conditions when it comes to temperature, salinity, pH, and nutrient exposure. To properly raise corals, Madison must limit the amount of algae growing in the tanks, ensure that the salinity and temperature stays constant, and feed the corals consistently. Algae can be harmful to corals in large amounts; to ensure coral health, sea urchins are placed in the tanks to eat the algae along with weekly tank and coral scrubbings to reduce algal coverage. To document the coral growth and progress, Madison has been photographing the corals under a microscope each week. These coral fragments were collected earlier in the summer, and have been growing ever since!