Today I bring you a truly captivating article that travels back to explore Lee Chin Eng’s original thoughts on keeping a natural reef system. This exclusive content was graciously sent to me by Jeremy Gosnell, author for Tropical Fish Hobbyist and of his own works, Neptune’s Garden. No stranger to the deep, Gosnell has spent a considerable amount of his life below the ocean’s surface exploring the wonders of the deep. A certified PADI Dive Master and under water photography instructor at the Eastern Academy of Scuba Education, Jeremy also works with other divers and conservation societies to promote the welfare of our seas. “A love of marine aquariums led me into the world of scuba diving. The world of scuba diving gave me a love of natural coral reefs. Responsibly caring for captive ecosystems, with an eye on wild reef health, can act as a gear in the machine of conservation.” The article he sent over is a real wealth of valuable information we can all learn thing or two (or ten) from. It’s also pretty lengthy so I’ve decided to break it into a few installments. So here you have it, Part One of this exciting new read:
“60 years ago Lee Chin Eng, (considered by many to be the father of modern reef aquaria) created the natural system. Eng saw failure, in what was the common tank husbandry practices of his time. Marine aquariums were kept sterile, everything carefully cleaned and any would be home to anaerobic or aerobic bacteria was quickly removed. It was the thought amongst marine aquarists, in those days, that the ocean environment around coral reefs was so pristine, that in order to replicate it, ultimate purity had to be established. Eng recognized that while coral reef water appeared nutrient free, it was in fact nutrient full. Somewhere in the mud, rock and muck of a coral reef, organisms lived that could assimilate nutrients. Thus, the natural aquarium was born, with only water, light and a small power head. Many aquarists today don’t even know who Lee Chin Eng is, nor that it was he whom discovered the principles of modern aquarium keeping. Live rock filtration, refugiums and deep sand beds, were all part of Eng’s philosophy, and it caught on due to the dramatic success of the method. Even cutting edge filtration today, uses many of these same principles. While the natural approach does allow you to establish the fundamentals of nutrient removal, it isn’t without a host of caveats.
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