Coral reef aquarium passion

When one Roseburg surgeon wants to set down his scalpel and lose himself in vibrant marine life native to Fiji and Marshall Islands waters, he steps into his basement.

Howard Bourdages, general surgeon at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, has nurtured coral reef aquariums for more than 30 years. When he moved from Naples, Fla., — aquariumless — to Douglas County six years ago, the absence of his longtime hobby seeped into his sleep.

“He was dreaming of fish,” said his wife, Beverly Bourdages. And so in his Roseburg home, the 46-year-old father of two revived his passion.

The rush of water and the soft hum of motors fill the blue-tinted basement where six aquariums line the room’s walls.

Inside his prize 125-gallon saltwater tank, spectacular blue and yellow tang fish dart behind stunning pink, green and aqua coral.

Maintaining his slice of the tropics inside a Northwest basement is no easy feat.

Lighting, temperature, filtration and water flow must be precisely calculated to sustain the fragile life within the waters. The lights suspended above the tank, specifically chosen for their intensity and blue hue, allow the coral to grow algae cells needed for survival. The lights must be monitored to avoid raising the water temperature above 80 degrees. Cabinet doors below the aquarium reveal a complex filtration system. A backup power supply sits near the tank in case of a power outage. Pumps create a constant flow throughout the tank, a system that the surgeon compared to the human heartbeat, circulating nutrients and oxygen in the water to the coral.

“I’m really just amazed by the life,” said Howard Bourdages.

He has spent years tweaking the tricks of his trade.

His medical intuition crosses over into his marine life hobby. To the right of his main saltwater aquarium he keeps a 20-gallon hospital tank. That’s where he places new fish to monitor their health before introducing them into the main aquarium. A sick fish, he said, could infect the entire tank’s ecosystem. The hospital tank allows him to treat an unhealthy specimen with chemicals before introducing it into its permanent habitat. It’s a practice he strongly recommended in an article he wrote for Freshwater and Marine Aquarium magazine.

He has performed autopsies on a few fish, but was never overly successful at pinpointing the cause of death. Learning the subtle nuances that keep the creatures healthy, he said, has been his main focus.

While he peered into the water, a purple and yellow royal gramma fish sailed by the lanky arms of a brittle starfish and passed a duo of the orange and white clown fish, made famous in the Pixar film “Finding Nemo.”

Bourdages buys most of his coral from aquarium stores. Live rock allows the coral to grow in captivity, a discovery that Bourdages called the biggest advancement since he began the hobby. The coral in his reef, some the size of cantaloupes, began as golf ball-sized fragments that cost between $15 and $100, depending on the color. The fragments mature slowly.

“Nothing good happens in a reef tank quickly,” he said. “You have to have patience.”

Supplies needed to keep the six tanks full of life are housed in a walk-in basement closet equipped with a sink and water purification system.

As Howard Bourdages brushed his finger across a section of the thousands of moving polyps extending from organ-pipe coral, the polyps retracted at his touch. A diver for 25 years, he’s seen flourishing in the wild the very wonders housed in his basement.

“It’s just incredible,” he said. “To see all of this the size of a football field makes my heart race.”

• You can reach reporting intern Desiree Aflleje at 957-4211 or by e-mail at daflleje@nrtoday.com.