I am wondering if anyone knows of any information sources regarding zooxanthellae transfer. I am not sure but I think I may have something like this happening in my tank.
About two months ago I set up a frag tank with the same lighting conditions and fragged about 50 pieces of three different coral types. The purple staghorn, a tricolor turquoise/purple/blue staghorn and a neon yellow/green bottle brush are all now together in close proximity in the frag tank.
I have had it set up for about 5 years now and have mostly SPS in it. The coral in question is a purple staghorn changing color closer to the tricolor staghorn. (sorry pictures are a bit blurry)
Purple Staghorn
Tricolor Staghorn
Several pieces of the purple staghorn now have areas that distinctly look like the tricolor stag. Could it be possible that the zooxanthellae from the tricolor moved to the purple stag? The reason I think it may be the case is because the purple staghorn frags came off a mother colony in the display tank the had become shaded by another color a little so it developed some pale areas. It is these same pale areas that now look like the tricolor.
All these are from the Purple Staghorn Mother Colony
In my display I have colonies of the purple stag and the tricolor at various depths and nothing in that tank is exhibited this same effect.
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System Volume: Display+Sump+Frag Tank = 290 gallons
Display Tank:
60"L x 30"W x 30"H
2 x 400W DE Ushio 14K (at 10" above water level)
Frag Tank:
30"L x 18"W x 10"H
1 x 250W DE Ushio 14K (at 24" above water level)
Parameters:
Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia, Phosphate: not detectable
Calcium: 420
Alkalinity: 10
Magnesium: 1250
Salinity: 1.036 S.G.
Temp: 78 to 80
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About two months ago I set up a frag tank with the same lighting conditions and fragged about 50 pieces of three different coral types. The purple staghorn, a tricolor turquoise/purple/blue staghorn and a neon yellow/green bottle brush are all now together in close proximity in the frag tank.
I have had it set up for about 5 years now and have mostly SPS in it. The coral in question is a purple staghorn changing color closer to the tricolor staghorn. (sorry pictures are a bit blurry)
Purple Staghorn
Tricolor Staghorn
Several pieces of the purple staghorn now have areas that distinctly look like the tricolor stag. Could it be possible that the zooxanthellae from the tricolor moved to the purple stag? The reason I think it may be the case is because the purple staghorn frags came off a mother colony in the display tank the had become shaded by another color a little so it developed some pale areas. It is these same pale areas that now look like the tricolor.
All these are from the Purple Staghorn Mother Colony
In my display I have colonies of the purple stag and the tricolor at various depths and nothing in that tank is exhibited this same effect.
--------------------------------------
System Volume: Display+Sump+Frag Tank = 290 gallons
Display Tank:
60"L x 30"W x 30"H
2 x 400W DE Ushio 14K (at 10" above water level)
Frag Tank:
30"L x 18"W x 10"H
1 x 250W DE Ushio 14K (at 24" above water level)
Parameters:
Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia, Phosphate: not detectable
Calcium: 420
Alkalinity: 10
Magnesium: 1250
Salinity: 1.036 S.G.
Temp: 78 to 80
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