What corals do you have that've spawned?

[kevinpo]

Please post pictures or tell of corals that have spawned in your aquarium.

Here's one of mine:
Catalaphyllia jardinei

Regards,
Kevin

 

[kevinpo]

There has to be some other flashlight freaks out there. I told my wife all us reefers look at our tanks with a flashlight for hours after the lights go out :badgrin: She just shook her head and called me "Fishfreak"

Here's another one of mine that shot eggs for about 30 min. after the light went off. It is a Favia sp. coral common name of Moonstone.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[NaH2O]

Wow, Kevin - that is incredible!

 

[Curtswearing]

That is cool. I've never witnessed this before.

 

[The Claw]

Not quite spawning, but here is a plate coral that went through RTN. After reading Borneman, I decided not to take it out of my tank. This is two months later. These shots were taken in August 2003. I'll post what August 2004 looks like in a couple of days.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/boneaddict/mvc-025s1.jpg

 

[Curtswearing]

Welcome To Reef Frontiers!!!

 

[reiple]

cool. looks interesting.

 

[jojo]

I have a kenya tree that spreads like mad. I think it drops frags of off itself. I have only had the coral for about a month and theres gota be 10-15 new ones that have poped up all over my tank.

 

[Knowledgeseeker]

what is a kenya tree? Do you have pictures?

 

[jojo]

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=22&pCatId=652&TopCatId=600
Here is a picture of what they look like. If I had a working digi camera I would take a picture of mine.

 

[Stircrazy]

I don't have the cool pics but I have baby poclipora's all over my tank now so I guess they spawned.

Steve

 

[Anthony Calfo]

a mention here for those of us watching/enjoying reproductive events in our aquarium: there are so many interesting ways that corals can/do reproduce, as we know. Unlike many/most other animals in the Kingdom... sexual reproduction is not always the principal means of procreation. Its not event the preferred method for some reef invertebrates. Studies have shown in some areas of reef that dominant species/colonies are isogenous - that is to say, clones of the same parent/origin as when produced by asexual means. Indeed, we see this commonly in the wild and our aquariums alike as with anthocauli production in fungiids like The CLaw's Fungiid pictured above (and arguably other genera like Lobophyllia and Trachyphyllia and perhaps Cynarina as Eric B. has mentioned)... and we see it in events of asexual planulation like almost certainly has occured with Stircray's specimen(s).

Critics knocking coral fragging/farming as not being a "preffered" method of reproduction need to be reminded of these very common natural events of asexual activity And they are stepping stones on our way to uncovering and exploiting more successful ways of producing corals in large numbers... going from events of asexual planulation producing hundred of new colonies at a time, to events of sexual reproduction (eventually commonplace for us) producing thousands of new colonies/corals.

Anthony

 

[Katchupoy]

Here's my contribution.

I have this Kenya tree for some time now.

Image 1) I though something is wrong. Checked all the parameters, and everything were fine. Dont know what to do, so just hoped that everything will go back to normal.

Image 2) Blow up. See the bloated part of the kenya tree? Its been like this for two days then, one morning it was gone. It was back to normal again. Whew!!! But did not know that it seperated from the mother colony.

Image 3) Just found out this little baby after day 4. It floated for sometime and finally found this rock. I was so excited....

 

[Anthony Calfo]

seeing the natural branclet dropping of this Kenyan Tree ("Capnella") reminds me to mention that not all soft corals in our aquaria favor cutting techniques to propagate and share.

For example... heavily mucous genera/species like "Colt" corals (Klyxum - "Cladiella") and colored Alcyoniids (Sarcophyton elegans with other yellow/green toadstool or finger "leathers"), many of the Neptheids... Lithophyton, Lemnalia, Capnella and the like, will all yield much higher long term harvests of divisions (for those of you interested in more than casual propagation of these types) if you do not systematically cut them . Cutting these corals is simply not as successful as with other softies, and the recovery time of the parent/donor and grown out divisions is slower/weaker - thus effecting the cycle of harvest.

If instead you/we have patience to allow such colonies to mature to reach a critical mass where branchlet dropping occurs faster/more frequently or better still... the coral is allowed to reach a point where it begins to asexually planulate (as can often see in mature Neptheids with nifty little brood pouches visible on the stalk holding yet-to-be-released planulae), then we will realize much higher yields in propagation efforts.

ahhh... to frag or not to frag...

Anthony

 

[Maxx]

Great photo's guys, and thanks for the info Anthony. I thought I remembered from my marine bio classes that sexual reproduction actually uses more energy than asexual reproduction, so its more "cost effective" for many organisms to bud/clone/etc....
Kevin,
I've seen photo's of an elegence reproducing by budding....didnt know that they were able to do both. Any explanation for that Anthony? BTW Kevin, should yours ever decide to clone/bud, consider me calling dibs on the first one you feel like shipping.
Nick

 

[Anthony Calfo]

very good point(s) about asexual reproduction, Nick. At the risk of a gross generalization, it is indeed "less expensive" to reproduce asexually. The simplest and most pervasive expression of this in corals is simply fissionary "growth". When a polyp splits/divides. Those estimated 1000 year old brain corals are living proof of the strategy standing the test of time

As to elegants budding: many corals express a very wide range of capabilities and stragegies. With the reefkeeping hobby being scarcely 30 years old, there are what seems to be infinite things yet to be seen/discovered regarding behavior and reproduction. Truly a young track record in contrast to our (human -colllective) understanding of animal husbandry with chickens or cows, for example

But other "Caryophylliids" (Euphylliids) beside Elegants have been known to spawn by budding with various forms of satellites... like the modified tentacle ejections of hammer corals that drift, stick/settle and grow a new colony. Euphyllia glabrescens (torch Euphylliid) has also been reported more often to reproduce asexually (planulation) much like Pocillopora. Wouldn't it be great if elegants did it too?! Same family... hope that it may be so.

Anthony

 

[Maxx]

Yeah, that would make me incredibly happy too Anthony....especially since I would love to be able to keep one in captivity. Unfortunately, the two I've mail ordered didnt make it....so I'm obviously not doing something right. Do you have any thoughts as to why the Elegence coral is so difficult these days to maintain (Outside of Kevin's of course!) ?
Sorry, not trying to hijack this thread....
Nick

 

[Anthony Calfo]

cheers, Nick

tough to say where to begin here... the issue has been hashed out extensively in more than a few places: RC, wetwebmedia.com, my coral prop book ,etc. I really dont have anything new or interesting to add to the matter on Elegance troubles.

But I can say that mail order shipped livestock are really often the worst/weakest animals to be buying... or at least to be using as a baseline for "health", or not, in regards to an issue like elegant coral problems. Moreover, if you did not strictly QT these corals for several weeks (4 ideally) on arrival to power feed and strengthen them (acclimate to new light from many days in no or low light and even collected at great depth, likely)... then you have had bigger issues independant of whatever may or may not be occuring with Catalaphyllia.

FWIW... I do not subscribe to the bacterium school of thought on the matter, but instead largely agree with Eric Borneman's and others' assertion that the issue is more to do with the fact that Catalaphyllia has been locally overcollected, and that many/most of the current specimens imported are collected at great depth (60-80 feet) where the irradiance is mere (low) single digit percentages of what exists at the surface and they survive by feeding very heavily (absorption and organismally). Add to that darkness in transit for 7-11 days from the point of collection through the chain of custody to finally a dealers tank or your home aquarium, and what we get is a coral weakened by practically no feeding... and very ill-prepared to suffer under full reef aquarium lighting without a proper quarantine and acclimation period.

more to do with proper handling and husbandry here than any other issue

kindly,

Anthony

 

[Maxx]

I can certainly understand that. Thank you for taking the time to explain it to me Anthony.
Now Back to your regularly scheduled programming....

Nick

 

[The Claw]

As promised, here is an updated photo from a year later of my little daughter colonies. As you can see in the photo, one has disconnected itself and has settled nearby. I opted to let them go naturally instead of forcing the breaks.