zooanthelle injection?

[liveforphysics]

I have a very large hammer coral that was free (rescue). It was about 3/4th dead, and the owner told me it hadn't opened in weeks. Appearently it came in sick to the pet store, he got it really cheap, and it had never opened for him.

After about 2-3 days, it opened up a little, and now it opens way up (its been 2 months or so). Quite full and bushy looking now.

However, its completely brown/tan, with just a hint of white caps on the tips of the hammers.

Would it be possible, or does anyone have any experience with carefully takeing a syringe into a healthy bright colored hammer, drawing out some zooanthelle, and then injecting it into the brown coral?

I was thinking the metal of the needle might kill the zooanthelle, but this stuff is pretty far removed from my field.

Any ideas?

 

[Curtswearing]

Many corals are infected (yes, infected is the right word) by their "parent" when they are spawned. Additionally, other corals merely ingest the free-swimming dinoflagellates. Once that happens, the dinoflagellate drops both of it's flagella and it is now termed zooxanthellae.

Dinoflagellates come in several clades and I guarantee you have some swimming around in your tank right now. Concentrate on keeping the coral healthy as opposed to coloration. Target feed it some meaty food a couple times per week. If it's brown as opposed to white, it already has some zoox from a different clade.

Once it is nice and strong, loan it out to someone with a healthy hammer in their tank. The different species of Symbiodinium in different clades are in constant competition. However, more than likely, you will pick up the species that dominates in Euphyllia.

You should also be aware that there are a number of brown Euphyllia. I've had a brown hammer and a brown torch. That was their natural color.

 

[NaH2O]

I believe there is more to extracting zooxanthellae than simply injecting a syringe to remove it. I can't find the exact techniques right now, but from what I remember there are more steps to it. Here is a quick article: The Role of Symbiotic Algae in Marine Invertebrates. As you can see from the article, the zooxanthellae is located in the second layer of cells under the epidermis, and is found as one algal cell per animal cell.

Corals can control their zooxanthellae populations and densities. They can maximize their photosynthesis by increasing their zooxanthellae populations and densities if needed, or expel zooxanthellae if photosynthethic production is too high. The coral can also ingest zooxanthellae if needed. There has been a bit of research on different clades of zooxanthellae. Another thing to remember, when you combine all the colors of the pigments of cholorphylls you get brown. Here is a thread with more info on the pigments: Link between coral coloration and nutrient levels?

My concern, rather than worrying about if the needle will harm the zoox, would be the stress on the coral from puncturing it. Not only the healthy coral, but the one you are attempting to nurse back to health. Good water quality, proper lighting, and a proper food source will be the best thing for the hammer. I don't think your attempts will give you the result you are looking for.

 

[kahunakatz]

Many of the colorful, non brown pigments in a coral are produced by the coral and not the Zoox. It sounds like when you first got the coral it was on the verge of death. When corals are unhealthy pigmentation is one of the first things to go. I think that if you give the coral time in a tank with good conditions it should color up nicely.

Best Wishes,
Barry
[email protected]

 

[mojoreef]

mike

 

[MikeS]

Many of the colorful, non brown pigments in a coral are produced by the coral and not the Zoox. It sounds like when you first got the coral it was on the verge of death. When corals are unhealthy pigmentation is one of the first things to go. I think that if you give the coral time in a tank with good conditions it should color up nicely.

Best Wishes,
Barry
[email protected]

Could you elaborate on that one please? What exactly is the coral doing to produce the brown color?

MikeS

 

[steve-s]

What exactly is the coral doing to produce the brown color?

The brown color is often the result of a dramatic increase in zooxanthellae production. This overproduction overshadows the corals otherwise colorful pigments.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/12/aafeature2

Cheers
Steve

 

[MikeS]

opps...I totally misread his post...I thought he meant that the brown color was NOT being produced by the zoox...my bad...thanks for making me re-read his post, Steve....

MikeS

 

[liveforphysics]

Ok Mike, your smiley face has been enough encouragement for me to try it.

I'll just try 2 little hammers and see. It appears to have about 400 hammers or so (just a wild guess), so I dont see any risk in trying it out.

I appreciate the feed back guys, and the links were very interesting. I'm gona just try sucking out a couple of hammers on the brown coral, then sucking out a couple hammers on a nice green hammer, and injecting the empty brown hammers full of it.

If anyone is interested, I will take pics and post them.

 

[mojoreef]

Luke you cant inject them like that. What you would be doing is injecting the tissue of one coral into another. If you could isolate the zoox or pigment (pretty hard with out a real good microscopic and other tools) your going to risk kill one or both. The best advice is to do exactly as Curt mentioned


Mike

 

[NaH2O]

I'm gona just try sucking out a couple of hammers on the brown coral, then sucking out a couple hammers on a nice green hammer, and injecting the empty brown hammers full of it.

I don't understand why you want to still do this? What do you think you are going to accomplish, other than putting stress on a live animal?

 

[liveforphysics]

I miss-interpreted Mikes smiley face

I thought he was giving me the "go for it smiley"

If its a certian failure that has no purpose I wont do it. Its been sitting near a green frog spawn and a green/pink hammer ever since I rescued it. I will just leave it alone and see what happens. If somebody else would like to try to color it up, they are welcome to take it.

 

[Curtswearing]

Luke,

First-off, congratulations on the saved coral. I suspect it would have died if it was left at the LFS.

If it colors up for you, please report back on this thread. I'm curious if this was a colorful hammer that changed clades or if it was brown all along. I'm also curious if a brown hammer will ever switch clades to the more colorful zoox.