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FAQs about SPS Coral Reproduction/Propagation

Related Articles: SPS Corals, Acroporid Corals, Dyed Corals,

Related FAQs: SPS 1, SPS 2, SPS Identification, SPS Behavior, SPS Compatibility, SPS Selection, SPS Systems, SPS Lighting, SPS Feeding, SPS Disease, Acroporid Corals, Agariciid Corals, Astrocoeniid CoralsMerulinid Corals, Pectiniid Corals, Pocilloporid Corals, Siderastreid CoralsStony Coral Behavior, Coral System Set-Up, Coral System Lighting, Stony Coral Identification, Stony Coral Selection, Coral PlacementFoods/Feeding/Nutrition, Disease/Health, Propagation, Growing Reef CoralsStony Coral Behavior,

Best to culture species separately for production

SPS coral grow out tank lighting questions 10/23/10
Greetings WWM Gang,
<Hey Tom>
I stumbled onto your website a month or so ago and I have to say, you all have the most information that I have ever seen on any website - thank you. I have spent the last few weeks reading everything I can about reef tanks. I am sure I have a lot to go as there is almost information overload on your site. I am planning a SPS coral cuttings grow out tank that hopefully will be the beginning of a business for me and I would like to ask you a few questions on lighting, please comment and/or correct me in any and all instances. I have had a reef tank for over 20 years but always had MH lighting and I am very happy with it so, I am very "green" when it comes to florescent lighting.
<Useful for making your new business economically viable>
The tank will be 96"x36"x12", base of the cuttings will be aprox. 8" below the water surface, < ¼" of aragonite sand on the bottom with cuttings supported on white plastic light diffusers (the kind used in office florescent lighting)
<I'd raise up the smaller cuttings on a platform... to have just a few inches of water above them>
Lighting, again this is where I'm leaning, will be banks of T-5 fluorescents
<Okay... w/ good reflectors>
Filtration is mostly undecided as of yet but I am leaning towards, a sump, a DSB tank, skimmer and a Ca reactor. Any other considerations you would suggest?
<I like what you list>
My chief concerns will be overall coral health, growth rates and color development of the corals.
<Yes, agreed>
Looking at the article, Spectral Qualities of Various Fluorescent Lamps by Dana Riddle;
<A worthy writer>
- It would seem to me that one would want to reproduce noontime sun characteristics for the light entering the water therefore reproducing underwater noontime sun characteristics for the light reaching the coral?
<Mmm, okay>
- With the corals being 6"-8" under water and, I imagine, the lamps being a similar distance above the water, any need for HO, VHO or power compacts?
<No need>
- Do you feel T-5s are the most cost effective as far as bulb replacement cycle, cost/watt and .....?
<Currently, yes>
- The URI Actinic White and the Narvia Biolight appear to reproduce noontime sun the best, do you know if these are available in 8' T-5s (I haven't been able to find them other than 6' T-12 VHO)?
<I do not know... but would contact the distributor (very few co.s make their own lamps) re>
- If the above bulbs are only available in 6' T-12 VHO could you suggest comparable bulbs for T-5 lights or do I need to shorten the length of my tank?
<Mmm, or just "stagger" the lengths of alternate lamp/sets... some more to the left, right>
- It looks like a 50/50 mix of both would give the best spectrum coverage? Any other lamp suggestions?
<Not really>
- I did not see a date on this article, is there more, newer, information that I should read also (obviously I'll keep reading, but more specific to my general line of questioning)?
<The incept. date for this piece is the same as the date of publication... about 2005. You might want to look into Sanjay Joshi, James Fatheree's articles, writings on light, lighting...>
Thanks in advance for your help,
Tom Mallan
<Welcome. Bob Fenner>

Is my limp soft coral dead? Not yet  10/23/10
Hi, I am new to the saltwater tank hobby. I have a 14 gallon oceanic bio cube tank that has been running for about five weeks. I have a soft coral that is now limp. It originally was upright. Should I take it out of the tank?
<Mmm, I would put it into another established system if you have one... Or at least move this Sinularia from where it is presently... The Sarcophyton next to it may well be poisoning it...>
Will it poison the rest of my tank?
<Not too likely... you'll see it decomposing and remove it, change some water in time>
Is this abnormal?
<In such small systems stocked thus? No, not abnormal... Am attaching a piece (not in print yet, please do NOT redistribute) re stocking small systems w/ Cnidarians>
I attached some pictures of it. I appreciate any help you can give me.
Thanks,
Michelle
<Do read the article and here: http://wetwebmedia.com/alcyoncompfaqs.htm
Bob Fenner>

  

Clownfish swimming vertical against rock 10/23/10
Hi,
<Hello>
Set up is a 170 gallon reef tank (4ft by 4ft) with quite a bit of live rock (sorry I don't know the exact amount), 2 metal halide lights, live sand and coral, 3 green Chromis, 6 blue damsel/ yellowtail damsels, one small starfish, 2 paired orange clownfish (orcallis I believe) then 2 more black clownfish (orcallis??), one black and white damsel, 2 emerald crabs, 2 cardinal fish 120 sump tank below with 3 chambers (Berlin filtration setup, I think it's called), protein skimmer in the first chamber, live sand, hermit crabs, live rock in the second that filters over into a third chamber that cycles back up in to the tank.
Water parameters are nitrate 0, PH is 8.4, ammonia is 0, nitrites are 0 and have been that way for about 3 weeks steady now. It's an established but moved tank (moved 4 weeks ago and is to the point in re-cycling that the brown algae has turned to green algae with a small amount of red showing up). Temperature is 76 in the mornings going up to maybe 80 by evening.
Lights are on timers from 8 to 8.
Situation is the orange clowns were the original clownfish in the tanks and seemed to be paired. We didn't know better and thought we'd like to have two pairs of clowns in the tank.
<Can/could be done in a system of this volume, shape>
After getting the second pair home, I found out that was a bad idea. We did ask about compatibility at the fish store (the same one we purchased the tank from and who set it up for us), nothing was mentioned. Got the black clowns home, the two larger ones (almost 2 inches) did a bit of spatting (nothing too vicious just some slapping one another with their tails) but it settled down that day.
They've been swimming together fine for almost two weeks with the two larger fish mainly swimming together and the littler ones (about 1 inch) following them. Last night I noticed the black, larger clown looking like it was hiding in the LR with the other three protecting the area it was hanging out in. The black fish appears to be swimming against a rock face vertically in a little alcove of sorts, the large orange is guarding really heavily, the smaller ones are helping guard too. The large black fish comes out to eat,
swims a bit and right back to the rock face. The large black fish is opening and closing it's mouth a lot though (is this labored breathing?).
<Might be>
None of the clowns appear to be fighting and only did that first night, they actually look quite protective of the large black one. I'm concerned because I have heard that two females don't work well, I've read that a
female can change back to a male, I've read they can't and will kill one off, I've read that some people have successfully had two pairs in a tank, I've read some fish mouthing might be Ich starting up (I see nothing to indicate that though beside the maybe heavy breathing). Not really sure if I should be concerned at this point or if perhaps they have laid eggs that we can't see and are guarding the nest. What do you think I am I seeing with this behavior?
<Likely the one fish hiding a bit, perhaps submissive/signaling behavior.
Likely it is trying to adjust to the situation>
Sorry for the length of the email but I wanted to make sure and give you all the details you might need.
Thanks,
Linda
<I would leave all as they are for now; likely all will settle in w/ a few days time. Bob Fenner>

  

Mouth issue with powder blue tang, RMF's go  10/23/10
Hello,
I've recently acquired a ~4" powder blue tang, and it is in a 30 gallon quarantine tank since Wednesday (going on 3 days now). I have not added any treatments or done any dips, as the fish (surprisingly)
shows no sign of Ich or any other parasites.
<Mmmm>
However, I am curious and slightly concerned about the fish's mouth. This is my first powder blue, and I am wondering if it is normal for them to swim with their mouth open?
<Often, yes... this species lives in brisk water movement conditions, w/ a good deal of consistently high dissolved oxygen... And it takes a beating going from collection (in the Indian Ocean) to consumers in the west... the process is extremely trying, damaging to their blood make-up et al... This fish is actually having a time "catching its breath"...>
I've searched and came across "lock-jaw" and then possibly missing skin around the teeth, but I'm not sure if its anything I should be concerned about. I am attaching 2 pictures, the first is the original picture, the second is a cropped, more zoomed-in focus on the mouth. It is eating Mysis and spirulina brine, but seems to "chew" its food more than usual (which I've never noticed with my Zebrasoma tangs in other aquariums). I should also add that it is a timid feeder... at first I thought the fish might be blind as it was only taking food that would float by and almost land in his mouth; I have since decided he is probably not blind, but possibly just not sure what to do with the food?
<Not much to do... this fish should be "expedited" through quarantine... I do strongly promote dips/baths... and movement to large, stable quarters>
So far, no luck eating algae (I've tried rubberbanding it to my tank ornament). It appears to be in good health otherwise, and I do not see evidence of any pinching or "skinny-ness". The QT contains water from the display tank, diluted down to specific gravity of 1.020; could this be an issue?
<Ah, yes>
I still have it so low because the shipping bag it was received in was 1.010.
<Not uncommon... you know the reasons for this?>
Other parameters - Nitrates/nitrites/ammonia are 0, pH is 8.0. I am planning to do gradually increase the salinity by doing water changes.
<Mmm, up to you. Do keep a close eye... mysterious mortalities of Acanthurus leucosternon are very common... on this specimen, move it as advised above and on WWM, if/when you see sign/s of trouble>
Thank you for checking him out - I'm hoping I am just a "worried parent", but I figure better to be safe than sorry.
<Not easily kept... Do (re)read here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/powdbluetg.htm
and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

Mouth issue with powder blue tang Acanthurus Health\System, MikeV's go 10/23/2010
Hello,
<Hi Steve.>
I've recently acquired a ~4" powder blue tang, and it is in a 30 gallon quarantine tank since Wednesday (going on 3 days now). I have not added any treatments or done any dips, as the fish (surprisingly) shows no sign of Ich or any other parasites.
<Good for you on quarantining this fish. They tend to be more susceptible to Ich than others >
However, I am curious and slightly concerned about the fish's mouth. This is my first powder blue, and I am wondering if it is normal for them to swim with their mouth open?
<To a degree, yes.>
I've searched and came across "lock-jaw" and then possibly missing skin around the teeth, but I'm not sure if its anything I should be concerned about. I am attaching 2 pictures, the first is the original picture, the second is a cropped, more zoomed-in focus on the mouth.
<It looks a little beat up. Probably from being caught, shipping, etc.
With good care, it will all heal.>
It is eating Mysis and spirulina brine, but seems to "chew" its food more than usual (which I've never noticed with my Zebrasoma tangs in other aquariums).
<I feed my Sailfin Tang Strips of Nori and Kombu, 'he' regularly chews them.>
I should also add that it is a timid feeder...
<Very typical of this species. Keep a close eye when it is in the main tank, it can be bullied by more aggressive feeders>
at first I thought the fish might be blind as it was only taking food that would float by and almost land in his mouth; I have since decided he is probably not blind, but possibly just not sure what to do with the food?
<Likely, or just stressed in his environment. It is a good sign that it is eating. Give him a hiding place and keep the tank temperature in the high 70s to low 80s (26 - 27 deg C) Do make sure that the water is well aerated, tangs need a lot of oxygen>
So far, no luck eating algae (I've tried rubberbanding it to my tank ornament).
<It may take a while for it to get used to it, and recognize that it is food. If your local pet store sells it, Caulerpa, maiden's hair, or other macro algaes can be bought and used to entice the fish to start eating greens. Just put the Nori strips in and around the macroalgae.>
It appears to be in good health otherwise, and I do not see evidence of any pinching or "skinny-ness".
<With Tangs, the place to look is right above and behind the eyes.>
The QT contains water from the display tank, diluted down to specific gravity of
1.020; could this be an issue?
<It most definitely isn't helping>
I still have it so low because the
shipping bag it was received in was 1.010.
<Yikes, that is low; wise to bring it up slowly.>
Other parameters -
Nitrates/nitrites/ammonia are 0, pH is 8.0.
<bring this up slowly to around 8.2.>
I am planning to do gradually increase the salinity by doing water changes.
Thank you for checking him out - I'm hoping I am just a "worried parent", but I figure better to be safe than sorry.
<I would not worry here. Just keep a close eye on the fish, slowly alter the tank conditions to better meet its needs. Powder blues are tricky, and not the easiest fish to keep Have a read here:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/powdbluetg.htm >
<MikeV>

  

Stars and Stripes puffer 10/23/10
I have had a stars and stripes puffer fish for just about a year now. Over the last week I have noticed that he has been putting either fin into his gills but as soon as I get near the tank he gets excited and which ever is in his gill they come out.
<Mmm, not to worry>
they will be out for the rest of the day until the next morning when I wake up and find the fin in his gill again. he has no white dots of any kind on him and he looks completely fine other then this strange behavior. I did notice today though that he is starting with the labored breathing. I don't have a QT tank to put in him yet. I have to clean one up and then go buy some salt if I need to get him in there as I just did a water change and used up the last I had. I thought it could of been something serious at the first discovering so I bought FURAN-2 by API thinking this might fix the problem
<?>
but then he stopped doing this for about 2 days and now its happening again. this medicine is supposed to cure Hemorrhagic Septicemia, Body Slime & Eye Cloud, Open Red Sores, Fin & Tail Rot, and Bacterial Gill Disease.
<And whatever else ails 'ya>
should I go ahead and get this QT running and treat with this medicine??
<I would not>
or should I look into getting a new medication. I also just recently changed out a Rena 55 filter to a Fluval fx5 yesterday and 3 days ago I changed out a Aquatec 30-60 to a Fluval 405 used all the media from those filters in the new filters so hopefully I didn't do too much damage but all other tank mates are fine. I have a 55 gal tank with 1 live rock and 4 salt water base rock with crushed coral as the substrate water temp is 78-81 all tests are good except for my nitrate which I have been for 2 years trying to lower is around 100ppm but everything is doing good in the tank except for now.
<Do read here re NO3: http://wetwebmedia.com/nitratesmar.htm
and the linked files are control above>
this is why I have purchased these two big filters and filled them with nitrate remover in hopes of getting the levels down. I only have a Clown-fish, and a Fire-blood cleaner shrimp
<Strange that the puffer has not consumed this>
plus my (maybe sickly) stars and stripes puffer fish, oh and two hermit crabs.
<And these>
I have read on forums that I could possibly be gill flukes and by the sounds of it is a pain to get rid of 8 weeks in a QT tank doing freshwater dips and what have you. please help in any way you can. Thanks Chris.
<I'd just be patient here... Bob Fenner>

Stars and Strips Puffer fish 10/23/10
Hello I have recently contacted you about my stars and stripes puffer fish asking about gill flukes or why he's putting his fin in his gills. just an update on him he's swimming around fine and dandy now both fins out and he's eating my live rock.
<Good signs>
I'm guessing he's grinding his teeth as they grow like a beaver. I have attached some photos of him in hopes of maybe you can see anything that I am not.
<Appears fine to me>
unfortunately I don't have any of him having his fin in his gills as when I last posted he was active and didn't have them in. I tried to get some close ups of his eyes and various shots of his body. hopefully you can see something I'm not or maybe its just nothing. and as for his labored breathing since my last post that seems to be fine too. I don't know what to do. its just strange why he keeps putting his fin in the gills and then is fine throughout the day.
thanks again Chris
<Welcome. BobF>

  

Ceramic Tile and the Like. Cnid. cult. -- 09/17/07 Cheers guys, thanks for everything that you do. <Welcome> I had a quick question, I have searched everywhere but cannot seem to get a straight answer so... I am setting up a SPS frag farm of sorts and have a good amount of cultured pieces (say 60 in a 400 gal system). I have been looking for bases to mount them on so the brood doesn't knock in to each other. I have used ceramic tiles, but ran into some ph issues <Mmm, the ceramic tile is not at fault here> which I believe were caused by air conditioning (I took a sample outside, aerated it, ph went up dramatically). Anyway, ph is stable and in check (trough a couple of equipment mod.s), but I wanted to make sure there are no ill effects from using ceramic tile in a system (I read on the site they can be used for clownfish, but people would be just using a few, not a mass amount of them). <This material is almost entirely chemically inert> In addition, when I had the ph issues, many of my colonies lost some color (there are no bugs, everybody gets dipped and I have inspected all of them). I am seeing a return of color, but some of them have taken on a whitish appearance but have good polyp extension, it is almost as if they are getting burnt with too much light. <A possibility... even with just change in water/light transmission> I feed little if at all, <I would...> and I am starting to wonder if perhaps my water is too polished <Yes... a possibility> or perhaps I have a couple of bad ballasts. In the past I used an ORP meter but it drove me nuts. <... Mmm, is a very useful tool> Thanks for any comments or suggestions Tom <Well... if you're serious re aquaculture here... I would look to more easily manipulated plug material (there are a bunch available you can make or just buy)... And I would feed SPS, other Cnidarians intentionally... again if you're serious... And I would use the ORP meter, ozone... much to chat up here. Bob Fenner>

SPS Accident  - 5/8/2006 Hey everyone, I had a little accident with an Acropora in my tank. I broke off four 1 inch long pieces - fragging by accident I guess. I have always wanted to propagate my own coral to become more self sufficient in the hobby. I have some small cylindrical bases for the coral and want to use reef putty to connect the frags. My question is in regards to the base of the frag being slightly buried in the putty. I need to get at least a couple of millimetres into the putty to get the frags to stand. Is this alright or should I try something else. Cheers Marc <Marc - Yes, it is OK to stick the frag in.  If it grows, the base will eventually cover the putty.  With new frags, it is usually best to try to duplicate the same lighting and flow they had before they broke off for best results.  However, with a brand new frag, you might want to start the frag lower in the tank and then move it higher over the course of several days.  Best of luck, Roy>

SPS collection business   8/21/06 Dear Bob and crew, <Alan> I'm thinking of starting  an exclusive Acropora collecting business to supply to the trade. I only wish to collect Acroporas from the wild by fragging a few branches from a colony and gluing them unto rocks for sale in order to minimize impact on ecosystem. <Mmm... can't really be done this way... need to collect colonies, keep them in captive conditions... some time (months) later frag them... Too hard to make the transition otherwise> I suppose this will generate faster returns rather than having an aquaculture facility which requires more overhead cost and time. <...> Do you think this is viable in the long run? <Nope> Any words of wisdom? Thanks a lot. Best regards, Lee <Keep studying, dreaming, planning... Bob Fenner>

SPS/Frags/Mother Colonies/Captive Generations'¦  10/6/05 Greetings Oh Great Fish God's, <Are you sure? I swear I caught my Sailfin mouthing off the other day'¦> Kudos for the exemplary work you guys and gals do on this site to provide the vast knowledge base that you do and for sharing your experiences with the rest of us wanabe reefers. It truly must be a thankless task. <It's not so bad.> Question: Is a frag a frag and will it always be a frag? <Not if it grows up, but I suppose there is a lot of gray area in there.> I now have 2, 80gal tanks that are brimming with assorted SPS corals and frags. I had initially purchased mother colonies and after some time I began to frag them. I am now at the point where I am fragging the frags into frags. <Awesome.> Although all of the frags and the frags of the frags are doing great but as they mature and grow they never seem to look like the mother colony in density, color, or number of appendages/bushiness.  <Well unless they are placed in the exact same conditions (noticed I said conditions not tank) a Frag will never grow up to look exactly like its mother.  There are so many factors playing into this, nutrients, water flow, light, relation to light, temperature of light among many others.>  What constitutes a mother colony? <In my opinion a colony large enough to be fragged itself.> Size, age, it's density? <Probably all of the above.> Or, must a mother colony come from the wild where it has been naturally reproduced.  <Not in my opinion. I have a large Sinularia that I consider to be a mother colony. It was purchased over 5 years ago as a captive propagated frag and is now a monstrous size. I now make frags from it, so I consider it to be a mother colony. Honestly though this can be relative, I suppose some say a true 'mother' colony must come from the wild.> Can a frag or a fragged frag or a frag from a fragged frag ever become a mother colony or is it doomed to a life of being just a simple frag?  <Jeez say that last sentence 5 times fast. Like I said in my opinion if a frag has multiplied its original size significantly and has thrived for a decent amount of time. If it is now large enough to make frags without significantly reducing the colony, then I consider it to be a mother colony.  Of course I will say that most of these questions seem to be relative or up to opinion.> As mother colonies are fragged, and then the frags fragged, is there anything lost in the genetics from the mother colony as to the number of times it is fragged and re-fragged? <For the most part frags are exact duplicates. Remember an Acropora species of different color/shape/density can be the same species. That's why some of them are so hard to identify.> Or would this ultimately lead to healthier tank/captive raised specimen? <Yes consecutive generations of captive propagated corals generally adapt a lot easier to changes and captive life in general in comparison to their wild counterparts. I would much rather purchase a captive propagated coral over a wild specimen any day of the week.> Tanks in advance, <No trouble, try not to over think or put labels on your specimens, the fact that they are thriving and producing children should be good enough. Have fun with it. Remember that most of these labels we use including LPS and SPS are not scientific, they are hobby generated.> Gary <Adam Jackson.> The Great White North    <The Great Southwest?>



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