bare bottom tank with no live rock

[Savanna’sReefAndFish]

Hi folks,

I'm not new to keeping tanks but im new to this idea im going to present and need to bounce ideas off people.

Im coming up to my senior year of undergrad and will be conducting an independent research project. I plan to test heat tolerance in difference species of zooxanthellae. The methods of my experiment is not necessarily important - more so of how I plan to set up my tanks. My advisor has explained that in research you set up tanks in a way to eliminate all "distractions" to get the best results for the experiment. In this case, this means setting up the tanks bare bottom with no live rock. I have never done this before and im nervous the tank wont cycle correctly and the whole thing will get messed up.

The tanks will be 5g with bare bottom, a stand to place the coral, a pump and a hang on the back filter. I plan to put carbon pads, regular filter floss pads and a little bag of bio balls in the HOB. Will this be sufficient enough for bacteria to be established? I plan to use nite-out II to cycle the tank. I plan to use some species of acropora. Will it be ok to put the coral in just days after it is cycled? Im relatively time restrained for this experiment so I will need to put the coral in the tank ASAP. I used nite-out II for the first time on my 15g invert tank and it was cycled in a matter of days - which is exactly what I need for this experiment.
(side note - I put a full stock of inverts in my hobby tank a week after it was cycled. I put a feather duster, ricordea, stylophora, snails and tuxedo urchin. The urchin ended up dying a month later for whatever reason [it was super strange. the thing was cruising around fine then one day it dropped all its spines and died, not sure what I did wrong] along with the stlophora [which i believe died from STN?? stared "bleaching" at the bottom and slowly crept up till it was fully white. The guy I got the stylo from is a lil sketchy and most things ive bougtht from him have seemed to die/have diease/have mold so im not blaming myself?]. The ricordea has trippled its head, the duster is doing very well and the snails are perfect. SO, I feel as if im dosing the tanks with enough phytoplankton - which I did for my tank before adding all these inverts- the acropora will be ok?)
I have never kept sps corals before - I plan to buy some this summer and put them in my 15g invert hobby tank so I have an idea of what im getting into with this experiment.

Sorry for this absolute WORD VOMIT.

Bascially, im asking if cycling a tank bare bottom with no live rock will be the same mechanism as cycling a tank with live sand and rock? AND will there be a sufficient enough established bacteria for an acropora species to thrive (until I decide to kill it by bleaching it LOL)?

Im going to put a more detailed post in the experiment forum incase you want more info abt my project

 

[Rugops]

Just to start off, are you new to saltwater?

Edit: How new are you? Is your invert tank your first?

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Well, what supplements or food if any will you be adding? I ask because they're all going to break down into ammonia and whether your HOB filter full of media can convert the ammonia into nitrite and then nitrate quickly enough depends upon the ammonia concentration. Also, you're counting on phytoplankton from what it sounds like to somehow sustain the Acropora which you've never kept. If the phyto is live, you do realize that it's going to dramatically raise the BOD if you add too much and deplete oxygen, right? The same thing will actually happen with dead phyto due to bacterial degradation which requires oxygen.

I have a few more points to mention but first off, how much do you know regarding coral biology?

 

[Savanna’sReefAndFish]

Just to start off, are you new to saltwater?

Edit: How new are you? Is your invert tank your first?

No. I have been keeping saltwater tanks since ive been 14 - I am now 21. My first tank was a 20g with some softies and basic inverts like shrimp and snails. That soon upgraded to a 40g and I added like 15 species of softies and a couple lps corals. I had that tank running beautifully for abt 3 years until I had to tear it down because running a reef tank 4 hours away from home is nearly impossible. However, last year I moved out of the dorms and into my own apartment and set up a 15g invert tank.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I'm also a little confused as to why you'd want to design the experiment in a way that doesn't replicate the corals natural environment. Aren't you aiming to produce results which show bleaching tendencies in the natural environment?

 

[James M]

Sounds like you’re looking to set up a small frag tank

 

[Savanna’sReefAndFish]

Well, what supplements or food if any will you be adding? I ask because they're all going to break down into ammonia and whether your HOB filter full of media can convert the ammonia into nitrite and then nitrate quickly enough depends upon the ammonia concentration. Also, you're counting on phytoplankton from what it sounds like to somehow sustain the Acropora which you've never kept. If the phyto is live, you do realize that it's going to dramatically raise the BOD if you add too much and deplete oxygen, right? The same thing will actually happen with dead phyto due to bacterial degradation which requires oxygen.

I have a few more points to mention but first off, how much do you know regarding coral biology?

I was planning on dosing the tank with phyto - I need to do more research as to how other coral experimentalists have fed their corals. I will obviously have lights on the tanks and they will be "eatting" but since I will be bleaching them I need to feed them some other way to keep them alive in the repopulation portion of my experiment. I am also unsure as to how often I will be dosing. I put about a capful of phyto into my 15g weekly (thats vauge i know). I will be putting significantly less in these tanks. PLUS, I will be dosing my experimental tanks with zooxanthellae.

As for coral biology/physiology, I have some knowledge. I took a graduate class last semster on coral reefs and we had one lecture on coral physiology. I am a zoology pre-med student so I have a pretty good understanding as to how the body works. I have also done a decent amount of research on my own time understanding how corals work.

 

[Rugops]

I believe posting your research question (and the link to your project) would be of help as to understand in depth what you are trying to do.

Edit: wording

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I was planning on dosing the tank with phyto - I need to do more research as to how other coral experimentalists have fed their corals. I will obviously have lights on the tanks and they will be "eatting" but since I will be bleaching them I need to feed them some other way to keep them alive in the repopulation portion of my experiment. I am also unsure as to how often I will be dosing. I put about a capful of phyto into my 15g weekly (thats vauge i know). I will be putting significantly less in these tanks. PLUS, I will be dosing my experimental tanks with zooxanthellae.

As for coral biology/physiology, I have some knowledge. I took a graduate class last semster on coral reefs and we had one lecture on coral physiology. I am a zoology pre-med student so I have a pretty good understanding as to how the body works. I have also done a decent amount of research on my own time understanding how corals work.

How are you going to obtain the matching clade of zooxanthellae which is dominant in that particular species of Acropora?

 

[Savanna’sReefAndFish]

I'm also a little confused as to why you'd want to design the experiment in a way that doesn't replicate the corals natural environment. Aren't you aiming to produce results which show bleaching tendencies in the natural environment?

Yes I agree. However, this experiment is to simply see if the coral will repopulate with a more heat tolerant zooxanthellae. This means eliminating all other disturbances. Im unsure if you are familiar with how research is done. If my findings are true, I will upgrade this to more realistic mesures and replicate a reef. If it still holds true then, this can be applied to the ocean. Research is slow and tedious.

Also to your other post, what is BOD?

 

[Savanna’sReefAndFish]

Sounds like you’re looking to set up a small frag tank

yes, exactly.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Yes I agree. However, this experiment is to simply see if the coral will repopulate with a more heat tolerant zooxanthellae. This means eliminating all other disturbances. Im unsure if you are familiar with how research is done. If my findings are true, I will upgrade this to more realistic mesures and replicate a reef. If it still holds true then, this can be applied to the ocean. Research is slow and tedious.

Also to your other post, what is BOD?

BOD is the Biological Oxygen Demand...I might be slightly familiar with what you're trying to do...

 

[Savanna’sReefAndFish]

How are you going to obtain the matching clade of zooxanthellae which is dominant in that particular species of Acropora?

Bigelow labs in Maine will be my supplier. They have clades A-D. I plan to use clade A.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Bigelow labs in Maine will be my supplier. They have clades A-D. I plan to use clade A.

Ok...the problem arises when you try to force the coral to repopulate with another clade. I'm actually very familiar with this...what methods do you plan to try in order to accomplish this?

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I'm really just curious tbh. Not trying to debunk your methods or anything.

 

[Savanna’sReefAndFish]

I believe posting your research question (and the link to your project) would be of help as to understand in depth what you are trying to do.

Edit: wording

I will have 6 tanks - 3 control and 3 experimental.

In the 3 control tanks, I will raise the temperature of the water to levels of bleaching (30C) and observe what happens.

In the 3 experimental tanks, I will raise the temperature of the water to level of bleaching (30C) and dose the tanks with "heat tolerant" zooxanthellae. I plan to bleach the coral fully before adding any zooxanthellae. This way, I will be able to see if the coral is repopulated with the new zooxanthellae. These methods are replicated from a study done by Kinzie et al. 2001 were they did a similar experiment on anemones. This is were they coined the term "visible infection" where I will be able to see the percent of which the zooxanthellae are in the coral .

 

[Rugops]

I will have 6 tanks - 3 control and 3 experimental.

In the 3 control tanks, I will raise the temperature of the water to levels of bleaching (30C) and observe what happens.

In the 3 experimental tanks, I will raise the temperature of the water to level of bleaching (30C) and dose the tanks with "heat tolerant" zooxanthellae. I plan to bleach the coral fully before adding any zooxanthellae. This way, I will be able to see if the coral is repopulated with the new zooxanthellae. These methods are replicated from a study done by Kinzie et al. 2001 were they did a similar experiment on anemones. This is were they coined the term "visible infection" where I will be able to see the percent of which the zooxanthellae are in the coral .

Interesting!
Are you going to do anything different between the three experimental tanks? Higher temp but no zooxanthellae, another with a higher temp with zoo being dosed and what not or are you just going to dose after bleaching?

 

[Savanna’sReefAndFish]

Ok...the problem arises when you try to force the coral to repopulate with another clade. I'm actually very familiar with this...what methods do you plan to try in order to accomplish this?

totally understandable. This is why I

Ok...the problem arises when you try to force the coral to repopulate with another clade. I'm actually very familiar with this...what methods do you plan to try in order to accomplish this?

sorry I pressed post by accident.

Totally understandable idea. I have no idea is the acros will take to a new clade - this is the basis of my experiment. However, repopulation has been proven in a couple experiments. A paper done by Kinzie et al. 2001 (which I mentioned above) proved that a species of anemone repopulated after being bleached. However, the zooxanthellae they used is what is typically found in that particular anemone. If you are interested I defiantly recommend reading the paper, its what im basing most of my experiment off. Its quick and relatively easy to understand.

To counter this all, its been found that there are a multitude of different clades of zooxanthellae per coral host. SO, it could be said that each coral have every type, A-D, in their body.

Lastly, my experiment is also based off a hypothesis that is heavily debated in the reef science community. Its called the "Adaptive Bleaching Hypothesis". Bascially stating that "Bleaching provides an opportunity for the host to be repopulated with a different type of partner; frequent stress tends to favor a stress-resistant combination." Go and read W. Buddemeier and Daphne G. F paper on it who first coined the hypothesis in the 90's - its very insightful as to why corals bleach in the first place.

 

[Savanna’sReefAndFish]

Interesting!
Are you going to do anything different between the three experimental tanks? Higher temp but no zooxanthellae, another with a higher temp with zoo being dosed and what not or are you just going to dose after bleaching?

Thank you!
Nope, this style of research is called tripling, just proving that my same methods are truly working. Temp of 30C with Clade A zooxanthellae will be used for all 3 experimental tanks.

 

[Savanna’sReefAndFish]

I'm really just curious tbh. Not trying to debunk your methods or anything.

no worries - ive already asked myself these questions as well