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Thanks. That's a bit of an experiment at this point (Scleronephthya sp.). I'll have more to say about it if I can keep it alive and healthy for an extended period of time.
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Nano Sapiens 12g - Ye Olde Mixed Reef
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Thanks. That's a bit of an experiment at this point (Scleronephthya sp.). I'll have more to say about it if I can keep it alive and healthy for an extended period of time.
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One of those little unexpected oddities 
Two little 1/4" diameter 'mystery corals' that may possibly be very young Mint Green Pavona or even left-overs from the Molten Lava Leptoseris that I exterminated a year or two ago (would be really interesting if they were something not yet seen in this 13 year old aquarium):
I noticed them about 2 months ago when I saw tiny pin-head sized fluorescent green blobs under blue light. They are partially shaded by the small Zoas, but otherwise are under ~160 PAR. Single polyps with striations that don't meet the central mouth (as is typical in the Mint Green Pavona), fleshy outer rim with oddly spiky dark tentacles that can partially retract if disturbed, but will usually reinflate quickly. Will retract if fed powdered food, but too small to tell if they actually eat any of it.
Two little 1/4" diameter 'mystery corals' that may possibly be very young Mint Green Pavona or even left-overs from the Molten Lava Leptoseris that I exterminated a year or two ago (would be really interesting if they were something not yet seen in this 13 year old aquarium):
I noticed them about 2 months ago when I saw tiny pin-head sized fluorescent green blobs under blue light. They are partially shaded by the small Zoas, but otherwise are under ~160 PAR. Single polyps with striations that don't meet the central mouth (as is typical in the Mint Green Pavona), fleshy outer rim with oddly spiky dark tentacles that can partially retract if disturbed, but will usually reinflate quickly. Will retract if fed powdered food, but too small to tell if they actually eat any of it.
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Personally, no. However, I have seen my Azure Damsel display the same type of behavior that is seen in documentaries when a Bobbit Worm is located (darting and bobbing in one particular spot).
So, Bob may still be prowling around in the shadows
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Coral story geek-out time (and a healthy dose of speculation)
Ok, so when I first saw these really little green polyps they immediately reminded me of a really tiny coral polyp that had come attached to a large wild Ricorida yuma back in 9/14. At the time I separated it from the main rock, but it was so small that I ended up accidentally gluing it shut to the tiny piece of rock it was on when trying to glue that to a larger rock (that the hermits couldn't turn over in the sand)...and then couldn't quite figure out where it had gone! At that point, I have to admit that I lost patience and tossed the itty-bit rock in my dry rock plastic bag to be used another day.
Evidently, I used the rock sometime later for Zoas or something and apparently it survived the drying out ordeal and had VERY slowly been growing under a large colony of zoas ever since,
The 1st pic is a closeup from 9/14 and the 2nd is the recent pic for comparison:
Considering that the 2014 coral frag is in lower light (~70 PAR) and the current one is in higher light (~150 PAR), I think it's a reasonably good match. At least I can say that nothing else I've ever had in the tank has had anything matching the coloration and unique black pattern stripping with black bordering. The whiteish reflective rim on the current coral pic is quite unusual and may possibly be a result of the more intense lighting
So what the heck is this little fella? When I spoke to one of the folks at Unique Corals back in 2014, they had seen more of this coral on a piece of previously connected rock and believed it to be a type of Pavona. That got me examining Pavona species in detail and lo-and-behold there are many more that we don't often see in the hobby. We typically see 4 or 5 species, but the Corals of the World website shows (15) Pavona species!
All that out of the way, I'm feeding the three little polyps 3x/wk with a blend of pulverized feed and instead of moving the polyps I'm removing any zoanthids that try to encroach/overtop the polyps. Growth has definitely picked up (polyps are touching each other now) and if all goes well I'm hoping to see 1/2" solid coral coverage by Christmas.
Best guess at this stage and time will tell, but as I've learned over the years one can end up with egg on one's face when trying to positively identify these really tiny coral specimens, But it's still fun trying
Ok, so when I first saw these really little green polyps they immediately reminded me of a really tiny coral polyp that had come attached to a large wild Ricorida yuma back in 9/14. At the time I separated it from the main rock, but it was so small that I ended up accidentally gluing it shut to the tiny piece of rock it was on when trying to glue that to a larger rock (that the hermits couldn't turn over in the sand)...and then couldn't quite figure out where it had gone! At that point, I have to admit that I lost patience and tossed the itty-bit rock in my dry rock plastic bag to be used another day.
Evidently, I used the rock sometime later for Zoas or something and apparently it survived the drying out ordeal and had VERY slowly been growing under a large colony of zoas ever since,
The 1st pic is a closeup from 9/14 and the 2nd is the recent pic for comparison:
Considering that the 2014 coral frag is in lower light (~70 PAR) and the current one is in higher light (~150 PAR), I think it's a reasonably good match. At least I can say that nothing else I've ever had in the tank has had anything matching the coloration and unique black pattern stripping with black bordering. The whiteish reflective rim on the current coral pic is quite unusual and may possibly be a result of the more intense lighting
So what the heck is this little fella? When I spoke to one of the folks at Unique Corals back in 2014, they had seen more of this coral on a piece of previously connected rock and believed it to be a type of Pavona. That got me examining Pavona species in detail and lo-and-behold there are many more that we don't often see in the hobby. We typically see 4 or 5 species, but the Corals of the World website shows (15) Pavona species!
All that out of the way, I'm feeding the three little polyps 3x/wk with a blend of pulverized feed and instead of moving the polyps I'm removing any zoanthids that try to encroach/overtop the polyps. Growth has definitely picked up (polyps are touching each other now) and if all goes well I'm hoping to see 1/2" solid coral coverage by Christmas.
Best guess at this stage and time will tell, but as I've learned over the years one can end up with egg on one's face when trying to positively identify these really tiny coral specimens, But it's still fun trying
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More updates...
Seriatopora lighting: Amazing how variable these Birdsnests are depending on type and that's pretty clear with the 'BOP' (Bird of Paradise') not even sweating at near 200 PAR, while the 'Ponape' freaks out and blushes bright pink at 170 PAR:
And the more typical coloration that everyone knows and loves at 155 PAR (super-fuzzy BOP in the right foreground at 193 PAR):
After a couple exciting months of watching an A. echinata do absolutely nothing, I decided to move it to a somewhat higher lighting location and angled it off on it's side so it can absorb more light:
Had to remove some encrusting Stylocoeniella from the Acro's base, and after scraping as much off as I could my plan was to dip just the base in full strength Kalkwasser for a few minutes to finish off any Stylo remnants. That part went well, but due to too much superglue on my fingers from previously gluing some Zoas down, I fumbled the frag right into the small glass of KW (one of those 'oh crap did that just happen?' moments). Within 2-3 seconds I had the frag back in the tank water and swirled it around vigorously to remove the KW. I also attached it 'back side up' since that was the angle of the previous base, so it's definitely looking a little peaked right now. Time will tell how this one turns out.
And since I had a bare spot after relocating the A. echinata, a trip to the LFS was in order. Hadn't been in a while and was struck by how thin the selection was (looks like supply chain problems everywhere these days).
Picked up a tiny 'Rainbow Yuma' (that's currently hiding out and too small for a good pic) and this fat dumpling of a Lobophyllia:
When I think of the 'Classic Lobo' this is basically what comes to mind; grayish/brownish/purplish base with fluorescent orange around the mouth and some green on the sides. It's also a rescue as it had fallen onto a chalice (and lost), but was fully healed when I bought it (lesson learned a good while back, never buy a LPS that has unhealed injuries).
To my eye it adds a nice natural tone to help balance out some of the more overtly fluorescent specimens:
I did a similar thing with a quite dull and somewhat bleached-out freebie Ricordia florida. Really didn't look like much would come of it, but I snuggled it in between a couple bright fluorescent green Rics anyway. It's turned into one of the darker blue Florida's that I've seen in a long while (even popping a bit of orange) and it's providing a nice focal point/countershade to all that 'in-your-face' bright green:
And in other news...
Tank has settled at 25 ppm nitrate no matter how much I clean it (trying to keep a Scleronephthya well fed will do that)., At any rate, the only long-term issue I've had is with some of the small zoas (Rastas, and such) developing zoa pox, but it has since subsided. My 'remedy' for this condition is a little extra iodine and a good tank cleaning/larger water change, which seems to help (anecdotal 'evidence' only, take it as you will). Larger zoas, what many call 'palys', are totally unaffected, thank goodness, as are all the other corals.
Other than a few pesky digitate hydroids in inaccessible locations and the usual coral territorial battles, it's all good
Seriatopora lighting: Amazing how variable these Birdsnests are depending on type and that's pretty clear with the 'BOP' (Bird of Paradise') not even sweating at near 200 PAR, while the 'Ponape' freaks out and blushes bright pink at 170 PAR:
And the more typical coloration that everyone knows and loves at 155 PAR (super-fuzzy BOP in the right foreground at 193 PAR):
After a couple exciting months of watching an A. echinata do absolutely nothing, I decided to move it to a somewhat higher lighting location and angled it off on it's side so it can absorb more light:
Had to remove some encrusting Stylocoeniella from the Acro's base, and after scraping as much off as I could my plan was to dip just the base in full strength Kalkwasser for a few minutes to finish off any Stylo remnants. That part went well, but due to too much superglue on my fingers from previously gluing some Zoas down, I fumbled the frag right into the small glass of KW (one of those 'oh crap did that just happen?' moments). Within 2-3 seconds I had the frag back in the tank water and swirled it around vigorously to remove the KW. I also attached it 'back side up' since that was the angle of the previous base, so it's definitely looking a little peaked right now. Time will tell how this one turns out.
And since I had a bare spot after relocating the A. echinata, a trip to the LFS was in order
. Hadn't been in a while and was struck by how thin the selection was (looks like supply chain problems everywhere these days).Picked up a tiny 'Rainbow Yuma' (that's currently hiding out and too small for a good pic) and this fat dumpling of a Lobophyllia:
When I think of the 'Classic Lobo' this is basically what comes to mind; grayish/brownish/purplish base with fluorescent orange around the mouth and some green on the sides. It's also a rescue as it had fallen onto a chalice (and lost), but was fully healed when I bought it (lesson learned a good while back, never buy a LPS that has unhealed injuries).
To my eye it adds a nice natural tone to help balance out some of the more overtly fluorescent specimens:
I did a similar thing with a quite dull and somewhat bleached-out freebie Ricordia florida. Really didn't look like much would come of it, but I snuggled it in between a couple bright fluorescent green Rics anyway. It's turned into one of the darker blue Florida's that I've seen in a long while (even popping a bit of orange) and it's providing a nice focal point/countershade to all that 'in-your-face' bright green:
And in other news...
Tank has settled at 25 ppm nitrate no matter how much I clean it (trying to keep a Scleronephthya well fed will do that)., At any rate, the only long-term issue I've had is with some of the small zoas (Rastas, and such) developing zoa pox, but it has since subsided. My 'remedy' for this condition is a little extra iodine and a good tank cleaning/larger water change, which seems to help (anecdotal 'evidence' only, take it as you will). Larger zoas, what many call 'palys', are totally unaffected, thank goodness, as are all the other corals.
Other than a few pesky digitate hydroids in inaccessible locations and the usual coral territorial battles, it's all good
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Bowerbanki at Midnight:
This is the most extreme extension that I've seen in this coral by far. This 'frizz' happened after I had stirred up the aquarium's rear chambers with a baster an hour or two beforehand. What I find interesting is that the Lords and all other LPS remained retracted and so had no apparent interest in the stirred up detritus which is full of shed sponge cells and other miscellaneous items. Although we tend to lump these large and fleshy LPS's behaviors and requirements into one catch-all bin, as with other coral 'types' there can be differences in feeding preferences and behaviors that might sometimes go unnoticed.
This is the most extreme extension that I've seen in this coral by far. This 'frizz' happened after I had stirred up the aquarium's rear chambers with a baster an hour or two beforehand. What I find interesting is that the Lords and all other LPS remained retracted and so had no apparent interest in the stirred up detritus which is full of shed sponge cells and other miscellaneous items. Although we tend to lump these large and fleshy LPS's behaviors and requirements into one catch-all bin, as with other coral 'types' there can be differences in feeding preferences and behaviors that might sometimes go unnoticed.
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Scleronephthya after it's dinner:
Keeping a visual record of this little fella for posterity.
I received it on 08/06/21, so a bit over 3 months in so far. Photo from one week in on 08/12/21:
The first goal is to keep it healthy up to the 6 month mark (I'll have more to say about the experience at that time).
The ultimate goal is not only to maintain a healthy coral, but to also stimulate steady growth and asexual budding reproduction...which is challenging in a non-NPS specific mixed reef.
Keeping a visual record of this little fella for posterity.
I received it on 08/06/21, so a bit over 3 months in so far. Photo from one week in on 08/12/21:
The first goal is to keep it healthy up to the 6 month mark (I'll have more to say about the experience at that time).
The ultimate goal is not only to maintain a healthy coral, but to also stimulate steady growth and asexual budding reproduction...which is challenging in a non-NPS specific mixed reef.
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Dec FTS:
I took this frontal pic with about a 30 degree angle from horizontal so I can get some of the rear-most corals in the shot.
On the NPS front my main frag of Sceronephthya has looked like a rather sorry white/orange lump for the last two weeks:
No signs of degeneration such as loosing tissue or the base disintegrating, just tight retraction and no polyps whatsoever. Tank parameters and general look of all other corals is fine. All the while, this tiny 'mini-me' frag has had full polyp extension, so this was a bit of a puzzler:
My best guess is that either a digitate hydroid was stinging it when I wasn't looking, of a local spaghetti worm's tentacles were causing irritation (or a combo of both). Before the coral ran out of energy, I relocated it today to what I believe is a better location (similar flow and a bit less light). Eight hours later and the polyps are just a bit more pronounced, so there's hope:
Focusing on Zoanthids, one side-effect of the additional NPS feeding was higher nitrate (as expected), up to 30 ppm. Combined with lots of detritus collecting around various coral colonies (especially the Zoas) and higher TOC (total organic carbon) from trying to feed the NPS well, this was not looking so good. I've since managed to reduce NO3 to ~20 ppm through more judicious feeding. Along with near daily basting to remove detritus, the smaller Zoa species are slowly recovering (the larger species showed no visible signs of any issues).
This little rock had 12 Rastas on it, but it's now down to 2 that are looking okay and I have some no-name green ones in the left that also barely survived:
Other Zoas (not related the the above issues) This is a sorry remnant of a RPE colony that was in ~ 40 PAR and high flow (very recently moved to this higher 130 PAR location for hopeful recovery):
..and this a polyp from the same colony under near 200 PAR:
...and a Utter Chaos colony growing out (one of my very top favorite zoanthids!) along with a 'no-name' up left that's starting to multiply:
Keeping a small polyped NPS in a mixed reef tank has been a bit of a wild ride, but definitely has been interesting as there is just as much to learn when things go right as when they don't. There's so much more going on than just the coral itself since the feeding will cause shifts in the system's balance towards eutrophication (which must be countered somehow). While I've managed to keep my 10%/wk water changes (the system just seems to do best with 10%), I do more detritus removal and remove any uneaten food or dead organisms ASAP.
Another odd thing I noticed when feeding the Scleronephthya regularly was that the sand bed grains were starting to clump together when I tried to vacuum. In one of Sprung/Delbeek's books they talk about Shimek's comments that certain bacteria in the substrate can create polysaccharides that then bind the sand together. May be what I noticed here because as soon as I become more judicious with feeding (and stopped adding a carbon source, namely vinegar) the clumping became much less prevalent and now is a non-existent issue.
I took this frontal pic with about a 30 degree angle from horizontal so I can get some of the rear-most corals in the shot.
On the NPS front my main frag of Sceronephthya has looked like a rather sorry white/orange lump for the last two weeks:
No signs of degeneration such as loosing tissue or the base disintegrating, just tight retraction and no polyps whatsoever. Tank parameters and general look of all other corals is fine. All the while, this tiny 'mini-me' frag has had full polyp extension, so this was a bit of a puzzler:
My best guess is that either a digitate hydroid was stinging it when I wasn't looking, of a local spaghetti worm's tentacles were causing irritation (or a combo of both). Before the coral ran out of energy, I relocated it today to what I believe is a better location (similar flow and a bit less light). Eight hours later and the polyps are just a bit more pronounced, so there's hope:
Focusing on Zoanthids, one side-effect of the additional NPS feeding was higher nitrate (as expected), up to 30 ppm. Combined with lots of detritus collecting around various coral colonies (especially the Zoas) and higher TOC (total organic carbon) from trying to feed the NPS well, this was not looking so good. I've since managed to reduce NO3 to ~20 ppm through more judicious feeding. Along with near daily basting to remove detritus, the smaller Zoa species are slowly recovering (the larger species showed no visible signs of any issues).
This little rock had 12 Rastas on it, but it's now down to 2 that are looking okay and I have some no-name green ones in the left that also barely survived:
Recogering_1219121.jpg.f767f13210924df2b2cf2193678e03ed.jpg "1618550400_SmallZoas(RastaBrightGreenNoName)Recogering_1219121.thumb.jpg.4e075b1851337ac9286dd609fb18b069.jpg")
Other Zoas (not related the the above issues) This is a sorry remnant of a RPE colony that was in ~ 40 PAR and high flow (very recently moved to this higher 130 PAR location for hopeful recovery):
..and this a polyp from the same colony under near 200 PAR:
...and a Utter Chaos colony growing out (one of my very top favorite zoanthids!) along with a 'no-name' up left that's starting to multiply:
Keeping a small polyped NPS in a mixed reef tank has been a bit of a wild ride, but definitely has been interesting as there is just as much to learn when things go right as when they don't. There's so much more going on than just the coral itself since the feeding will cause shifts in the system's balance towards eutrophication (which must be countered somehow). While I've managed to keep my 10%/wk water changes (the system just seems to do best with 10%), I do more detritus removal and remove any uneaten food or dead organisms ASAP.
Another odd thing I noticed when feeding the Scleronephthya regularly was that the sand bed grains were starting to clump together when I tried to vacuum. In one of Sprung/Delbeek's books they talk about Shimek's comments that certain bacteria in the substrate can create polysaccharides that then bind the sand together. May be what I noticed here because as soon as I become more judicious with feeding (and stopped adding a carbon source, namely vinegar) the clumping became much less prevalent and now is a non-existent issue.
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A mixture of ReefRoids, very fine ground flakes and a bit of Health Food veggie powder...and baby brine shrimp.
The Utter Chaos have rebounded nicely. The oral disks had shrunk quite a bit around the same time as I noticed the zoa pox on the Rastas. I find the smaller zoas, especially, to be a good 'Canary in the coal mine' as they get ticked off quickly if something is not quite right.
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Scleronephthya on the Mend
One of my mottos is 'Don't give up on a coral until the fat Pods sing'
And so the pitiful blob that was my orange Scleronephthya has responded very well to it's new location. The photo below was taken 2 days after I relocated it. As can be seen by the opaque shreds much of the mucus tunic that had encapsulated it had already been sloughed off. While not unusual in soft corals, I haven't seen any literature specifically discussing these tunics in the 'Carnation Coral' group. The supposed function of these coverings is to remove bacteria and other growths from the coral's outer layer:
And today the polyps are tentatively peeping out and accepting food:
Adding to the progression photos, polyps now fully extended and eating like a champ (12/27/21):
Just needs to inflate a bit more as it's still a tad stubby. I think I can call this one 'a save'
One of my mottos is 'Don't give up on a coral until the fat Pods sing'
And so the pitiful blob that was my orange Scleronephthya has responded very well to it's new location. The photo below was taken 2 days after I relocated it. As can be seen by the opaque shreds much of the mucus tunic that had encapsulated it had already been sloughed off. While not unusual in soft corals, I haven't seen any literature specifically discussing these tunics in the 'Carnation Coral' group. The supposed function of these coverings is to remove bacteria and other growths from the coral's outer layer:
And today the polyps are tentatively peeping out and accepting food:
Adding to the progression photos, polyps now fully extended and eating like a champ (12/27/21):
Just needs to inflate a bit more as it's still a tad stubby. I think I can call this one 'a save'
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If you are up for the really long version of this continuing saga visit the 'nano-reef' website and search by title for 'Ye Olde'.
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Well, 6 months in and the Scleronephtha seems to be a happy camper:
Time will tell if it will ever grow and spread, but just having it alive and looking healthy in a mixed reef for this long is notable in it's own right. What's really interesting is that I changed from feeding it 2-3x/day to 1x/day after repositioning it without any noticeable changes at all (this is something that I actually anticipated). Hmm, so what gives?
The two main genus that people think of as 'Carnation Corals' are the Dendronephthya and Scleronephthya. Dendronephthya has 250+ species, Scleronephthya at least 12 species. I have no idea which species I have, but it does have fluorescent pigments in the green/green-yellow 500-550 nm range (by examining a branch, Dana Riddle was kind enough to check to see if there was any chlorophyll present, but no it is truly a NPS coral). Identification to species is very difficult without examining the spicules. At any rate, it stands to reason that one shouldn't think that all Carnation Coral species have the exact same needs (we wouldn't lump the needs of all the different Acropra species into the same bin). In fact it's now known that some are highly reliant on phytoplankton and others on zooplankton and likely some that rely equal on both. And likely some are opportunists and can utilize either food source depending on which is the most abundant at any particular time of year.
Here's where things get interesting. The fact that these corals typically have lots of feeding polyps and have been found to consume phytoplankton and zooplankton in varying proportions has led to many trying to feed these small polyped NPS corals often, or even continuously, since it has been assumed that they need this nutrition since they don't have zooxanthellae. So how's that been working for us? I would say it's been a real mixed bag, for the most part. And why does a certain small subset of seemingly normal reef aquaria have the ability to sustain some types of these NPS corals, while others (even those specifically set up for them) may not?
The food source that I suspect plays a crucial role in the required energy budget for at the very least some of these small polyped NPS corals is bacteria. And not just any bacteria, but certain types that they are now known to preferentially feed on.
I ran across this very interesting article showing that the coral/holobiont releases exudates that accelerate the growth of these specific bacteria that they are known to ingest (Pelagibacteriaceae, Rhodobacteraceeae and Synechococcus):
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161012144511.htm
Low and behold, a microbiome test from Eli over at AquaBiomics showed that my system's most abundant bacteria by far (~70%) is Pelagibacteriaceae with Rhodobacteraceeae
and Hyphomicrobiaceae following 2nd and 3rd.
* In regards to Hyphomicrobiaceae, I found it interesting that it includes Rhodomicrobium, which is a genus of Purple Bacteria that corals are known to ingest.
I'm certainly not the first to suggest that bacteria may play a larger role in the maintenance of these corals, but it's hard for large macro organisms like us to believe that a coral ingesting minute microscopic creatures could find enough sustenance to sustain it. I helps to contemplate that 1 cubic cm of ocean water harbors around 1 million microbial cells, which is nothing to sneeze at
Which raises the interesting question, can more of us have success with these small polyped NPS corals (or at least certain types) if we knew that our system's microbiome had higher proportions/quantities of certain types of bacteria?
And if one doesn't have these types, can they be added to the system to supply these NPS with the nutrition that they need?
Interestingly, this assumption is being tested by Ken over at Hydrospace LLC feeding PNSBs (Photsynthetic Non-Sulfur Purple Bacteria/Marine Snow as a major component of a Dendronephthya sp. nutrition (scroll to the 25 minute mark for the Dendronephthya discussion):
(I typically don't plug products, but the information in this video is informative)
I'll be the first to say that I'm making suppositions based on indications that point towards the bacterial component being a major player in the maintenance of at least some of these small polyped NPS corals. I'm just a typical hobbyist with a small non-filtered mixed reef aquarium, limited resources and a system that happens to supports a Scleronephthya sp. (for 6 months, at any rate) that is attempting to 'put the pieces together' to arrive at a better understanding of the energy needs of these NPS corals
In other news...
This little hitchhiker grows so slow even with 2-3x weekly feedings, but at least it is heading in the right direction (nearly doubled it's size in ~3 months):
Still not nearly big enough to tell what exactly it is...
I split up a pair of mini-me Blastomussa vivida polyps that I separated from a large mother polyp recently to get one of them out of a higher flow location:
Freshly glued and it's already starting to puff up a bit. Unless they get bulldozed by my clumsiness or my hermit crabs, they should develop into proper sized polyps fairly soon (fingers crossed)!
Time will tell if it will ever grow and spread, but just having it alive and looking healthy in a mixed reef for this long is notable in it's own right. What's really interesting is that I changed from feeding it 2-3x/day to 1x/day after repositioning it without any noticeable changes at all (this is something that I actually anticipated). Hmm, so what gives?
The two main genus that people think of as 'Carnation Corals' are the Dendronephthya and Scleronephthya. Dendronephthya has 250+ species, Scleronephthya at least 12 species. I have no idea which species I have, but it does have fluorescent pigments in the green/green-yellow 500-550 nm range (by examining a branch, Dana Riddle was kind enough to check to see if there was any chlorophyll present, but no it is truly a NPS coral). Identification to species is very difficult without examining the spicules. At any rate, it stands to reason that one shouldn't think that all Carnation Coral species have the exact same needs (we wouldn't lump the needs of all the different Acropra species into the same bin). In fact it's now known that some are highly reliant on phytoplankton and others on zooplankton and likely some that rely equal on both. And likely some are opportunists and can utilize either food source depending on which is the most abundant at any particular time of year.
Here's where things get interesting. The fact that these corals typically have lots of feeding polyps and have been found to consume phytoplankton and zooplankton in varying proportions has led to many trying to feed these small polyped NPS corals often, or even continuously, since it has been assumed that they need this nutrition since they don't have zooxanthellae. So how's that been working for us? I would say it's been a real mixed bag, for the most part. And why does a certain small subset of seemingly normal reef aquaria have the ability to sustain some types of these NPS corals, while others (even those specifically set up for them) may not?
The food source that I suspect plays a crucial role in the required energy budget for at the very least some of these small polyped NPS corals is bacteria. And not just any bacteria, but certain types that they are now known to preferentially feed on.
I ran across this very interesting article showing that the coral/holobiont releases exudates that accelerate the growth of these specific bacteria that they are known to ingest (Pelagibacteriaceae, Rhodobacteraceeae and Synechococcus):
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161012144511.htm
Low and behold, a microbiome test from Eli over at AquaBiomics showed that my system's most abundant bacteria by far (~70%) is Pelagibacteriaceae with Rhodobacteraceeae
and Hyphomicrobiaceae following 2nd and 3rd.
* In regards to Hyphomicrobiaceae, I found it interesting that it includes Rhodomicrobium, which is a genus of Purple Bacteria that corals are known to ingest.
I'm certainly not the first to suggest that bacteria may play a larger role in the maintenance of these corals, but it's hard for large macro organisms like us to believe that a coral ingesting minute microscopic creatures could find enough sustenance to sustain it. I helps to contemplate that 1 cubic cm of ocean water harbors around 1 million microbial cells, which is nothing to sneeze at
Which raises the interesting question, can more of us have success with these small polyped NPS corals (or at least certain types) if we knew that our system's microbiome had higher proportions/quantities of certain types of bacteria?
And if one doesn't have these types, can they be added to the system to supply these NPS with the nutrition that they need?
Interestingly, this assumption is being tested by Ken over at Hydrospace LLC feeding PNSBs (Photsynthetic Non-Sulfur Purple Bacteria/Marine Snow as a major component of a Dendronephthya sp. nutrition (scroll to the 25 minute mark for the Dendronephthya discussion):
(I typically don't plug products, but the information in this video is informative)
I'll be the first to say that I'm making suppositions based on indications that point towards the bacterial component being a major player in the maintenance of at least some of these small polyped NPS corals. I'm just a typical hobbyist with a small non-filtered mixed reef aquarium, limited resources and a system that happens to supports a Scleronephthya sp. (for 6 months, at any rate) that is attempting to 'put the pieces together' to arrive at a better understanding of the energy needs of these NPS corals
In other news...
This little hitchhiker grows so slow even with 2-3x weekly feedings, but at least it is heading in the right direction (nearly doubled it's size in ~3 months):
Still not nearly big enough to tell what exactly it is...
I split up a pair of mini-me Blastomussa vivida polyps that I separated from a large mother polyp recently to get one of them out of a higher flow location:
Freshly glued and it's already starting to puff up a bit. Unless they get bulldozed by my clumsiness or my hermit crabs, they should develop into proper sized polyps fairly soon (fingers crossed)!
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OP
OP
Thank you. I would say that the Scleronephthya has it's polyps extended ~70% of the time. Of the 30% that it is closed, the hermits are responsible for about half of that. Interestingly, the coral recovered very quickly from being cut, but it is quite sensitive to in tank irritators like hermits, hydroids and spaghetti worms.
I bought it from AquaSD and they seem to get them in every few months or so. I've left a space open for a different color Scleronephthya (if I can ever find one). I'm interested to see if this current orange one is just adaptable to my system or whether my system is suitable for other types of Scleronephthya. I've thought about trying a Dendronephthya, too, but they tend to be larger and more highly branched and so would look disproportionate in such a small aquarium.
Kenneth Wingerter
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I'm certainly not the first to suggest that bacteria may play a larger role in the maintenance of these corals, but it's hard for large macro organisms like us to believe that a coral ingesting minute microscopic creatures could find enough sustenance to sustain it. I helps to contemplate that 1 cubic cm of ocean water harbors around 1 million microbial cells, which is nothing to sneeze at
Which raises the interesting question, can more of us have success with these small polyped NPS corals (or at least certain types) if we knew that our system's microbiome had higher proportions/quantities of certain types of bacteria?
And if one doesn't have these types, can they be added to the system to supply these NPS with the nutrition that they need?
Interestingly, this assumption is being tested by Ken over at Hydrospace LLC feeding PNSBs (Photsynthetic Non-Sulfur Purple Bacteria/Marine Snow as a major component of a Dendronephthya sp. nutrition (scroll to the 25 minute mark for the Dendronephthya discussion):
(I typically don't plug products, but the information in this video is informative)
I'll be the first to say that I'm making suppositions based on indications that point towards the bacterial component being a major player in the maintenance of at least some of these small polyped NPS corals. I'm just a typical hobbyist with a small non-filtered mixed reef aquarium, limited resources and a system that happens to supports a Scleronephthya sp. (for 6 months, at any rate) that is attempting to 'put the pieces together' to arrive at a better understanding of the energy needs of these NPS corals
Man, I can't thank you enough for your very interesting post. You sent me down a rabbit hole that yielded lots of cool new insights (maybe) into keeping NPS nephthiids.
After some limited success with the Dendronephthya referenced in your post (that one died after a system failure after 5 months), I made a second attempt in a larger tank with two nearly identical specimens. These pretty clearly starved to death after a few months, unfortunately. Differences this time, had a bit less flow and fed a bit less PNS YelloSno... But the big difference this time (I think) is that I fed less phyto. The issue with that could be related to fatty acid composition. The purple non-sulfur bacteria in PNS ProBio (Rhodopseudomonas palustris), like any food, have their strong and weak points. The strong points are their extremely high protein content (especially relative to phyto), their digestibility (they lack a cellulose-based cell wall as opposed to phyto), they are rich in B and E vitamins and they are rich in carotenoids. Their one big weak point is their fatty acid profile. It's not terrible, as they do serve as a great source of stearic, oleic and aminolevulinic acid (ALA). But they apparently pale in comparison to phyto when it comes to some other, essential fatties such as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Could be that some combo is ideal for these corals? I've seen a paper (using Artemia as models) that suggested as much, showing that a combo with phyto was better than either phyto or Rhodopseudomonas alone.
And differences between Dendronephthya and most zooxanthellate corals could be at play here. Symbiodinium is known to synthesize many essential fatties, including DHA. Seems pretty obvious that in an oligotrophic environment such as a coral reef (where phyto are scarce) that zooxanthellate corals obtain most of their fatties from Symbiodinium. It even appears that fatty acid profiles of endosymbiotic Symbiodinium differ from those of free-living counterparts. So yeah, even if the dendros are simply feeding on planktonic Symbiodinium, they're not necessarily obtaining the same nutritional content. With other types of phyto in such poor supply, it would mean that they are REALLY good at grazing microalgae, or they're getting those particular fatty acids from some microbial source.
Absolutely, Rhodopseudomonas is abundant on reefs and has indeed been shown to be an important dietary component of corals (including as probiotics and symbionts)--at least for zooxanthellate corals. And that would make sense... Symbiodinium provides plenty of DHA whereas Rhodopseudomonas provides ALA, stearic acid, etc. Rhodopseudomonas is rich in oleic acid too, which might be notable since it is not easily synthesized by Symbiodinium in a nutrient-poor environment such as a reef.
But I don't want to ramble here... Still climbing out of that rabbit hole haha. Point is, even if bacteria are an important (or even critical) component of the NPS nephthiid diet, seems to me that they are nevertheless insufficient by themselves. The missing part, especially if it relates to fatty acids, is microalgae. Maybe. Unlike most bacteria, algae are rich in essential long-chain fatty acids including polyunsaturated fatties such as the omega-3s DHA and ALA. While Rhodopseudomonas could supply lots of ALA (better than Symbiodinium, in fact), it is a poor source of DHA. Symbiodinium is a great source of DHA, at least as an endosymbiont, but that of course doesn't apply much to Dendronephthya nor to any azooxanthellate animal. Are dendros really that good at eking out their fatty acids from the pittance of available phyto on a reef? Or do they get them from some other microbial source?
The high abundance of Pelagibacter-type bacteria in your system caught my attention. This shouldn't be unusual, as these are probably the most abundant bacteria on Earth, perhaps as many as half of all marine bacteria. But for some weird reason they are (like Rhodopseudomonas) grossly underrepresented in aquaria. So I'm wondering (as I believe you are), could this be why your Scleronephthya is doing so well? What is it that you're doing (or not doing) that is supporting the Pelagibacter so well? Pelagibacter grows best in an oligotrophic environment, are you maintaining low nutrient levels (I saw NO3 reported as high as 30 ppm, but you also stated that was anomalous)? I was curious about the fatty acid profile of Pelagibacter; surprisingly, according to the few available studies, it appears to be fairly poor in this area. But Pelagibacter is just a third piece of the puzzle... I'm familiar with the paper you linked above, and it's pretty clear that corals like to eat Pelagibacter for SOME reason. The big one is, is the health of your sclero directly related to the abundance of Pelagibacter, or is it coincidental (i.e. they just happen to both like the conditions of your system)?
Anyway, thanks again for sharing all those thoughts and observations. If you have any additional observations to offer regarding either your Pelagibacter or your Scleronephthya, I'd be extremely interested in hearing more.
OP
OP
Hi Ken - Glad you found my ramblings of interest and I appreciate your thoughts and insights.
As far as my tank being oligotrophic, that was more true at the time when I had my one and only Aquabiomics test in January of 2020. It is possible that my initial heavy feeding of the Scleronephthya may have altered the bacterial profile somewhat since then as it certainly did spike my NO3 from ~3 ppm (at the time of the Aquabiomics test) to around 30 ppm. I am currently maintaining NO3 around 15 ppm with PO4 still being 'undetectable' (Salifert)
Just to make things more complicated, there's also the distinct possibility that the daytime reef aquarium bacterial community differs from the nocturnal one. This is certainly the case on natural coral reefs
https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=298199&org=NSF
And so this raises some interesting possibilities as we may have to take into account both sets of bacterial communities that occur during a dial cycle to get a more complete picture.
I concur with your comments suggesting that a plant based component is likely necessary for the maintenance and health of these corals. To what extent may be genus/species specific and would also be determined by seasonal availability. In Dendronepthya it has been observed that some species consume a proportionately large amount of phytoplankton, while other species consume mostly zooplankton (at least at the time of year that the observations were made).
Nutritionally, I've taken a somewhat middle ground approach whereby I supply the coral a daily dry-food diet made up of ~30% vegetable matter 5x/week and frozen baby brine shrimp 2x week. Additionally, I have noted increased expansion right after I clean the glass of accumulated microalga and the coral also responds positively when I disturb the detritus in my rear chambers with a turkey baster. The suspended material is especially rich in cast off sponge cells (the chambers have a good quantity of various sponges) and this component, along with the attached bacteria, would seem to be utilized.
I suspect that the lack of mechanical or chemical filtration (or any other chemical additives) in a very mature system also plays a part in the so far successful maintenance of this particular Scleronephthya. Nutritive components in the system are only removed periodically with the bi-weekly sand bed cleanings and relatively small water changes. Infaunal egg and larvae production (from worms and amphipods, mostly) are available for consumption for extended periods of time.
Attempting to pin-point exactly which of these nutritive items are actually utilized by the coral, and the quantity/proportion of each that is required, is still a challenge.
Ralph.
OP
OP
Further musing to Ken over at Hydrospace LLC's comments...
After rereading this I realized that there is a way for small polyped NPS corals to receive the benefits of Symbiodinium DHA, namely through ingestion.
This small reef aquarium has a rather dense assortment of various coral and other photosynthetic organisms for it's size, which regulate the density of their symbiotic partners via expulsion into the local environment. I've noticed that this Scleronephthya is often retracted during most of the light period (even though it is not in high light), but then typically expands prominently when the light cycle is ramping down and then for a many hours thereafter.
So perhaps the coral is not light shy, but simply saving energy by not expanding it's polyps until the photosynthetic organisms start to expel their excess zooxanthellae towards the end of the light cycle.
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