Coral growth

[schadiest1]

how do corals with a hard exoskeleton grow bigger? such as hammer corals, bubble corals, galexia corals, trumpet corals. or does the hard shell stay only that size?

 

[ophiura]

No, they lay down more skeleton as they grow. So the actual "stony" part does grow along with them.

 

[schadiest1]

that primarly comes from calcium supplement?

 

[ophiura]

Well, it is kinda complicated, and does involve the relationship of the coral with the symbiotic zooxanthellae it hosts...so not calcium supplementation alone. The calcium must be there, but the coral also needs its zooxanthellae.

 

[schadiest1]

does the stony part of the coral then to grow much in an aquarium? or is it rare to see ur corals like this get much bigger?

 

[ophiura]

Oh yes, they can grow lots and lots under appropriate conditions (lighting, flow, water quality, so on...). Most of an SPS "stick" LOL is hard skeleton, so when you see those growing, its the skeleton underneath that is expanding as well, being laid down by polyps as they divide.

 

[mojoreef]

When are coral grows its tissue cells devide and thus it grows. Light energy from your bulbs is taken in by the zoox algae that live with in the tissue of the coral. This energy is converted to sugars and basic carbs along with trace aminos. Couple this with the nutrients the coral absorbs and/or captures enable the coral to produce tissue and thus grow. Now calcium actually inhibits the coral from deviding thier cells. What the coral does to combat this is to mover the calcium ions to the cell membrane where it is pulled out of the cell and deposited on the skeliton. So when you look at the coral skeliton its not really a part of the coral animal but a waste deposit dump for calcium and carbonate
Mike