Zooxanthellae Question

[asharp13]

I just got my first RBTA for $9 at my LFS!!!!! i know it is not recommended to try to bring nems back but i talked the guy at the LFS down to $9 and i figure i might as well give it a try, rather then him starving at the store. The foot is in good shape and he is eating and moving around so i have faith that he will pull through but he is a little beached out. Now, i have done my research and know that the anemone is lacking zooxanthellae, which in fact are living organisms. My question is this:
While there are many remedies and supplements to dose tanks with to promote certain things like the growth of coralline through coralline plates, or cycle starting with beneficial bacteria, is there any way to promote the growth of zooxanthellae? i know that zooxanthellae is absorbed through the anemones and corals outer layers, but how do they get in the tank? where do they come from? how can you promote their multiplication? is there anything sold that will boost the level of zooxanthellae in my tank?
side note: prior to purchasing my RBTA today i acquired a pink tip haitian that was completely white. i got him like a month ago and when i gave him back to my LFS today in exchange for my RBTA, the upper halves up his tentacles were browning? that is a good sign right? zooxanthellae? is this any indication that the new RBTA will recover?
Thanks in advance for the help all!!

 

[spanko]

Algae (Zooxanthellae) may come from the water column or they may come from reproduction of the few cells that remain in the coral. I have not heard of any off the shelf type bottle of symbiotic algae you could spike the tank with. Lighting and food are the wat to promote their multiplication. Yes the browning of the tentacles are a good sighn. The indication of the new RBTA recovering is it coloring back up. If you have sufficient lighting, good water quality and leave it alone to find the space it determines as best, coupled with the fact that you were bringing the haitian back, there is a good chance you can do the same with the RBTA.
Post some pictures of it now and keep this thread going so we can see the progress along.

 

[asharp13]

srry i may have misspoke in the last post. i traded my haitian in and swapped it for the RBTA yesterday. today 11/5 will be the first whole day in the tank for the RBTA. he is looking decent...a lot better than at the LFS. when the lights went down for the night he really opened up and started movin around and trying to find a home for himself. i snapped some photos of it last night so ill try to get them up but my camera is terrible.
this may seem like a silly question but i am a little unsure of the answer so i have to ask:
do all anemones attract the same type zooxanthellae?
i ask becasue i am trying to figure out if the kind that was atractive to my haitian will also be attractive to my RBTA. it is my understanding that the zooxanthellae casue corals to color and anemones to fill in. since my haitian turned brown, and my rose hopefully will turn red, does this indicate a different starin of the zooxanthellae that they need?

 

[bang guy]

A typical Anemone may harbour dozens of strains of Zooxanthellae. They are a type of Dinoflagellate and the dominant strain is typically determined by light intensity, light spectrum, and water parameters. So, I would fully expect that the Zooxanthellae that thrived in your Haitian will probably also become dominant in your Quadricolor.
What you are doing is fine, let the Anemone take care of the Zooxanthellae by moving to the best spot. The extra food you are providing will assist so other than that just keep the water in good condition and don't overthink it.

 

[spanko]

Have a read here:
http://www.marinebiology.org/coralbleaching.htm

 

[9supratt4]

Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/3167115
Have a read here:
http://www.marinebiology.org/coralbleaching.htm
Great article Spanko!! But the second paragraph read: Corals live in very nutrient poor waters and have certain zones of tolerance to water temperature, salinity, UV radiation, opacity, and nutrient quantities.
I thought corals lived in very nurtrient RICH waters?? Hence why the coral reefs in Wakatobi, Indonesia are the most pristine. Since the waters of the Indian & Pacific oceans meet there.

 

[bang guy]

The amount of plankton is high, the amount of dissolved nutrients is low - like PO4 and NO3.

 

[9supratt4]

Thanks Bang!! I thought of that after I submited. The chemical composition of the waters regarding NO2, NO3, PO4, etc are low....but the food (plankton) that the corals feed off of are high. Makes sense!!

 

[asharp13]

i have been doing a little research on iodine and what it does. it sounds like something i may want to try. does anyone have any experience with this stuff? a brand to recommend? i have been reading about how it promotes coralline growth and helps things such as zooxanthellae growth, is this true? will a stable iodine level in my tank help the new nem and the corals? what is the ideal level it should be at? 5ppm? and i dont know if this matters but i only have a black sponge filter and a mini refugium housed in the back compartment of my tank. there is no other form of filtration does that matter at all?

 

[asharp13]

is there a thread that explains all the major elements and trace elements that are involved in reefkeeping? or a site you all know of that i could check out..i love learning about this stuff!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[spanko]

Originally Posted by asharp13
http:///forum/post/3167193
is there a thread that explains all the major elements and trace elements that are involved in reefkeeping? or a site you all know of that i could check out..i love learning about this stuff!!!!!!!!!!!
The thing about adding (dosing) your tank is that you should not add anything that you have not tested for first to see if it is needed or not. Iodine being one of those trace elements that can easily be replenished with a good strict water change schedule.
For information purposes here:
Ammonia (NH3-4)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.010 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 0.050 mg/L
Ammonia levels can rise after the addition of new animals, after a water change, or after the changing of food diet. Any ammonia level above 0.05 mg/L is a cause for concern, and the source should be found and corrected.
Nitrite (NO2)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.010 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 0.100 mg/L
Residual levels of nitrite are common in marine aquariums. Levels of 0.05 or less are of little concern. If the levels are higher than this, the source should be found and corrected.
Nitrate (NO3)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.050 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 25 mg/L
Nitrate is not toxic in and of itself, but a rising level is indicative of deteriorating water conditions, and any level above 5.0 mg/L in reef aquariums is a reason for concern.
Phosphate (PO4)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.030 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 0.250 mg/L
The use of a phosphate absorbing resin is recommended to keep phosphate levels below 0.05 mg/L.
Silica (Sio2-3)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.040 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 0.500 mg/L
Silicate is required by many types of sponges for growth/reproduction, but will also encourage brown diatom algae growth. Any level above 0.3 mg/L may cause a diatom bloom in the aquarium.
Potassium (K)
Natural Seawater Value: 390 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 350 to 450 mg/L
Potassium is rapidly depleted from aquarium water by several plant and animal metabolic processes. Maintenance of appropriate levels is critical for cellular respiration, as well as being an important nutrient for coral zooxanthellae and macro algae.
Calcium (Ca)
Natural Seawater Value: 400 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 350 to 450 mg/L
Calcium is critical to healthy coral
skeletal growth, and many other biological processes. Maintenance of calcium levels that are
at or near seawater values is an important factor in having a healthy reef aquarium.
Boron (B)
Natural Seawater Value: 4.6 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 3.0 – 6.0 mg/L
Boron is an important part of the water buffering capacity, and a lack of boron can lead to dangerous fluctuations in pH and alkalinity.
Molybdenum (Mo)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.01 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.0 to 0.12 mg/L
Molybdenum is important to microbial activity in the aquarium filter, and may also be important to stony coral health and reproduction.
Strontium (Sr)
Natural Seawater Value: 8.1 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 5.0 to 12.0 mg/L
Strontium is important to coral growth, as they incorporate strontium ions into their skeletal mass, particularly SPS corals. It is also important to coralline algae growth.
Magnesium (Mg)
Natural Seawater Value: 1280 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 1100 to 1400 mg/L
Magnesium is a very important part of the water buffering system, and is incorporated into coral skeletons. It is also critical to any photosynthetic processes.
Iodine (I¯)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.060 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.030 to 0.090 mg/L
Iodine is required by soft corals, macro algae, and for pigment development in SPS corals.
Copper (Cu++)
Natural Seawater Value: 0.030 mg/L
Acceptable Range: 0.000 to 0.030 mg/L
Copper is fatal to marine invertebrates at levels as low as 0.05 mg/L for many species.
Alkalinity (meq/L)
Natural Seawater Value: 2.5 meq/L
Acceptable Range: 2.5 to 5.0 meq/L
Maintaining an appropriate alkalinity is crucial to maintaining a healthy aquarium. A fluctuating alkalinity will lead to serious problems in maintaining an appropriate pH, as well as problems keeping calcium and magnesium levels within required ranges.

 

[bang guy]

I just also wanted to add that Carbonate is critical to healthy coral skeletal growth. More than half of the reefkeeping books I read never mention Carbonate directly.
I like to mention it because if all of a tanks Alkalinity is made up of Boron then corals will not be able to grow. This includes Stonies and most Softies. Most Stonies will actually begin to dissolve when Carbonate is absent.
On the Iodine subject, I have never seen a reef crash because Iodine wasn't dosed. I have seen plenty crash from an overdose. Just something to keep in mind if you decide to dose without testing first. Never dose right after a waterchange, especially if you have Shrimp.
I have seen withdrawal-like symptoms from corals when Iodine has been dosed regularly and then suddenly stopped. They recover quickly with or without Iodine.

 

[spanko]

Hey Bang, I always thought that if you kept your alkalinity at NSW levels your carbonate hardness would fall in spec. Am I missing something here?

 

[asharp13]

thx for the help. im gonna do some more homework and let everyone know. i went to my LFS today and this really knowledgeable guy explained to me the relationship between calcium, magnesium, alkalinity, and pH...very interesting stuff. so i picked up a couple test kits and will run them later tonight. i think that is a good start for me since i still consider myself a newb, but i am trying to get away from that.
for my RBTA: hes looking good. i think he has finally setteled into a great place for an anem...the same place my haitian used to be haha. but he looks comfy and is starting to open up and actually look alive...not colorful, but alive!!

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/3167231
Hey Bang, I always thought that if you kept your alkalinity at NSW levels your carbonate hardness would fall in spec. Am I missing something here?
Alkalinity is comprised of several compounds. Carbonate and Boron are just the major parts of Alkalinity. I've seen tanks where the hobbiest used Seachem PH Buffer to maintain Alkalinity with almost zero Carbonate. The first symptom is that nothing grows or grows inexplicably slow. I don't know of an actual Carbonate test. KH is actually a Carbonate Harness equivalency test and not directly related to Carbonate. The best way I know of is to test Alkalinity and Borate and then sunbtract the Borate from the Alkalinity. What's leftover is mostly Carbonate (and Bicarbonate).