Acropora feeding images. What I have learned/observed 6/16/2011

Of course, I also tell people alleopathic chemicals, in the wild, are to deter predation and surface fowling, not for coral warfare. So, I may just have two heads and they might both be banging each other

 

Food for thought, and a whole other can of worms.

Now see if it's used to deter predation, might it not have some adverse effect on neighboring corals as well? It's the old baby in the bath water for me, yes that maybe it's primary reason for development in some corals, but it may also have a secondary effect, un-intended but with a positive outcome for the corals.

 

I would hope no one could look at these pictures and then try to tell her that she "needs" a skimmer!! Lol.

Great looking shots and information. Thanks for the post Cora

 

Thanks.

Skimmers are great, just not on this tank. No doubt behind the science of foam fractionation and it's benefits to a system. I actually have all my old skimmers going back to the early 90's, why I have no clue, but I do. I do however think that not enough people think about everything they are removing from the tank in the way of possible nutritional sources for corals.

 

Yes, certainly. I said in nature

;D oh, man I should keep my trap shut. Some topics I just can't resist debating LOL.

I've always said that it can effect neighboring corals under certain situations. If it's to deter predation though, it's not being released into the water, unless something else is wrong. If it's to prevent surface fouling, some may be sloughing off, but it's not released in mass quantities. And the small amounts will dilute very quickly and seem to be removed easily by carbon, skimming etc... If it's being released in larger quantities, IMO more likely it's a sign the coral is being attacked by protazoa or something and is responding. This may certainly effect other corals, but it's would be energy inefficient response in nature, against other corals, where there is huge currents and water turnover, constantly dissipating it. So, it's unlikely to have adapted for that purpose and I know of no scientific evidence to suggest this.

Even in a tank, with less water turnover, producing enough to effect corals even a few inches away, with good flow and filtration would require huge amounts of energy. It makes more sense to wait until a coral gets closer, then kill it with mesenterial filaments Certainly there are cases where it can have adverse effects, but these are overcome to a large extent with good flow and filtration. Especially if the corals aren't on top of each other, or directly downflow, with a constant non-random flow etc...

 

Now you know I value your opinion, and a debate it is. Your points makes all the sense in the world to me. ;D

 

Well, that's not much of a debate . J/k

Mostly it's a semantic argument... However, IMO people are often quick to blame the dreaded "chemical warfare" and in doing so, often seem to overlook other potential and more likely causes. So I like to poke fun at the concept.


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I saw this last night on an acro an a birdsnest. They were much smaller on the bn. I searched MF on google and yours popped up. I didn't know what it was. At first I thought they were some worm. Anyways, it is bad that I don't see it on the others?

 

For some reason some acropora will go through periods were they do not show a feeding response. I do not know the reason for this but it does not seem to be neither negative or positive. My Tortousa will show a feeding response for months then stop doing so for months.

Sps like, Stylophora, Pocillopora, BN and Montipora seem to show less of a feeding response.

The more routinely I feed my sps the quicker the response.