Coral Spawn

[Abhishek]

We work with A. hyacinthus as our main spawner. We also have A. tenuis which may go this April, but our studies are around a. hy.



We chose A. hy because it is very abundant in Palau where we collect our corals for the lab. Fast grower, broadcast spawner, easy to id. We have collected twice and will one more time in Feb. We go a few months before the projected spawn and collect gravid colonies - we 'crack' branches and look for eggs. This year we will be comparing the newly collected coral spawn with the corals we have from previous seasons.



That is part of the hard part for hobbyists - collecting different genotypes of the same species. Find a vendor that will work with you to get you what you need. Though, just getting the colonies to go off at the same time is the first trick, IVF the gametes is the next.



That can be difficult. Gotta get good at making that id until genetic testing becomes cheap and easy.



That is even harder, and one of the reasons I dislike flash in the pan common names.



Don't know the weight off hand but the colonies are about hand sized.

Thanks!

First of all , I honestly appreciate you taking time and answering some of my questions .

It’s interesting to know why you chose Acropora Hyacinthus .
The thing that is probably hardest for us hobbyists is to ID the right species among all of these crazy trade names.

Also it seems it’s much more viable to start collecting same genotypes as you mentioned of a species and stick to it . Most of us put a crazy mix
of all possible species of acroporas driven mostly by mostly crazy trade names and glowing actinic colors such a tenuis .

Am sure you have just started and have so much to learn but if you had to give advice to other hobbyists embarking on the journey of spawning acropora predictably , what species would you suggest them to start with ? And I believe you would suggest to start with wild species rather than aquacultured 1 inch frags waiting to be sizable colonies in 2-3 years ?

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[Thales]

Am sure you have just started and have so much to learn but if you had to give advice to other hobbyists embarking on the journey of spawning acropora predictably , what species would you suggest them to start with ? And I believe you would suggest to start with wild species rather than aquacultured 1 inch frags waiting to be sizable colonies in 2-3 years ?

I think for the acros, I would use multiple, unrelated corals that I could most easily get. I don't think wild or cultured makes a real difference. Small stuff you grow out is fine.

 

[Sabellafella]

Wow the spellcheck butchered that my post LOL but what an incredible thread!

 

[Abhishek]

@Thales - couple of more questions on the same topic :-

1. What's the average temperature variation in the spawning setups ? Is the average temperature higher than what average hobbyists keep their tanks at - 77-78 ?

Think in one of the videos you talk about going 82-83 with 85 being the absolute limit where tissue necrosis can set in ?

2. With Neptune LSM module, did you change the leds to a more realistic spectrum of moonlight of around 4100K ? Is it the moon cycle thats more important than the spectrum of moonlight provided ?

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[inktomi]

I've been working on getting my tank set up for Acropora spawning as well. This thread is awesome so far!

I've been following the guide laid out in this paper..

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onlinelibrary.wiley.com

 

[Thales]

@Thales - couple of more questions on the same topic :-

1. What's the average temperature variation in the spawning setups ? Is the average temperature higher than what average hobbyists keep their tanks at - 77-78 ?

It depends on the area of the world you are trying to replicate. The important part may be the season change, not the actual temp.

Think in one of the videos you talk about going 82-83 with 85 being the absolute limit where tissue necrosis can set in ?

That is for Palau, and 85 is where bleaching seems to start, not necrosis.

2. With Neptune LSM module, did you change the leds to a more realistic spectrum of moonlight of around 4100K ? Is it the moon cycle thats more important than the spectrum of moonlight provided ?

I did not, I did however move them farther away from the tank so they weren't so bright. I'll have to check how I measured this.

 

[Hebby]

I would like to add to this post of my recent Acropora Spawning ( Early hours of this morning 1:34am UK time )
I don't run any type or moonlight and my system is fairly basic equipment wise. No phosphate/nitrate removers or algae bed neither do I run carbon.
Nor exactly sure why there was a spawn as I had this coral now since a mini colony for the past 2 years. I've never seen it spawn before either. Unsure if this is related but my 2ft tip to tip brittle star is out at the top of the tank which is super unusual and just short of 24h after initial spawn my tank is rather cloudy. It's been crystal clear all day as it usually is yet for the past 2h since lights off its now looking a little foggy. Happy to give any details what might be of interest.