HUGE Sun Coral Spawning event

[Tennyson]

Hey guys,
Sharing some exciting news from my sun coral garden
After upsetting the parent colony with alkalinity shock (dKH: 12, unintentional), she rewarded me with 100+ babies, and they're still coming! I've never heard of a spawning event spanning over 7 days.

Spawning notes:
- Sun coral spawn (propagules) are yellow in color
- Dark orange/brown propagules are duds
- Released with physical agitation/rough flow
- 1 - 2 dozen released at a time over the course of a week
- Parent colony refuses food for 1 week leading up to spawning event and eats very little during spawning days

Propagule notes:
- 'Free swimming' sun coral larvae
- Will only attach in high flow
- 0 attached naturally to my rockwork in the display, I had to collect them.
- Attachment takes 1 - 2 days
- Feeding reef roids/coral frenzy despite absence of tentacles.

Fingers crossed much of the young ones make it! 92 successfully attached so far.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Hey guys,
Sharing some exciting news from my sun coral garden
After upsetting the parent colony with alkalinity shock (dKH: 12, unintentional), she rewarded me with 100+ babies, and they're still coming! I've never heard of a spawning event spanning over 7 days.

Spawning notes:
- Sun coral spawn (propagules) are yellow in color
- Dark orange/brown propagules are duds
- Released with physical agitation/rough flow
- 1 - 2 dozen released at a time over the course of a week
- Parent colony refuses food for 1 week leading up to spawning event and eats very little during spawning days

Propagule notes:
- 'Free swimming' sun coral larvae
- Will only attach in high flow
- 0 attached naturally to my rockwork in the display, I had to collect them.
- Attachment takes 1 - 2 days
- Feeding reef roids/coral frenzy despite absence of tentacles.

Fingers crossed much of the young ones make it! 92 successfully attached so far.

Thanks for sharing, comrade. For some reason yellow sun cup corals release gametes more often. I didn't know alkalinity would do that. Very nice, keep us posted.

 

[Tennyson]

Thanks for sharing, comrade. For some reason yellow sun cup corals release gametes more often. I didn't know alkalinity would do that. Very nice, keep us posted.

IME these events are tied to a sudden stressor. In this case it was definitely linked to a bad batch of baking soda I had made for dosing alkalinity. The last time the parent did this was during the first week I bought her, over 3 years ago.

Edit: Surprisingly only the parent responded this way. No other coral or suns were negatively affected by the change in alkalinity.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

IME these events are tied to a sudden stressor. In this case it was definitely linked to a bad batch of baking soda I had made for dosing alkalinity. The last time the parent did this was during the first week I bought her, over 3 years ago.

Edit: Surprisingly only the parent responded this way. No other coral or suns were negatively affected by the change in alkalinity.

I use ocean water(Ocean in Motion) and for the first 2 months was doing 50% WC. 3 weeks in a roll. I wonder if this made my sun cup corals to do same.

 

[Tennyson]

I use ocean water(Ocean in Motion) and for the first 2 months was doing 50% WC. 3 weeks in a roll. I wonder if this made my sun cup corals to do same.

Might be worth trying to induce a spawning event in the future! Although it definitely takes a lot of energy out of the coral, also sets the tank in risky conditions. I wonder how often they're capable of reproducing this way.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Might be worth trying to induce a spawning event in the future! Although it definitely takes a lot of energy out of the coral, also sets the tank in risky conditions. I wonder how often they're capable of reproducing this way.

You try first then I will. Hahaha

 

[laverda]

That is really cool. Thanks for sharing and the good photos.

 

[najer]

Very cool.

 

[LisaAP]

Nice! That's a lot of babies. My Tubastrea spawns regularly but never for such a long period of time, it's usually over a period of a day (although to be honest I don't really know how long it takes, lol).

This is the first baby polyp I ever spotted, it's now just over 2 years old and full sized. I'm just waiting for it to sprout new heads. It's been fed somewhat erratically so I expect it would have grown quicker had I offered it more food.

Regards

Lisa

 

[Tennyson]

Nice! That's a lot of babies. My Tubastrea spawns regularly but never for such a long period of time, it's usually over a period of a day (although to be honest I don't really know how long it takes, lol).

This is the first baby polyp I ever spotted, it's now just over 2 years old and full sized. I'm just waiting for it to sprout new heads. It's been fed somewhat erratically so I expect it would have grown quicker had I offered it more food.

Regards

Lisa

Beautiful young polyp! I feed my guys everyday so at 1 year they cover a frag plug (pic). Love the tentacle extension/color on yours though. I think I spoil mine with food/flow so their tentacles never have a reason to be that 'flowy'.

I'm sure suns release babies all the time! But with a sump and fish they probably never have a chance to settle down. Thanks for sharing.

 

[LisaAP]

Beautiful young polyp! I feed my guys everyday so at 1 year they cover a frag plug (pic). Love the tentacle extension/color on yours though. I think I spoil mine with food/flow so their tentacles never have a reason to be that 'flowy'.

I'm sure suns release babies all the time! But with a sump and fish they probably never have a chance to settle down. Thanks for sharing.

Crikey you get that much growth in a year! I must be starving mine. Do you broadcast feed or target?

Regards

Lisa

 

[Tennyson]

Crikey you get that much growth in a year! I must be starving mine. Do you broadcast feed or target?

Regards

Lisa

Target feed with mysis! Also think dosing alk/Ca has something to do with it.

 

[MERKEY]

That's so cool!

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Beautiful young polyp! I feed my guys everyday so at 1 year they cover a frag plug (pic). Love the tentacle extension/color on yours though. I think I spoil mine with food/flow so their tentacles never have a reason to be that 'flowy'.

I'm sure suns release babies all the time! But with a sump and fish they probably never have a chance to settle down. Thanks for sharing.

Keep us posted, comrade

 

[LisaAP]

Target feed with mysis! Also think dosing alk/Ca has something to do with it.

Wow that must take forever, you have lots of mouths to feed.

Regards

Lisa

 

[Tennyson]

Wow that must take forever, you have lots of mouths to feed.

Regards

Lisa

I love having mouths to feed! I find the dendros also appreciate the daily feeding, if only they would spawn too.

 

[Tennyson]

Keep us posted, comrade

Will do! I plan to keep track of propagule success rate, hoping to get 100 new polyps!

 

[reef lover]

Awesome!!

 

[Tennyson]

Welcoming the newest addition to the Sun coral garden - Tubastraea micrantha! This guy arrived with a bang, more propagules in the bag!!! These babies were super sticky and ready to attach to anything (even the bag). At first I was confused because they were orange, but after a closer look they are clearly of a darker pigment than the yellow suns. Hoping they're viable after the overnight journey!

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Welcoming the newest addition to the Sun coral garden - Tubastraea micrantha! This guy arrived with a bang, more propagules in the bag!!! These babies were super sticky and ready to attach to anything (even the bag). At first I was confused because they were orange, but after a closer look they are clearly of a darker pigment than the yellow suns. Hoping they're viable after the overnight journey!

Nice, thanks for sharing, comrade