Sump Acclimation

[KLR]

After I fragged some corals yesterday I was thinking of different way to acclimate the fresh cuts back into my tank. This could also apply to when you get a new coral in general.

A freshly cut or freshly shipped coral is under the stress of:

Fresh Cut
-Being recently cut
-Light penetrating the already weak skin
-Flow blowing under the cut
-Etc.

Freshly Shipped
-New water conditions
-New lighting that could initially shock the coral
-Damages from shipping
-Etc.

What do you see that is shared in both columns?
-Damage-Cuts from fragging or damage from shipping
-Lighting damage

Which stress can you avoid during the acclimation period of a coral?
-Lighting damage

So to test this I put some frags on a frag rack in the fuge part of my sump. It is powered by a fw tank low power light, gets moderate flow, and the surface of the water is a forest of macro algae.

My test fresh cuts are:
1 2 eye frag of Pink eye alien eye chalice
1 multi-eye frag of the Deeper water indo stripe chalice, yes it is the one from GB
2 multi head frags of Favia
1 1 eye frag of Aussie stripe chalice
1 multi eye frag of Aussie stripe chalice

They are on a frag rack that is slanted about 8 inches from the low power light. The light runs about 4-5 hours a day

I also placed some fresh cuts in the actual tank.

About 5 hours after fragging the sump frags were already completely puffy and happy. The tank frags were just puffing up and some were still oozing.

I am going allow the frags to sit in the sump 1-3 days, today is day 2.


At this point you are probably thinking, well couldn't I just put the coral in the shade in my normal tank?

But does a coral's zooxanthellae need to continue perform photosynthesis while the coral is under stress so it can provide more energy for the coral?
Wouldn't this make the coral heal faster?

So a low powered, plant growing bulb, would allow the zooxanthellae to carry out photosynthesis during the corals acclimation period.



My main question is:
Just by simply removing 1 major stress on corals in these states do you think that the heal time will be significantly less?

I believe it will. But I would like input from some other people who have tested similar acclimation methods.




I will update this as the results unfold.

 

[KLR]

Any thoughts?

 

[cdness]

Great idea! Following along to see your findings.

I don't know if it will do too much to the fresh cuts as they are used to your lighting and parameters. It may be better to leave them in the main tank to avoid changes since they just got chopped into pieces.

Freshly shipped ones people will say its best to QT the coral for pest prevention. Also you'll be doing dips and other harsh treatment before they get to the tank. The sump treatment may give them a place to "relaxe" for a bit to recover, but it could also not enable enough flow to give them what they need to survive...

Keep us posted on the findings.

 

[KLR]

Thanks, flow was one of the negatives I was thinking of too.
I will try to get pictures of them soon.

 

[shred5]

Ok food for thought. First off zooxanthellae require light (PAR) to provide food (glucose) for the coral. Glucose is the food that provides energy for the coral, this does not happen in the dark. So is it safe to assume the coral would have less energy at night?

Polyps come out in the dark because that is when there is the most plankton in the water and the coral could be hungry.
Polyps come out too increase surface area to capture more light or par since corals cant see light, they have no eyes.
Also polyp expansion is also not always a good thing.

 

[KLR]

Thanks for the informative reply.
For the reason you stated, is why I am not leaving them in the sump for any longer than 3 days.
My thought is for the initial recovery because if you can speed up the healing of the wound(s) then the rest of the acclimating/recovery process once the corals were under the main lights would be shorter right? or no?

 

[Nuocmam]

Sounds like a good idea to experiment with. Can't wait to see your finding.