Zoa Genetic Crossover experiment. 1.0

secretreefer · Feb 2, 2012

thanks man! and of course one of these agave whatevers are going in your system! They seem to grow very well! :xd:

Reef keeper · Feb 2, 2012

Awesome!!!! :bigsmile:

secretreefer · Feb 10, 2012

YEaaaaahhh!

caudill187 · Feb 12, 2012

That is cool. I've always wondered if there is actually some exchange of DNA or the zooanthellae just take the opportunity to occupy an adjacent coral? And what makes one color zoanthellae stick to one particular kind of polyp? Are different color zooanthellae different color organisms or does something in the interaction with a specific coral make them produce more of a particular pigment?

I do know that the exchange of genetic material between different species does occur in the natural world, viruses and bacteria do this.....time for some reading.

caudill187 · Feb 12, 2012

Awesome article on the best known zooanthellae species with a neat discussion of their reproduction, including the sharing of genetic material:

Symbiodinium microadriaticum - encyclopedia article - Citizendium

secretreefer · Feb 13, 2012

thanks G. According to some reefers they said it was impossible. Well on a whim i made it possible.....

euphoricgear · Feb 17, 2012

This happens a lot with dragon eyes and watermelons and purple deaths and nuclear greens (two face).
Question is, will it stay the same color or will it revert back to either original paly when they start popping out babies.

Cool color combination by the way.

secretreefer · Feb 17, 2012

thank euphoric, not sure how long it will stay. the agave whatevers have kept the orange and they're pretty good sized already but i'm still holding onto the frag and just letting it grow out.

Reef keeper · Feb 17, 2012

Sweet!

secretreefer · Feb 17, 2012

yes it will be for a couple lucky guys...:xd:........

Reef keeper · Feb 17, 2012

:bigsmile:

Zenonic · Mar 6, 2012

Any updates?

secretreefer · Mar 6, 2012

i'll throw a pic up later. i've been sick for the past 2+ weeks. finally went to the MD and got antibiotics yesterday.

fity2pounder · Mar 9, 2012

jumping in on the hype...awaiting updates

secretreefer · Mar 9, 2012

no no no. "THIS IS NOT A HYPE THREAD" .steps down from podium.... i started this with some polyps that were available and just wanted to see what would happen. i haven't sold any of these and I don't plan to. LOL sorry on the delay for the updated picture. I can say these have been growing VERY well tho. better than the original Blue Agaves for sure. seems like this "experiment" has definitely given birth to a quicker/hardier growing type Agave.

Starblenny · Mar 9, 2012

secretreefer said:
no no no. "THIS IS NOT A HYPE THREAD" .steps down from podium.... i started this with some polyps that were available and just wanted to see what would happen. i haven't sold any of these and I don't plan to. LOL sorry on the delay for the updated picture. I can say these have been growing VERY well tho. better than the original Blue Agaves for sure. seems like this "experiment" has definitely given birth to a quicker/hardier growing type Agave.

I was also thinking of the same thing. What if we get one zoa that's a notorious melter/slow grower and add it to a hardier/fast grower zoa? Would it be more hardier than before? I would like to try this to my Mary Jane zoas (when it grows to a nice colony size), since they're nearly impossible to grow in my tank *sigh*

secretreefer · Mar 9, 2012

if you're starting out with less hardier zoas it's possible, but will be difficult.

secretreefer · Mar 14, 2012

UPDATE: so i got more brave and my AOG colony needed to be fragged. 1 week ago while picking up my antibiotics, I picked up a diabetic syringe from my local drug store. 3 different tests. 1 frag Unknown PE, 1 frag AOGs, 1 frag Blue Agaves. The actual injections happened 3 days ago. Syringe was cleaned with fresh DT water after each test.

1. I injected a Uknown PE zoa and sucked out some "tissue/liquid/DNA" and proceeded to inject the AOG frag with it.
2. I injected a AOG zoa and sucked out some "tissue/liquid/DNA" and proceeded to inject the Blue Agave frag with it.
3. 1 injected a Blue Agave zoa and sucked out some "tissue/liquid/DNA" and proceeded to inject the Unknown PE frag with it.

We'll see what happens....Don't know what will happen.