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Acropora growth pattern - dramatic change


R_MC

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Hi all,

 

When I picked this coral up (came from a large frag system 9Alk, 420+ CA, lit with AI Primes. Water movement with Jebao wavemakers.

 

4vE6dxe.jpg

 

Now on the side of a tank (med light) (t5+led hybrid with more violet than previous system) very high water movement - 7 Alk. Color has remained similar, but the growth pattern is very different.

 

qxk5WKL.jpg

 

Any idea what causes the very different growth patterns? Smooth vs Spikey (extension of skeleton below each corallite). Is this mostly due to water flow? (higher flow = more spikiness)

 

Best,

Rob

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Hi all,

 

When I picked this coral up (came from a large frag system 9Alk, 420+ CA, lit with AI Primes. Water movement with Jebao wavemakers.

 

4vE6dxe.jpg

 

Now on the side of a tank (med light) (t5+led hybrid with more violet than previous system) very high water movement - 7 Alk. Color has remained similar, but the growth pattern is very different.

 

qxk5WKL.jpg

 

Any idea what causes the very different growth patterns? Smooth vs Spikey (extension of skeleton below each corallite). Is this mostly due to water flow? (higher flow = more spikiness)

 

Best,

Rob

Very interesting topic. It just goes to show that different systems can, and will, produce different results. Regardless, I really like the way it's growing and coloring up in your system. If I have to give it a guess, I think it's less on the flow's effect, but more of the Alk/Cal parameters in combination with light mixtures (AI Prime vs your hybrid, which is awesome btw).

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Id venture that it has to do with your lighting.

The leds are great for coloring but the coral may have had to build itself up in such a way to capture more lights.

With the hybrid they are getting surrounded by light more evenly.

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I'd say either lighting is the issue fir the change or parameters.

 

I often lean towards parameters.

 

Going from 9 alk to 7 is a difference. My experience with lps and sps, they prefer alk a bit higher. Mine declined when my alk was at 7.

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Hi all,

 

When I picked this coral up (came from a large frag system 9Alk, 420+ CA, lit with AI Primes. Water movement with Jebao wavemakers.

 

4vE6dxe.jpg

 

Now on the side of a tank (med light) (t5+led hybrid with more violet than previous system) very high water movement - 7 Alk. Color has remained similar, but the growth pattern is very different.

 

 

 

Any idea what causes the very different growth patterns? Smooth vs Spikey (extension of skeleton below each corallite). Is this mostly due to water flow? (higher flow = more spikiness)

 

Best,

Rob

 

Rob,

I have seen this a few times from tank to tank on my own systems. I personally think it is more to do with flow. I have had some corals that will have thicker branches, solid/thick base and stronger PE with higher flow. With lower flow I have noticed a less gnarly growth pattern and more "blobish" and off growth patterns like you see in the first photos. As well the frag was not as mature.

 

I am sure there are some others that can chime in. Worth sending to Jake at RB to see what his thoughts are as well.

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Flow and or light spread. In the first pic it looks to be only getting light on one side so it grew funky, but it may have just been a flow change. The colors are a prime (ha, pun not intended) example of why adding T5's to the mix is a good idea. Wish we knew why.

 

Gorgeous piece.

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Thanks all - flow makes the most sense to me too. More flow = More bushy. Less flow = More Leggy. Wilt though... It looks like two different coral. Makes me wonder how accurate any of our SPS ID's are.

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More food for thought: https://www.researchgate.net/profile...b94d0c7e96.pdf

 

"quickly establishing upward growth leading to the adult
morphology is very important as the arboreal shape may confer an advantage in
competition for light"

"However, the
early structural changes that take place during the transition from a relatively flat
fragment to the complex tree-like structure typical of an adult A. palniutci are
largely unknown"

 

The growth of many "solitary proto-branches" occurs in the first year after fragmentation.

 

It seems like what might happen is that there will be a rapid development of tiny branches. A few of these small branches will find favorable conditions and will grow more rapidly than the others. The study indicates that the growth accelerated over the 4 years measured.

 

What's not clear is whether this new growth is because of the light/water flow in the new location (after the coral breaks / asexually reproduces) or whether it is a chemical change/signalling that occurs after fragmentation.

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Thanks, I use a canon EOS 6d and a 100mm F2.8 macro lens and have a TON of photos here: http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/377036-clean-white-stage-70g-mixed-reef/ I update this thread regularly.

 

The 2 biggest challenges with reef tank photography are

  1. Avoiding distortion from the glass / water surface
    1. Shoot parallel to the glass or surface of the water (when shooting top down)
    2. Build a PVC + Acrylic "top down viewer" and use that to shoot at slight angles in the water.
  2. Getting an acceptable white balance
    1. If you have LEDs - use more white than you normally would
    2. Shoot raw & post process
    3. Keep an eye on the RGB histogram in camera - if RG or B is oversaturating, try shooting a little darker than you normally would. Often reds will oversaturate because of the blues.
    4. Use a custom white balance (look up how to set a custom wb using a photo of a grey card)

 

Additional tips:

  1. Turn your pumps off to minimize water flow
  2. Use a tripod always
  3. Shoot at at least 1/300s shutter when trying to photograph fish
  4. If hand holding, make sure you have at least 1/focal length shutter time. Ie if shooting 100mm be sure to set your shutter to a minimum of 1/100s
  5. Use a supplemental flash to improve the white balance (I did not use that here)
  6. Use your rear screen "Live view" to line up shots when you have to hold the camera in an awkward spot
  7. Use manual focus unless shooting fish
  8. When shooting macro, use a tight enough aperture so that enough of the subject is in focus - but not so tight that you have to use an iso with unacceptable grain. IE F8 and 1600 ISO may be fine, F11 and 3200 iso may not, F16 and 6400 iso is definitely going to be too grainy.
  9. If you're fancy - try focus stacking http://i.imgur.com/Q08ANuA.jpgtechnique was used here to get the whole coral in focus and the background blurred

 

The 2nd shot in this thread was taken using a DIY top down viewer (4" PVC coupler + acrylic round + jb weld) hand held.


Another interesting addition to this post... and something I totally failed to mention (and forgot). This coral almost died on me thanks to a nippy clown goby:

 

9QrKoET.jpg

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