What is going on here???Spawing???? PICS INSIDE!

[Ziggy953]

Yesterday I sat down in front of my tank as I usually do and looked at eveything in the tank. Fava or Favit? Anyway almost all the polyps had their mouths wide open and were releasing what looked like litte red balls. Was this spawning? I'm going to try and post a pic of this as I took a dozen during the process...

 

[Devilishturtles]

Sounds like it. If so, a rare occasion. Very rarely can you actually witness LPS corals spawning, and very rarely do they do it in home aquariums. Atleast, to the best of my knowledge. Can't wait to see more pictures.

 

[melosu58]

Yes I believe that`s what it is. I saw a reef show the other day and corals similar to yours were letting out little round balls and they would float to different places on the reef and start a new coral. You have very nice corals.

 

[Ziggy953]

Thanks!! I hope that the newbies will survive, though I doubt it. I have several more pics of this even I will have to post them. Do either of you have any idea what type of coral this is exactly. I think I paid $10 for it in the damage/rescue tank at one of the LFS that I go to.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Nice pick up! That's a Favites sp. IMO. You can tell the difference between Favites sp. and Favia sp. usually by looking at the walls between the "polyps". In Favites, they usually run together. In a Favia sp. coral, each polyp is distinguished with it's own surrounding wall. Since your's seems to run together, my money is on Favites.

Can't wait to see the pics!

 

[Ziggy953]

That's what I thought it was but wasn't sure. The pics don't show it well but it kinda looks like they each have their own wall but they meld together. I'll accept the Favites no problem! I'll post the rest of the pics tomorrow when I get up. I'm at work now and don't have access to the home computer. Night work sucks sometimes!!!

*******MORE PICS****

 

[Devilishturtles]

Awesome pictures. It's scary looking!

 

[Ziggy953]

Thanks!!! It does look a bit scary I guess....lots of mouths screaming at you...yikes!!! I was hoping some more people would chime in. The coral looks better then it ever has after this little event.

 

[GuOD]

My Moon Coral did that the other day when I moved it...

It looked like it had tongs coming out of all the holes...had to go though and its back to normal now

 

[MT79]

mouths wide open and were releasing what looked like litte red balls

What you see is it expelling it's zooxanthellae algae. Corals do this in response to stress, usually a change in lighting. Gametes would be more of a cream/white color...

 

[Ziggy953]

hmmm...There hasn't been a change in lighting but i can say that since this little event the coral has grown and I mean I can see daily changes in it. There are 2 new polyps forming and they have appeared over the last few days.

 

[Devilishturtles]

mouths wide open and were releasing what looked like litte red balls

What you see is it expelling it's zooxanthellae algae. Corals do this in response to stress, usually a change in lighting. Gametes would be more of a cream/white color...

Not to say that you are incorrect, but when my GSP spawned a few weeks ago, they released little red balls as well. They were definitley not white.

The majority of SPS corals I've seen that spawn, have been white though, I agree. I've also seen reddish though.

 

[Fluff]

mouths wide open and were releasing what looked like litte red balls

What you see is it expelling it's zooxanthellae algae. Corals do this in response to stress, usually a change in lighting. Gametes would be more of a cream/white color...

Not to say that you are incorrect, but when my GSP spawned a few weeks ago, they released little red balls as well. They were definitley not white.

The majority of SPS corals I've seen that spawn, have been white though, I agree. I've also seen reddish though.

I agree, not all are white. Here are some links that might help. Take note on the second link, towards the bottom there is an awesome pic of a Briareum sp. releasing red egg-sperm packets. Depends on the coral.

I'm not so sure that your coral spawned with the pictures you have posted. The pics do look like it's either expelling zooxanthellae or maybe even waste. In all the spawning pics I've seen, I've not seen one gaping the way yours is. I'm happy to read that it is back to normal and doing great though.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-05/eb/index.php

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-06/eb/index.php

 

[Ziggy953]

Thanks for the input and links Fluff!!! Whether or not it was spawning the end result is the coral looks better then it did before and as I said in an earlier post it is growing.

 

[Fluff]

Thanks for the input and links Fluff!!! Whether or not it was spawning the end result is the coral looks better then it did before and as I said in an earlier post it is growing.

I agree, that is what's important. It's a beautiful coral.

 

[Ziggy953]

Thanks again!! I always appreciate your input and that of others on this site!!!!

 

[MT79]

they released little red balls as well. They were definitley not white.

I stand corrected. I was a little too broad in my assumption.
I still think it expelled zooxanthellae or waste, but as long as it is looking healthy that's all that matters.

 

[Ziggy953]

Agreed! healthy = happy me!! Thanks