Hammer coral budding, and more beh.  – 06/02/08
Greetings,
<Salutations>
I have a hammer coral, and there are several buds on the exposed skeleton. One bud is currently poking out of the parent tissue. I read that I would have to remove them from the parent to save them.
<Mmm, no... or not necessarily. If desirous of "speeding up" the process, you can attempt removal, but otherwise will/do drop off in time of their own accord>
What's the easiest way to do this with minimal risk to the parent colony?
<A sharp metal tool like a chisel...>
Wouldn't removing the buds make the original colony look ugly with holes everywhere?
<Beauty is in the eye, mind...>
? The buds are very tiny, about 3/16" of an inch in diameter.? Will this little thing really grow with just adequate light and water flow?
<If conditions, their development is sufficient...>
Also, while feeding my fish, I noticed a fully expanded hammer coral tentacle floating about in the water.? I siphoned it out and put it in my 10 gallon tank on a rock to see if it will settle. Is this a bad sign?
<Is not a good sign or behavior... can/does sting other sea life... including sessile invertebrates, fishes... best to remove>
Another thing is that my hammer doesn't seem to be interested in food. I placed some mysis on its tentacles, but the coral didn't react. It just let the mysis float away. Do I need to put food directly on its mouth, or should I not worry about feeding it?
<I would feed it... read on WWM re: http://wetwebmedia.com/starfdgfaqs.htm
Bob Fenner>
 

Frogspawn spitting out pale pink "balls" ???- Euphyllia spawning 11/19/07 Hello and thank you for your website and all the information you provide. This is a strange question. I recently purchased a green frogspawn who seems to be happy in its new home. It opens up to about the size of a softball during the day. Last night I noticed it spitting out small pale pink balls (for lack of a better term). <A better term might be "planulae." ;)> I could not get a good picture and that is the best description I can come up with. The "balls" float around and eventually attached to the side of the tank. They move somewhat like a slug on the glass. <Coooolll!!> The are about the size of a large pin head. What the heck is this? I am new to saltwater so I want to make sure it won't hurt the tank. I have been removing them when I see them but not really sure if I need to. Any advice is appreciated. <Your coral is releasing larvae! It's having babies which are apparently attempting to settle on the glass of your aquarium. I can't even begin to tell you how uber-cool this is! Please, please, please try to take pictures (at least of the coral so that maybe we can guess what species this is). I'm honestly not sure what you should do with the planulae. I would experiment with them a bit... try to get them to settle on different things. Some people try to use tiles of different sorts. You'd be venturing into relatively uncharted territory here though (very exciting!). Unfortunately, there's just not a lot of publicly available information on this. About the most information you'll find about captive coral larval rearing is here: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/3/aafeature2 However, that's for Pocillopora (Euphyllia are likely different). Please continue to share your experiences with us and do visit MOFIB (www.mofib.com). Oh, and do run extra activated carbon and do some generous water changes... spawnings can sometimes spoil the tank water.> Thanks again. <Thank *you*! Sara M.> Re: Frogspawn spitting out pale pink "balls" ??? -Euphyllia spawning 11/19/07 OOps...forgot to give you parameters on tank. 14G BioCube, Nitrite 0, Ammonia 0, PH 8.2-8.4, Nitrate <10, Temp 78, <This is a bit cool for a reef tank... 80 to 83 would be better.> Salinity 1.023. <Salinity for a reef tank should be 1.025 to 1.026.> The tank has been running for 8 weeks. Inhabitants include 1 bubble coral, frogspawn, button polyps, hammer coral and candy coral. 17 lbs of LR and 15 lbs of LS. <Hmm...how big is the Euphyllia? How long as it been in your tank? Are the afore mentioned parameters stable? There's a chance this is a "stress spawn" if something has changed recently.> 1 false percula and just this morning lost 1 false Perc to what we think was Brooklynella but not positive. My daughter also takes care of the tank and tends to act "too fast" when trying to solve a problem. Thanks again. <Please, let me thank you for sharing... your spawning report/query made my day. :-) -S.M.> Re: Frogspawn spitting out pale pink "balls" ??? 11/19/07 Hi Sara M- The coral has four heads and gets to about the size of a softball when fully opened. It is really beautiful. It has only been in the tank for about 2 weeks so it could be stress. I am going to gradually raise the salinity and the temperature. The parameters have been the same for 6 weeks. We do a weekly small water change and lower the nitrates but they manage to creep back up at the end of the week. I feel like the "proud mama" of baby frogspawn larva! I'm going to do my best to get pictures and I'll keep you updated. Thank you so much! <Thank you for the additional info. It will certainly be exciting if any of the larva settle. If they do, keeping them alive and fed will be a whole other ordeal, but will be a certain learning experience. We look forward to hearing updates. Good luck! -Sara M.> Re: Frogspawn spitting out pale pink "balls" ??? -11/19/07 Hi Sara M- The coral has four heads and gets to about the size of a softball when fully opened. It is really beautiful. It has only been in the tank for about 2 weeks so it could be stress. I am going to gradually raise the salinity and the temperature. The parameters have been the same for 6 weeks. We do a weekly small water change and lower the nitrates but they manage to creep back up at the end of the week. I feel like the "proud mama" of baby frogspawn larva! I'm going to do my best to get pictures and I'll keep you updated. Thank you so much! <Oh, I forgot to say... I'm not sure it was a stress spawn. Usually, it seems that stress spawns, if they're going to occur at all, occur within a few days after the coral is moved or after a water change (or some other change). They don't usually happen 2 weeks later (as far as I've heard anyway). Where are you? Or, if you don't want to say, when was the last full moon where you are? Corals usually spawn either X days after or before a particular full moon... -Sara M.> Re: Frogspawn spitting out pale pink "balls" ??? -11/19/07 We're located in North Texas. Our next full moon will be on Saturday the 24th. I really appreciate all the information <Hmmm... interesting. Unfortunately, I can't find much about exactly when they spawn except that it's usually annual and in the spring in the Indo-Pacific (during a particular lunar phase-can't find the details yet though). Some of the fun part about all this, and almost a romantic question: does a coral from Indonesia still "know" where the moon is when it's moved to North Texas?...or does it follow the Texas moon? There's also the question of what causes a stress spawn. It's probably hormonal/biochemical, which might make us wonder... are there other things that could cause a rise in these hormones? could diet? presence of other corals? So many questions... so few answers. So, if it's not too much a bother, you might want to start keeping an aquarium log and see if this happens again (and under what circumstances). Thanks again and please do keep in touch (and keep asking questions if you have them). :-) Best, Sara M.> Re: Frogspawn spitting out pale pink "balls" ??? -11/19/07 We're located in North Texas. Our next full moon will be on Saturday the 24th. I really appreciate all the information <Oh, btw, if you're curious... I added your spawn report to a chart I made of captive spawning reports for different corals: http://www.asira.org/breedchart1.htm Best, Sara M.>

Bugs inside torch tentacle  11/13/07
Hello,
I made an ill-advised purchase of a torch that was not doing so well at the LFS. Anyway I have seen what look like little bugs swimming inside the tentacles themselves. Just little black dots going back and forth inside the tentacles. It is in a quarantine tank by itself. Just really strange looking.
<EEeeeee! It sounds like it might spawn! :-D Please try to take some pictures and send them in if you can!! And I would keep it in quarantine... sometimes coral spawn can really mess up your water.>
Thanks,
James
<My pleasure!
Sara M.>

Damaged Frogspawn ... prop., health    4/25/06
Hi all,
<Debi>
Well to make this short and not so sweet.  I was cleaning my tank, 46 bow front salt, changing water etc, when I stupidly decided to shorten the stem
on my very pretty Frogspawn.  The LFS told me I could just break off the end and made it sound simple so I did, but I had to put more force on it than I
expected and when it broke off it banged it's head (sort of opened up) on a rock and several little green pieces broke off.
<Mmm, best/better by far to do such "operations" outside the main tank... with the animal shaken (not stirred?) a few moments ahead to cause the polyps to retract...>
  Needless to say, it immediately retracted in shock and I also retracted from the tank in shock. I had no idea what to do so I repositioned it in the same place it had been,
quickly finished my tasks and decided to leave it alone, either to die or recover.   My question is whether or not I can do anything else for it
(anything good) aside from leaving it alone.  Should I take it out and put it in the QT tank of which I am not so sure it is ready?
<Mmm, I would not... given just the information presented here. Much more likely to cause further trouble at this point likely>
Should it be dosed with Iodine and can that be done in the show tank?  
<This is likely best>
I feel awful, he was so pretty and now he's just all sucked in and I have no idea if he is beyond repair or not.
Thanks
<Euphylliids are very tough if/once established... I give you good odds of complete recovery. Bob Fenner>

Detaching A Euphylliid From A Rock - 03/16/06
Hi WWM,
<<Hey there Tanya!>>
Quick question(s) for you (I hope) - I recently purchased a hammer, but it came epoxied to a rather large piece of very unattractive lava rock that I'm having difficulty placing in my 29 gal tank.  What's the best way of removing it so I can reattach it elsewhere?
<<Buy or borrow a hacksaw frame and go to the hardware store/home center and buy a carbide "grit" blade to fit the saw.  These usually come in two styles...one looks like a heavy wire coated with the grit...the other looks like a standard hacksaw blade with the grit coating on the cutting edge...either one will work.  Use the blade to saw the coral free from the rock near the base where it is attached.>>
Can I just chisel it off?
<<Possibly>>
Do I do this in or out of water?
<<out>>
If out, how long do I have before I cause too much stress or damage?
<<You can easily keep the coral out of the water for several minutes.  Do be sure to have the coral expel water/retract its polyps before removing from the water to keep from damaging the tissue by its own weight on edges of the skeleton.>>
Thanks in advance!
Tanya
<<Welcome, EricR>>

Fragging Euphyllia ancora - 01/05/06
Crew,
<<Bill>>
Hope you are well.
<<Yes, thank you>>
I have researched as extensively as I can on this site as well as web based.
<<ok>>
I hope that you can direct me to the proper link if I have missed it as I know you are all tremendously busy.
<<Tremendously <grin>...but seriously, what can I help you with?>>
I have a 8" expanded anchor coral.  Not a hammer coral, not a branching hammer coral; not a branching anchor coral.  The meandering structure type.  Euphyllia ancora I believe.
<<Does sound like E. ancora, yes.>>
I have three questions:
1) At what point of growth and maturity on a segment is it safe to frag?
<<Hmm, not sure I get what you're asking.  If you mean "How big should the coral be before I frag it", then it should be of a size big enough to produce a frag(s) of desirable size.  If you're looking for a "minimum" size, I think you could get away with splitting a 3" specimen.  Anything smaller and you don't really have much to handle/work with.  Of course larger specimens could be fragged in to more pieces if desired.>>
2) How does one frag this coral?
<<Dremel tool...or a band saw.>>
All of the information on fragging that I have found is for the branching variety.
<<Is easier to frag.>>
I have gotten conflicting information; some state to simply whack the place where you want to split with a hammer and chisel
<<Messy and wasteful...>>
and others state wrapping a rubber band around the skeletal structure and wait for the tissue to recede,
<<This is a good way to 'begin'.>>
then whack it with a hammer and chisel.
<<But don't 'end' this way.>>
To me, this seems to be adding another level of opportunity for tissue degradation, infection and just plan stress.
<<The whacking?  Agreed>>
And once split, what happens to the inevitable tentacle that has tissue on both pieces - do you say "loves me not" and jerk it on one side versus the other or will that be too damaging.
<<Never good to "yank" the tissue apart.  If necessary use "very" sharp scissors or a razor blade to cut.>>
I believe the rubber band/receding tissue suggestion has value but would imagine it would be cleaner to use a circular saw or Dremel?
<<Yes on the rubber band method to recede the flesh from the intended "break", this works quite well...but no circular saw...much too dangerous.  Buy/borrow a Dremel tool and a diamond bit.  This works very well for cutting the skeleton, just don't expect to "zip" through it.>>
Although the skeleton is quite thick and dense.
<<Very>>
3) I currently have this on a raised substrate bed and it looks fabulous.  However, I am concerned about the frags I will have.  Do I attempt to attach it with glue to a small piece of rock for support and weight?
<<This is fine.>>
Where on the skeletal structure would I accomplish that?
<<Mmm...probably opposite the fleshy bit.>>
I would appreciate your input.
Regards,
Bill
<<You have it my friend...EricR>>