Extreme Makeover: Tank Edition

Extreme Makeover: Tank Edition

By: Mary Willingham & Katie Smith

Soft Corals Soft bodies made up of a large number of polyps

connected by fleshy tissue.

Lack the limestone skeleton and do not produce calcium carbonate

Some contain zooxanthellae and appear brown in color

Thrive in depths varying between 15-95 feet

Does the amount of force and direction of the power head’s current effect the movement pattern of the soft corals?

HypothesisOriginal Hypothesis: The

increasing and decreasing of the current from the power heads directly effects the movement of the soft corals. The stronger the current, the further the soft coral will move.

5 Questions1. How is the growth of algae effected by the currents of

the power heads?

2. How do soft corals adapt based on the different currents of the power heads?

3. What is the difference of algae growth in corners versus high flow areas?

4. When the current of the power heads are directed straight on the Xenia and Nepthea do the corals change positions faster?

5. When the power heads are not directed straight toward the Xenia and Nepthea will they move?

How we got started?Repositioned the power heads to have the

current directed onto the Xenia.

Traced the Xenia on the glass. (See Wiki)

Set up a bi-weekly schedule to measure the movement of the Xenia.

Then we hit a bump in the road.

Data

This was the starting position of the Xenia before it was killed off by the charcoal bag

Data

This was the tank after the coral had died and had been removed from the tank

Dead CoralUnfortunately after we added a new charcoal

bag all of the Xenia in our tank died off. (See Wiki)

"Along with the removing of unwanted organic and inorganic chemicals, activated carbon also removes essential trace elements vital to the health of marine livestock. The amounts removed are of unknown quantity and significance, but nonetheless a precautionary approach towards offsetting them by performing regular water changes is recommended" (Adam Jenkins).

Re-Model IdeasThe death of the Xenia in our tank has caused us

to think of new project ideas such as:

Buy new Xenia and continue with the same project concept

Re-design our tank by moving corals around, trading corals, and scrubbing rocks for new organisms to grow.

Adapting New Organisms Shrimp

Sea Fan

Button Coral

__________

Get Organisims used to our tanks water.

The Make-overCleaned live rock

Built a bridge/reconstructed the live rock.

Built a Xenia corner

Introduced new corals, purple sea fan, Button coral, ________.

Before:After:

Button CoralFamily: Zoanthidae

They are a colonial animal with multiple individual polyps attached to a piece of live rock or coral rubble.

They are very easy to maintain in the reef aquarium

Other coral Needs Space to grow because it is a very

dominate coral.

Sea FanPhylum: Cnidaria

A colony can be several feet high and across but only a few inches thick.

Usually colorfulPurple (ours)RedYellow

Bibliography1- "Aquarium Filter and Fish Tank Filtration." Tropical Fish,

Aquarium Fish, Care for Saltwater and Freshwater Fish,

Aquarium Setup. Web. 19. Oct. 2011.

2- Davis, Ernst M., and E.F Gloyna. "The Role of Algae." JSTOR.

JSTOR, 8 Nov. 1969. Web. 19 Oct. 2011.

3- Jenkins, Adam. "Activated Carbon." Wetwebmedia, Aquarium, Pond, Marine and Freshwater Fish,

Reef Tanks, and Aquatics Information. Web. 01 Dec. 2011.

Bibliography4. Kuhlmann, Deltrich H.H. "The Sensitivity of Coral Reefs to

enviormental Pollution." JSTOR. JSTOR, 1 Nov. 1988.

Web. 17 Oct. 2011.

5. Logan, Lara. "Pulsating Xenia." Home Page. Web. 05 Dec. 2011.

6. Viola, Roberto, and Pi Nyvall. "The Unique Features in Red

Algae. "JSTOR. JSTOR. Web. 19 Oct. 2011.

Bibliography7- "Water Movement; Placement of Powerheads." The Reef Tank.

Web.18 Oct. 2011

8. McFadden, Catherine S. "Contributions of Sexual and Asexual Reproduction to Population Structure in the Clonal Soft Coral.”