Auburn University Anemone Study!!

[Whitten]

Being a college student here at Auburn University has made availible a great deal of opportunites that might not have been possible otherwise.

While walking through our new Lab building I noticed a sign that was recruiting lab assistance for a research project being conducted on Anemone and Anemone Fish relationships. I decided to check it out, and as it turns out our university hired on a heck of a Marine Biologist who has spent countless years researching the symbiotic relationship between Anemones and their little buddies. Long story short I am now a part of the research project with some of Auburn's finest undergrad and graduate minds and will even be getting credit for it. I still know very little as to what we will be doing, but I have already talked with Dr.Chadwick of whom we will be assisting with the research and have seen her own personal lab.

This is the coolest thing ever, she has close to 20, 10 gallon tanks that will soon be housing individual bubble tip anemones as well as Amphprion bicintus. The research will involve determining what causes an anemone to accept a certain fish, and what if any types of mechanical or chemical cues are used.

I of coarse will keep you all updated and hopefully with some cool pictures.

The funny thing is that my Major here at Auburn has nothing to with Marine Biology and yet I am brought together with it because of my love for the hobby. My Major is Building and Construction Sciences and my goal is to one day become the foremost expert in building large scale aquariums and other biotropes of the like.

At any rate look for some cool info from Dr. Chadwicks lab (my instructor) and hopefully some answers to questions about both our tenticled and fined little buddies.

 

[Whitten]

Ok so here is the first thing going right now. I am getting lab trained some time soon so that I can begin some basic work.

My aim is to try and push for several 40 gallon breeders. I think that a set of 5-8 should be sufficient for what she is trying to accomplish. As of right now she needs help with equipment and I really want to set her up with the best that her grant can afford.

Our original plan was to setup the tanks to run on one big system, but after she had mentioned doing some chemical testing I decided that wouldn't be the best course of action. My thinking is that if we can do either 40 gallon breeders or maybe 20 gallon longs that the anemones will feel more at home. My two biggest issues to tackle right now are going to be pushing better filtration and better lighting. After talking with here about the setups she agreed that it was a great asset to have me as a part of the team because of my knowledge on equipment and husbandry of the animals in captivity.

As of right now she has bubble tip anemones, in several of the tanks with usually a pair of Bicintus which are very close in resemblance to Clarkiis. Since we haven't actually started doing anything yet I anticipate this to change quite dramaticly before the end of the semester.

I will keep you all updated on what happens with the research.

 

[Whitten]

Got some updates guys, so far here is what is going on. We were in need of a holding tank to keep the freshly shipped and stressed anemones...so I got to order stuff!!!

In our lab we have a fair ammount of pre drilled 20 gallon long tanks. This was great for me, as a way to show off my abilities so I quickly got to work comming up with some plans for a makeshift anemone nursery.

I called up Hellolights.com and ordered a 250 Watt Aquamedic Ocean Light with a 15,000K bulb to get things started.

I then called Premium Aquatics and talked with a stellar guy over there named Jay. He and I came up with a list of equipment and he helped us out in a huge way with price and shipping since we are a University.

So far the Equipment for the 20 Gallon L with the 20 gallon L Sump is as follows.

Mag Drive 5
SCWD
Two U Tube Returns
Pro Heat Titanium 150,000 Watt Heater
Coralife Super Skimmer 65 Gallon Capacity
Bulkheads, and the a few other plumbing parts.

Left to do are: build a small internal overflow box, get baffles cut for refugium, buy random plumbing parts, and get some plant hangers to hang the pendant.

My plan is to later add a Temp Controller, and an Auto Top off system withing a few weeks of operation.



The next stage will be building her a larer grow out system out of a 40 gallon Breeder, with a Aquamedic Pendant much like this

We want the two 250 Watt DE MH with the 2 39 watt T5 HO's.

Future plans for the one large system is actually looking like it might work if we can incorporate in some ball valves to seperated off individual tanks from the rest of the system. We hope to have each tank lit with either T5 HO fixtures over ever tank or 150 watt MH depending on what we can get a better deal on.

I hope to have some picutres up of the entire setup within the week so that you all can have a better idea of what we are doing here at Auburn, and also because I know how much you all love pictures.

Also if anyone here is interested or has some ability to donate to us it would be greatly appreicated. We do have limited funds, but I feel it important to get the best equipment that is sold to date.

I have contacted Aqua Medic as well as Oceanic for assistance in getting some help so hopefully we will get some possitive results from them. In the mean time Premium Aquatics has really taken care of us.

Thanks and keep on the look out for updates.

 

[Flighty]

Very interesting. We'll be badgering you for updates

Do you think the lighting might be overkill for BTAs ? I have the same fixture over a 2' deep tank and the BTA hid for months in the shade and only now comes out at the very bottom of the tank.

Another tip for btas would be to get small flowerpots or something similar with a hole in the bottom. Invert it with the anemone inside and it will foot on the inside of the pot and expand out of the hole. This isn't the prettiest solution for a display, but it will make moving them around test tanks a snap.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

interesting thread!

 

[sarai826]

wow-- keep us updated!

 

[Whitten]

Very interesting. We'll be badgering you for updates

Do you think the lighting might be overkill for BTAs ? I have the same fixture over a 2' deep tank and the BTA hid for months in the shade and only now comes out at the very bottom of the tank.

Another tip for btas would be to get small flowerpots or something similar with a hole in the bottom. Invert it with the anemone inside and it will foot on the inside of the pot and expand out of the hole. This isn't the prettiest solution for a display, but it will make moving them around test tanks a snap.

Already got ya covered with the flower pots. Right now that is exactly what we are using to make them feel comfortable.

In my experience the 250 watter has been perfect for the critters. All of my BTAs love the light and jump at the chance to be right up at the top. We will of coarse acclimate them all very slowly by lowering the light a bit each day until it is about 9" from the tank.

I will definately keep you all updated though. I am going to be assymbling the nursury tank this week and hopefully have some good pictures to share with you by Friday.

 

[Genin]

I will watch this one closely. I am curious at to what the results of your tests will be.

 

[phender]

I'm curious as to why she chose A. bicinctus.(They are sort of hard to come by in the TR variety) Is it because they is a little smaller than most other E. quadricolor symbionts?

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Re: Auburn University Anemone Study!!

I'm curious as to why she chose A. bicinctus.(They are sort of hard to come by in the TR variety) Is it because they is a little smaller than most other E. quadricolor symbionts?

I wondered the same thing, Phil.

The research will involve determining what causes an anemone to accept a certain fish, and what if any types of mechanical or chemical cues are used.

I find this particularly interesting, too.
We usually think of it the other way around:
what causes a fish to accept a certain anemone!

 

[phender]

Re: Re: Auburn University Anemone Study!!

Re: Re: Auburn University Anemone Study!!

....We usually think of it the other way around:
what causes a fish to accept a certain anemone!

I'm guessing not so much what attracts the clown, but why doesn't the clown trigger a stinging response in the nematocysts of the anemone. Maybe there is more of a medical tie in to what supresses or turns off the stinging response. (Hence more grant money )

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Ah yes... funding!
Phil- I sent you a PM.

 

[Whitten]

Hello everyone.

I am really excited about all of the interest generated about this study. I will try and answer all of your questions as best as I can since I will be speaking on the behalf of my proffessor until I can get her on here to better explain her findings.

In her published works she described a relationship between the fish and the anemone in a way that had never been told to me. In her research she found that an anemone, in this case E. quadricolor, has a greater ammount of Zooanthelle present when it hosts fish. In my skimming over her work I noted that she found that the production of amonia by the fish actually helped to accelerate the growth of not only the organism but also the zooanthelle.

Our basic goals are going to lie in determining just exactly what makes an anemone accept it's counter part, as well as why. She has also found that anemones that do not host usually are not as healthy nor do they grow to as large of sizes. She wants to also explore the possibility of chemical interaction as well as mechanical and even optical. She thinks there could be a great deal to learn from these creatures and maybe like you said possibly even gain some medical knowledge out of them.

Her reasoning behind the choice of Bicinctus was from what I understand due to her knowledge of the fish since she spent a number of years on the beach near the Red Sea doing studies of them. I feel as though I am trivializing just how much she knows by summing it up so I will ask her if it is ok if I post up her publishings on the web. If it is I think you all will enjoy the reading as it is very interesting. I a still reading back over it and finding out more I didn't know.

In the mean time here are some pictures of the begining stages of the lab to tide you over.

Now with reguards to equipment questions I can answer any of those you can come up with...I hope. I have a better knowledge of what equipment we have right now becuase that has been my main focus for the past week. Feel free to comment about anything, but also realize that we are in the infancy stages of this and things are about to change for the better very soon.

 

[Flighty]

cool. Any material like the project abstract available? This stuff really interests me. (even the dry, boring nerdy stuff )

 

[oama]

That must be the study greenbean36191 was talking about.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=670118&highlight=bicintus

 

[aquadog]

This is an interesting study except that I do not think that there is any change in an anenome that would make it accept a particular clown, but I guess this could prove me wrong. More likely, it is the individual clownfish that undergoes a change most likely in how its slime coat changes in some way and no longer illicits a response from the anenomes nematocysts.

 

[Whitten]

That must be the study greenbean36191 was talking about.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=670118&highlight=bicintus

Green Bean/Michael is one of my Lab partners. He started a reef club down here in Auburn and that is how we met. Funny thing is that we had no idea that either one of us was going to be doing this lab study.

 

[FateX8]

cool that you guys are involved in studies
so...youre determining what causes an anemone to accept a certain fish
i thought it has something to do with the fishes mucilage that it excretes onto its scales
i also thought that the fish chose the anemone not the other way around
i will deffinately be looking for the results
thanks for letting us know
mike

 

[Whitten]

cool that you guys are involved in studies
so...youre determining what causes an anemone to accept a certain fish
i thought it has something to do with the fishes mucilage that it excretes onto its scales
i also thought that the fish chose the anemone not the other way around
i will deffinately be looking for the results
thanks for letting us know
mike

See that is what I had always thought but her research really points to some different methods, and possibly even a deeper relationship between the pair. I think it would be extremely cool to find out that they communicated on a level previously not even realized.

I will definately let you guys know what we start to unfold.
This will be a long term project so you will all have to bookmark this and look for updates when ever I get some new info.

 

[aquadog]

Good Luck! Just keep in mind that clowns host in other inverts that would normally sting /harm other fish (euphyllia for example). This points more towards the individual clowns adapting to the host. Anything you could post that has been proven the other way would be very interesting.