Fungia reproduction

[emm0909]

I didn't want to hijack any sale threads so I started this one. I don't get it, do fungia reproduce sexually that easily?

Coreenm & Dan - You both seem to have had luck. Do you just have a bunch of specimens in your tank? Are you running any kind of moon cycle? Let's hear it.

 

[coreenm]

Well, mine is a colony that is 15 years old. Basically, the original plate looked like it died, but it actually went into a dormant reproductive state. The mother no longer has as fleshy body that extends outside the skeleton. But the babies grow off of stems that appear between the grooves. And they grow as fast as they break off. I don't think it is a sexual reproduction.

I'm not sure how to achieve this "on purpose." I was told by someone at A Reef Creation that they "intentionally killed a few plates to send them into a reproductive state." I don't know exactly what this means though. I'm sure there was some type of technique involved in the "killing."

 

[coreenm]

And my trade post was just deleted because I don't have 50 posts... Here is the link to the pictures though. https://picasaweb.google.com/100815726372022676378/FishTankPics?authuser=0&feat=directlink

 

[dan10342]

Flip the fungia over in the sand. When it dies, it will create lots of baby fungias as a last ditch effort to survive.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

I sigh when I see people say "my plate coral died so I threw it away." Dude, you probably just threw away a few dozen baby corals!

Many years ago there was a thread on here where someone had purchased a super rare color form of plate coral for hundreds of dollars, only to have it "die." Months later the individual had scores of a "one of a kind" coral. :lol:

 

[dan10342]

Also once the plate starts making babies, the babies will pop off when they get big, and the mother skeleton will CONTINUE to produce more babies where the previous babies popped off.

 

[coreenm]

Also once the plate starts making babies, the babies will pop off when they get big, and the mother skeleton will CONTINUE to produce more babies where the previous babies popped off.

I can vouch for that. In my tank, the mother has been popping out baby plates for at least 5 years. Always has between 3-8 attached. You don't have to pull them off. They will fall off and float away on their own. If you try to snap them off before they are ready, you risk damaging the skeleton. Although I did this once, tried to snap off one that wasn't ready, and I broke the plate about in half. Half came off in my fingers and half stayed on the stem to the mother. Both halves eventually grew into complete plates, sort of like a starfish. But it took a while before they didn't look deformed anymore.

 

[magdelan]

If the mother Fungia "dies", how does it continue making babies?

 

[fatoldsun]

I sigh when I see people say "my plate coral died so I threw it away." Dude, you probably just threw away a few dozen baby corals!

Many years ago there was a thread on here where someone had purchased a super rare color form of plate coral for hundreds of dollars, only to have it "die." Months later the individual had scores of a "one of a kind" coral. :lol:

I have one that's been dead for about 3 months. I left it alone after reading similar stories. At what point should I assume it's dead. It died (or so I thought) in the midst of a cyano outbreak and was buried by my GSMC who likes to redecorate the sand bed a few times a day

 

[RandyO]

Hi emm0909,
The intentional kill was a green tongue plate coral that was one of many dozens that was grown by a local guy. He had told me his large tongue coral had gotten buried in the sand and started to recede from the edges. Buy the time he caught it much the coral had exposed skeleton. He was able to bring it back by cleaning it off and giving it good flow. Anywhere there was live flesh left on the coral, a daughter coral formed. As they grew larger, they detached from the main skeleton to live freely. He was able to produce close to 100 plate corals.(They start off round, but eventually elongate to a typical Tongue) So I partly buried one of his in a thick gravel media and after the edges receded, I pulled it out and put it in front of an MP40. A couple times I've had plates start to go, and I throw them in my plate cemetery. I now have a ton of babies

 

[Veganbrian]

Wow, that is so interesting. I never knew that!

 

[coreenm]

If the mother Fungia "dies", how does it continue making babies?

Well, it doesn't REALLY die. It just looks dead. The flesh no longer extends, so people assume that it's not alive anymore when inside the skeleton it actually is.

I'm not sure if 3 months is long enough to know or not. Personally, unless something appears to be stinking up the tank with its rotting carcass, I usually leave the dead coral skeletons in the tank anyway as a place for other corals like Xenia or mushrooms to grow.