understanding Allelopathy

[elegance coral]

Hopefully some of you can help me with this. Has anyone kept H. magnifica with S. gigantea? If so, how did it work out?

As some of you know, I'm trying to build a system to house one magnifica, one gigantea, and one haddoni. I've mixed haddoni with magnifica, and haddoni with gigantea with no noticeable signs of allelopathy. On Thursday night, I introduced a magnifica to a 120gl tank, with a gigantea and haddoni. Originally, the magnifica attached and seemed okay. By morning, it had released from its rock. It hasn't really attached since. Today, I noticed what appeared to be holes in the magnifica's foot. After taking photos of the foot, and blowing them up, I realized that they weren't simply holes in the foot. They are areas where mesenterial filaments are protruding through the tissue. This is a common self defence mechanism in many corals. I've seen it in Elegance corals, shrooms, and several other corals. I'm starting to think that this may be a reaction to allelopathic substances form one of the other anemones in the system. What are your thoughts?

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

the term nettling is used to describe (nematocyst) warfare between anemone species. Nettling can occur without direct contact betwen anemones.

Nematocyst warfare between different anemone species placed in the same aquarium is always a potential concern. It could explain what we're seeing here (IMO/IME) or something else may have caused the holes in your magnifica.

 

[Ron Popeil]

I tried it four or so years ago. I don't remember how long they were together, but the gigantae struggled with settling down. It ate fine and never deflated, but it never attached to a spot for more that a few days. I gave it to a friend after a few months.

While I've never been a supporter of anemone warfare, I have never been able to keep a haddoni with my magnificas in the same system. Currently I have magnificas, crispas and quadricolors all together with no ill effects.

 

[elegance coral]

Thanks for the input. I do believe that allelopathy or "nettling" (which I guess could be considered a form of allelopathy?) is an issue that we run into occasionally. I don't believe it is a fixed and constant problem though. Like most other issues we run into, I think there are many variables that come into play. There has to be a logical explanation for why I was able to mix haddoni and magnifica without issue, but Ron Popiel had issues with this same combination. Total water volume, water change schedule, filtration, size of the anemone, species, position of the anemones in relation to water flow (is one anemone down stream from another?), proximity of one anemone to another, health of the anemones, and stress level of the anemones may all play a part in whether we see signs of allelopathy or not.

Anyway..... I removed the anemone above after less than two full days in my tank. I'm pretty sure its fate was sealed before I received it. I could be wrong, but I don't believe allelopathy was the only problem this anemone had. Maybe, it was a contributing factor to its quick demise, but its biggest problem was probably normal shipping stress that kills most of these anemones. I'll try again in a few months after I make some changes to the system, and find a promising candidate.

 

[elegance coral]

BTW Ron. Those mags are disgustingly beautiful as always.:thumbsup:

 

[Dan]

...........Like most other issues we run into, I think there are many variables that come into play. There has to be a logical explanation for why I was able to mix haddoni and magnifica without issue, but Ron Popiel had issues with this same combination. Total water volume, water change schedule, filtration, size of the anemone, species, position of the anemones in relation to water flow (is one anemone down stream from another?), proximity of one anemone to another, health of the anemones, and stress level of the anemones may all play a part in whether we see signs of allelopathy or not.

I have mixed a number of anemone species over the years. My own observations are, in general, you can have success mixing species of the same genus, however, mixing different genus is more risky. E. quadricolor are sort of a wild card. Presently, I have H. magnifica, H. crispa, E. quadricolor in the same system (for years). I also have S. gigantea and E. quadricolor in another system (a few months). In the past, I have failed with H. magnifica and S. gigantea (lost mag within a month), as well as H. crispa and S. gigantea (lost gig). In the past, I have succeeded with E. quadricolor and M. doreensis (a few years).

Dan

 

[Winwood]

For what it is worth I am currently keeping merten's, haddon's, and E. quadricolor together with no noticeable ill effects.