What limits zoanthid growth ?
- Thread starter Agu
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Skeptic_07
New member
i honestly dont know the answer to this.
if params are close to NSW and there's adequate lighting and good flow, they should grow.
i'm new enough where i still dont really know if my zoas are growing fast or slow but they grow in my tank and i have a little nitrates and phosphates going on. what are those levels in your tank?
Maybe zoas have a life cycle or maybe they do some type of chemical communication that tells them when to grow or to stop. maybe theres some sort of trigger that will stimulate growth like season change.
if params are close to NSW and there's adequate lighting and good flow, they should grow.
i'm new enough where i still dont really know if my zoas are growing fast or slow but they grow in my tank and i have a little nitrates and phosphates going on. what are those levels in your tank?
Maybe zoas have a life cycle or maybe they do some type of chemical communication that tells them when to grow or to stop. maybe theres some sort of trigger that will stimulate growth like season change.
Kigs
In Memoriam
I've been thinking about this too recently, and to a degree - I think they follow a pattern of logistic growth.
Simple ecology 101 here, but ( G = rN (k-N) / k )
Where "G" is the population growth rate, "r" is the intrinsic rate of increase, "N" the population size, and "K" the carrying capacity; stating that "G" is highest when population size is intermediate relative to the carrying capacity, and lowest when "N" is either small or large.
Unless the "K" is accomodated to increase, the "G" will come to a halt once the maximum carrying capacity has been reached. Just an idea to ponder about.
Simple ecology 101 here, but ( G = rN (k-N) / k )
Where "G" is the population growth rate, "r" is the intrinsic rate of increase, "N" the population size, and "K" the carrying capacity; stating that "G" is highest when population size is intermediate relative to the carrying capacity, and lowest when "N" is either small or large.
Unless the "K" is accomodated to increase, the "G" will come to a halt once the maximum carrying capacity has been reached. Just an idea to ponder about.
Skeptic_07
New member
kigs, i've been trying to comprehend your post for a few days.
"The carrying capacity of an environment may vary for different species and may change over time due to a variety of factors including: food availability; water supply; environmental conditions; and living space." (from wikipedia, i had to look this up)
I think what we need to figure out is what the carrying capacity is for zoanthids besides space and light. Unless all the lit areas that are suitable for zoanthid growth in agu's tank are completely full, i think his question still remains unanswered. What environmental factors limit zoanthid growth?
Heres an interesting example again from wikipedia that may relate to what we are dealing with here. (i realize you didnt have a population crash like in this example but it does shed some light into how many different factors can affect population size.)
"Easter Island has been cited as an example of a human population crash. When fewer than 100 humans first arrived, the island was covered with trees with a large variety of food types, in 1722 the island was visited by Jacob Roggeveen, who estimated two to three thousand inhabitants with very few trees, "a rich soil, good climate" and "all the county was under cultivation". Half a century later it was described as "a poor land" and "largely uncultivated". The ecological collapse that followed has been variously attributed to overpopulation, slave raiders, European diseases including a Smallpox epidemic that killed so many the dead were left unburied and a Tuberculosis epidemic that killed a quarter of the population, civil war, cannibalism, and invasive species (such as the Polynesian rats that may have wiped out the ground nesting birds and eat the palm tree seeds). Whatever the combination of reasons, only 111 inhabitants were left on the island in 1877. "
assuming that there is still space left ..(agu if you are asking this question about slowed growth because your tank is completely full i'm going find where you live and beat you with a stick. :lol: kidding but, i'm assuming you have space) .. the few explanations we can consider are all related to the "environmental conditions" from above. we can see from the easter island example that this can include disease, parasites, and other species destroying thier food source. So, to (not really) answer your question, agu, it could be anything from no remaining space, to water quality, to some sort of parasite or fungus, something being depleted from the water that is not replenished by waterchanges, a possible food source that we dont know about being depleted, the list can go on and on.
This still leaves us asking more and more questions.
I would bet that aside from the obvious environmental conditions like flow, water quality and pests, the food source is the largest factor controlling growth. Besides adequate lighting "food source" for zoanthids could be a multitude of dissolved minerals and nutrients or actual food particles. Once we know everything about what zoanthids need to "eat" to be healthy, we'll know how not to limit thier growth. Its kind of like growing plants, they need nitrogen, oxygen, potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, etc etc.. to grow. once ANY ONE of them is depleted, growth will halt.
"The carrying capacity of an environment may vary for different species and may change over time due to a variety of factors including: food availability; water supply; environmental conditions; and living space." (from wikipedia, i had to look this up)
I think what we need to figure out is what the carrying capacity is for zoanthids besides space and light. Unless all the lit areas that are suitable for zoanthid growth in agu's tank are completely full, i think his question still remains unanswered. What environmental factors limit zoanthid growth?
Heres an interesting example again from wikipedia that may relate to what we are dealing with here. (i realize you didnt have a population crash like in this example but it does shed some light into how many different factors can affect population size.)
"Easter Island has been cited as an example of a human population crash. When fewer than 100 humans first arrived, the island was covered with trees with a large variety of food types, in 1722 the island was visited by Jacob Roggeveen, who estimated two to three thousand inhabitants with very few trees, "a rich soil, good climate" and "all the county was under cultivation". Half a century later it was described as "a poor land" and "largely uncultivated". The ecological collapse that followed has been variously attributed to overpopulation, slave raiders, European diseases including a Smallpox epidemic that killed so many the dead were left unburied and a Tuberculosis epidemic that killed a quarter of the population, civil war, cannibalism, and invasive species (such as the Polynesian rats that may have wiped out the ground nesting birds and eat the palm tree seeds). Whatever the combination of reasons, only 111 inhabitants were left on the island in 1877. "
assuming that there is still space left ..(agu if you are asking this question about slowed growth because your tank is completely full i'm going find where you live and beat you with a stick. :lol: kidding but, i'm assuming you have space) .. the few explanations we can consider are all related to the "environmental conditions" from above. we can see from the easter island example that this can include disease, parasites, and other species destroying thier food source. So, to (not really) answer your question, agu, it could be anything from no remaining space, to water quality, to some sort of parasite or fungus, something being depleted from the water that is not replenished by waterchanges, a possible food source that we dont know about being depleted, the list can go on and on.
This still leaves us asking more and more questions.
I would bet that aside from the obvious environmental conditions like flow, water quality and pests, the food source is the largest factor controlling growth. Besides adequate lighting "food source" for zoanthids could be a multitude of dissolved minerals and nutrients or actual food particles. Once we know everything about what zoanthids need to "eat" to be healthy, we'll know how not to limit thier growth. Its kind of like growing plants, they need nitrogen, oxygen, potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron, etc etc.. to grow. once ANY ONE of them is depleted, growth will halt.
