Coral Propagation & Sales By: Spencer and Carolyn

Why we chose this project... Thought that it would fun and a new experience More tangible evidence to record Idea of selling our final product was appealing Corals are really unique They are a key species for all marine life We had the vision of researching different corals to buy, have them grow over a few months, and then sell them for a profit

Research Questions/ Initial Research Which corals will grow the fastest? What coral will yield the most money? Will having different types of corals living close to each other affect their growth rate? How successful is propagating coral? What is the best method to propagate coral? Initial Research: Marine Biology 8th Edition by Peter Castro (successful corals in captivity) LiveAquaria.com (gave us basics on how to frag) Coral Reef Alliance (how to care for corals and how they reproduce)

Hypothesis Originally we decided that we would grow four corals, Montipora capricornis, Turbinaria peltata, Protopalythoa, Pachyclavularia, and Zoanthus Based off of our research we determined that those four corals would give us the most money while giving us the least amount of maintenance Original Hypothesis: The Turbinaria peltata coral will yield the most money of the four other corals Updated Hypothesis: Over the course of five months, The Euphyllia ancora and Duncanopsammia will grow enough so that they can be sold at an optimal price

Euphyllia Corals Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Cnidaria Class: Anthozoa Order: Scleractinia Family: Caryophylliidae Genus: Euphyllia Species: Ancora (7) 10.

Euphyllia Coral Fun Facts Large polyped stony coral Nicknamed hammer coral because of their hammer shaped tentacles Found in the Indo- Pacific Ocean (6) Live in shallow reefs where waves are moderate The corals are very aggressive Have nematocysts = stinging cells Are desirable because of their purple and neon colors Also called Anchor coral, Sausage coral, Hammer coral, Ridge coral, and Bubble Honeycomb coral (6) One of the most popular aquarium corals (6) Their populations are considered Vulnerable on the Conservation Status (6) 10.

Duncan Corals Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Cnidaria Class: Anthozoa 9. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Cnidaria Class: Anthozoa Order: Scleractinia Family: Dendrophylliidae Genus: Duncanopsammia Species: Duncanopsammia axifuga (5)

Duncan Coral Fun Facts Nicknamed whisker corals because of their whisker like tentacles Also called duncanops coral Live in the Pacific Ocean off Australia and China (7) These are not as valuable coral but they do grow fast and they do not require as much attention (7) It is said that an individual polyp resembles a miniature sea anemone (7) Their populations are not considered endangered (7) 9.

Why we chose our coral species… We have a surplus of Euphyllia corals Euphyllia are fairly easy to frag Duncan corals grow at a considerably fast rate Duncan corals are worth more money than Euphyllia Duncan corals were already fragged and were a good size

Methods Frag and plug method (3) Used bone cutter, epoxy, glue, and plugs for the corals (3) Initially did six Euphyllia, three of which were big, two were medium sized, and one was small We than chose our tank and created space for which the corals could grown 12.

Tank Conditions Tried to match those in the wild (8) Temperature (74-76˚F) (8) Salinity (1.023-1.025 S.G) (8) pH (8.1-8.4) (8) Alkalinity (8-12 dKH) (8) Nitrogen Compounds (Nitrite- Undetectable, Nitrate- <1.0 ppm) (8) Phosphate (<0.2 ppm) (8) Calcium (350-450 ppm) (8) Oxygen flow (8) Sufficient light (8)

Observing the Corals Corals require constant attention and care Signs of sickness are not always obvious Losing normal color, spots and bands are all signs of a sick or dying coral. Observing the Corals

Questions We had during our Project What if the corals we got completely died? Would our corals be good enough to sell? Would we/ Did we get enough money? How did some of our corals lose their buds? Will the plugs last the entirety of the project? Will counting bud be a good way to display growth? Was this because of tank levels being to high or low? Was animal eating the buds?

Tracking our progress After we had our corals in our designated space in the tank, we started counting the number of buds on each coral, while continuing to record tank conditions The buds are not the most accurate way to measure but they do give a good estimate to the health of the coral and if they are growing (1) As corals continue to grow, a sign that they are healthy and growing is when they gain buds (1)

October This was the first month of the project This month we began by making a proposal for our project (this included a hypothesis, introduction, questions, research, schedule for research, our supplies and an annotated bibliography We did initial research on the different types of corals we wanted to frag and then sale We got acclimated to the process of taking and monitoring tank conditions

November The month of November was fairly uneventful we did not frag our first coral until November 30th The fragging process only took an hour to do Throughout the month of November we researched the best corals to frag We came to the conclusion that having two different types of corals would diversify our portfolio of corals The two corals that we determined to be the best to optimize money, to live in the small space, were the Euphyllia and Duncan corals

December December was the first month where we recorded tank conditions and the buds of each coral In December tank conditions remained stable, pH levels and Temperature remained on the high end of the desired range On December 4th we added two Duncan corals to our tank, we made sure there was optimal space in the tank so the aggressive Euphyllia did not hurt the Duncan corals This month we did notice a small growth in the 5th Euphyllia coral We tried to make sure that the project was at a good point before the Winter Break

January January was the first month that we noticed the corals began to fall down, this would later be a big problem for our project We noticed that after the Winter Break each coral exhibited large amounts of growth This month had the most growth

February This was also a successful month for coral growth Not all of the corals showed signs of new buds All corals showed signs of larger buds Corals 1, 4, 6 and 7 reached the ideal size to sell Research on what to expect for coral prices was done Duncans: $50, Euphyllia: $80 Research on where to sell the corals was done

March Emailed “On the Hook,” “Coral Reef Atlanta,” and “Pure reef” Called “On the Hook” and “The Fish Store” to confirm if we could send photos Two corals died Reason for death: water current Corals 1 and 7 exhibited sufficient growth Expected to be able to trade corals 1,6, 7 and possibly 3

April Final month Only Coral 2 exhibited growth Focused on when to sell the corals Ended up selling corals this past weekend to get maximum growth

Research Questions (Results & Methods) Which corals will grow the fastest? What coral will yield the most money? Will having different types of corals living close to each other affect their growth rate? How successful is propagating coral? What is the best method to propagate coral?

Process of Selling Early April we made contact again with the stores, On the Hook was the only store that was still interested The drive was too long Last Week through the help of Dr. Reynolds, we sold our corals to Primer Aquatics We sold 4 corals (2 smaller Euphyllia, 2 Duncan Corals) for $80.56 in store credit

Process of Selling Sending photos to different stores

Discussion Overall a success Four corals sold for $80.56 at Premier Aquatics Remaining corals are in tank Results show the rate at which Euphyllia and Duncan Corals grow The growth of the number of buds shows that the corals were healthy and that they were continuously growing Challenges: keeping corals upright, getting responses from stores, getting accurate counts of the buds everyday

What we would change if we could? The method that we used to frag was the most effective method but the plugs we used were not 100% effective The location was very ideal but because of the air pump being in close contact to the corals, however they tended to fall down More sand on the bottom, so the plugs could be firmly be planted in the sand Make contact with companies earlier in the process If we were to continue doing this project, we would change some of the plugs. We would also frag the bigger Euphyllia so that there would be more frags to sell. we would keep track of the number of polyps so that we would make sure that we would not get a fair price when we would sell them

Coral Bleaching Our corals faced the issue of falling over in the tanks Corals in the ocean face the issue of coral bleaching Occurs due to warmer waters (4) The algae which live on the corals leave and the corals are left without an energy provider (4) Potential loss of $375 billion if reefs are destroyed (4) 11. 11.

Sources Continued 9. Reef Corals (Duncan) - Reef Aquarium. Digital image. Reef Aquarium. N.p., 12 Apr. 2013. Web. 01 May 2016. <http://www.reefaquarium.com/2013/duncan-corals/>. 10. What Is a Coral ? Euphyllia Parancora (Branching Hammer Coral, Hammerkoralle). Digital image. What Is a Coral ? Euphyllia Parancora (Branching Hammer Coral, Hammerkoralle). N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2016. <http://www.taenos.com/en/fish-and- coral/photo/1/euphyllia_parancora/>. 11. Where is there Coral Bleaching - Google Search. Digital image. Coral Bleaching - Google Search. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2016. <https://www.google.com/search?q=coral+bleaching&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi- kNrkr7rMAhUBLSYKHUl9AlYQ_AUIBygB&biw=1320&bih=651#imgrc=3mhtwoD5_53NzM:>. 12. Youtube Fragging. Ppittaras21. "HOW TO: Frag!!! Coral Propagation." YouTube. YouTube, 05 Feb. 2012. Web. 01 May 2016. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIqFIPQKOKY>.

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