Hello all! This month has gone by so quickly; we honestly cannot believe that we are almost at the end of the road with our project. It’s shocking to think that in a month we will be presenting all of our discoveries to our class, so here is an update of what we observed this past month. After returning from spring break on March 11, we discovered new growths in our tank. There was a large amount of algae growing behind the nepthea located on the right side of the tank. This alga had not been seen prior to March 11th, so we suspect that a lack of cleaning allowed for the algae to bloom while we were away. In addition to the algae growth on the right side of the tank, we also noticed the growth of a brown anemone on the back of the tank. When we returned from the break, we also noticed that the placement of the hammer branch coral located in the middle of the tank had changed. Now, the hammer branch coral, instead of being completely independent, was hidden behind a rock. Due to the corals new position, we began to notice algae growth on its side. We believe that this is directly related to the corals new position, and possible lack of sunlight/food due to location. This month we noticed an extreme growth in the frags of nepthea to a point where the tank is almost consumed by this coral. In April we will continue to watch this coral, and see if it begins to compete with the hammer branch coral for space.
Besides this drastic change in the location of the middle frag of hammer branch coral, there was no real change in the competition between the anemone/algae and the three frags of hammer branch coral. In regards to the left hammer branch coral we began to see a small growth of algae on its side. In contrast, the right hammer branch coral continued to outcompete the surround anemone and the algae. We believe that these frags are behaving differently towards the algae/anemone because of their size differences. The left hammer branch coral is relatively small, while the right hammer branch coral is dense and large.
Looking forward, we definitely need to focus on taking quantitative observations for this last month in order to insure that we have a sufficient amount of data to present at the end of our project. We both believe that we should record the growth of the frags of hammer branch coral as well as the growth of the algae and anemone that surround them. Wish us luck in the following month!
Besides this drastic change in the location of the middle frag of hammer branch coral, there was no real change in the competition between the anemone/algae and the three frags of hammer branch coral. In regards to the left hammer branch coral we began to see a small growth of algae on its side. In contrast, the right hammer branch coral continued to outcompete the surround anemone and the algae. We believe that these frags are behaving differently towards the algae/anemone because of their size differences. The left hammer branch coral is relatively small, while the right hammer branch coral is dense and large.
Looking forward, we definitely need to focus on taking quantitative observations for this last month in order to insure that we have a sufficient amount of data to present at the end of our project. We both believe that we should record the growth of the frags of hammer branch coral as well as the growth of the algae and anemone that surround them. Wish us luck in the following month!