Bubbles bubbles everywhere

[Limpc]

Hi all,

There are small little bubbles on the LR and I can also see bubbles forming in the sandbed. What happen ?

Thanks in advance for any info.

Limpc

[Chris]

My mushroom in the day opn very big and there are strings of tiny bubbles coming out from it. means what?

[Achilles Tang]

Limpc,

If this happened after you upgraded your lights or perhaps your water has become clearer (like after using ozone or uv), the increased amount of light hitting LR or even sand could trigger increased photosynthesis from microalgae on them (under them). Those are oxygen bubbles!

Chris,

Your mushroom just farted.

coming out from where?

[Chris]

Like those found in FW planted tanks but not as much. Could it be oxygen from photosynthesis?

[Achilles Tang]

I doubt so... the zooxanthellae (symbiotic algae) in corals during photosynthesis do not release oxygen bubbles back into the water. It is taken up completely by the coral tissues.

Sometimes, you will see corals spitting out long stringy brown strands of zooxanthellae, that occurs from time to time when they have an oversupply of oxygen built-up inside(which could ironically cause oxygen poisoning). Don't be alarmed by this. (on a side note... some tangs, esp. PT's are known to disturb some corals to provoke a release of zoozanthellae which they promptly eat!!! I have seen this happening in my tank!).

You heard of coral bleaching... when all the zooxanthellae is expelled... the coral tissues become see-through... almost white. Corals bleach in response to prolonged temperature change, mostly in the range of 32 degrees C, and also to excessive UV exposure.

Perhaps, the microalgae around your mushroom released oxygen bubbles and it got stuck on the mushroom?

[bawater]

i can't be sure abt those bubbles, my guess and what i encountered(& could be wrong) is either the bubbles come from cyano algae forming on the LR & substrate or it could be nitrogen bubbles,made from bacteria in the substrate using up nitrates or organics & the gas as a by product builds up at the substrate surface.

Either way- something to do with a increase in light.

i've had them before- but no major disaster came from it. i just rake thru the sand to release, & i never figured out what was the gas in those bubbles cause it only lasted a week or 2.

read below for zooxanthellae explanation:

[bawater]

something new everyday:

Leonard Ho

Zooxanthellae

March 8, 1998

The topic tonight: zooxanthellae. I will attempt to be as in

depth as possible in the alloted time.

I found this topic very difficult to approach because of the

varying degree of knowledge amongst hobbyist about zooxanthellae.

Most everyone knows zooxanthellae are the associated algae found

within corals. But more important then what they are is how and why they

benefit their symbiotic hosts.

Actually, the scientific understanding of zooxanthellae is still

rather rudimentary. There are still many unanswered questions.

Tonight, I'll present some of the presently known facts and

leading theories regarding zooxanthellae. I shall begin with a few

fundamental backround information.

Zooxanthellae: term for any dinoflagellates which participate in

symbiosis with coral, clams, or sponges.

Dinoflagellates are unicellular organisms of the Kingdom Protista.

There are numerous different species.

Some obtain energy and carbon needs solely from ingestion of

organic sources (animal like chemoheterotrophs)

Other dinoflagellates obtain their sole energy requirements

through photosythesis and carbon through CO2 (plant like photoautotrophs).

Zooxanthellae are photoautotrophic dinoflagellates.

Zooxanthellae are brownish gold in color (best color for

photosynthetic spectral absorption). They are of genus Symbiodinium, and

unknown number of species exists.

Zooxanthellae are slightly modified dinoflagellates. They occur

independently in open water where they solely exists without a host,

carrying on photosynthesis and taking from the water whatever is required

for life processes.

Chemoreception seems to be one way of locating host corals. .Upon

entering corals, they lose their motility by dropping their two flagella.

Flagella are protein based projections attached to its cell wall which spins

like a rotor to propel the dinoflagellates in open water.

Zooxanthellae enter corals through ingestion by the coral's

polyps. Once within, they are incorporated within the second tissue layer

(the gastroderm) where they proceed with their photosynthesis. How they

evade digestion by corals is uncertain.

In coral species that produce planulae, the zooxanthellae are

passed on by the parents to offsring. In layments terms, the baby coral was

given zooxanthellae by its parents. In asexual reproduction (e.g. budding,

binary fission, etc.) zooxanthellae are obviously present in offspring.

In species that broadcast spawn, the planulae take zooxanthellae

from the water during their meroplanktonic stage or usually shortly after

settling.

The reason why broadcast spawn do not carry zooxanthellae from

their parents is the the offsprings travel great distances before settling.

Broadcasting is used for species dispersal, and because the offspring is

dispersed over varying locations, they ingest zooxanthellae that match the

light conditions of any given location.

Clams of the genus Tridacna also participate with zooxanthellae in

symbiosis, but in a completely different manner then do corals.

The digestive system of Tridacnas are highly modified/simplified

in order to accommodate this symbiosis. Zooxanthellae are taken up by

Tridacnas within the first 8 days following fertilization.

The zooxanthellae enters via the gills, then travels through a

unique symbiont channel system where they are then carried to tubules nodes

in the mantle (Norton). There is a dissenting hypothesis that states the

zooxanthellae reside in the clam's bloodlymph (Yonge).

The orientation of Tridacna clams, as I'm sure you are aware of,

is modified and very unique as well. This genus rotates its body 180 degree

with respect to its shell, always exposing its zooxanthellae-rich mantle up

towards the light.

The exact benefits of zooxanthellae are not known, but here are

the some of dominant, developed hypothesis:

Zooxanthellae provide a possible nutrient source and subsequently

facilitates the excretory processes of hermatypic corals. This is an

example of mutualistic symbiosis (a symbiosis in which both parties benefit).

Through permeases, the zooxanthellae can transport as much as 98%

of it's photosynthetic byproducts through its plasma membrane to the coral.

Permease are specific enzymes that permit certain compounds (e.g.

sugars, amino acids) to travel in and out of cells. Generally, the cell

itself regulates the importation and exportation of nutrient/waste by

activating specific enzymes to allow intake/expulsion of certain compounds.

Corals may facilitate zooxanthellae's transportation of

photosynthetic byproducts by "donating" its own enyzmes to the zooxanthellae

that make the zooxanthellae "leaky" (as described in TRA).

In this manner, corals are able to obtain the necessary components

for their sustenance and growth such as amino acids, fatty acids, and

carbohydrates from the zooxanthellae.

Likewise, zooxanthellae require certain components to carry on

photosynthesis. Aside from protection from predation, the zooxanthellae's

other main benefit is that it gathers necessary ingredients to carry on

it's photosynthesis and growth. In doing so, it consequently assists coral

excretory processes as well.

CO2 would be the first ingredient that comes to mind.

Zooxanthellae receive a constant supply of CO2 as a result of the coral's

respiration, and in turn the coral receives O2 (for respiration) from the

byproduct of photosynthesis performed by zooxanthellae.

A second hypothesized benefit of CO2 removal by zooxanthellae is

that chemical reactions are driven towards calcification in corals, thus

improving coral skeletal growth. CO2 removal by zooxanthellae is

hypothesized as the primary event responsible for increased growth in corals

containing zooxanthellae (Goreau and Goreau).

Zooxanthellae also removes phosphorous in form of phosphate from

corals, benefiting both coral and zooxanthellae. There are several

experiments done to indicate phosphate removal by zooxanthellae does occur.

Test have shown that ahermatypic corals (those that do not contain

zooxanthellae) excrete significantly more phosphate then do corals

hermatypic corals. (Yonge and Nicholls)

In a separate test, Tridacnas within a sealed container depleted

all the phosphorous within the water, while Spondylus, a clam genus lacking

zooxanthellae, did not. (Younge)

Zooxanthellae need phosphate (like true plants) to grow and

reproduce. Thus, it is self evident zooxanthellae benefit from the

phosphate corals produce as waste products.

Corals likewise benefit. CaCO3 precipitation can be shown to be

inhibited by organic phosphate. In recent years phosphate has been shown to

be a major inhibitor on the surface of crystals.

Aragonite, the crystal form of CaCO3, is therefore inhibited by

phosphate and deposition of calcium carbonate as the coral's skeletal matrix

(in form of aragonite in corals) is greatly hindered.

So, to summarize, because the zooxanthellae actively remove

phosphate from within and surrounding the coral, calcification is enhanced,

and corals, by theory and through observation, grow at increased rates.

Another benefit of this remarkable symbiosis is that zooxanthellae

aid lipgenesis (formation of lipids) in corals.

1/3 of the dry weight of corals and anemones is lipds, which

indicatates that it is probably a primary energy source for corals. Corals

have been demostrated to greatly elevate lip synthesis in presence of light.

Zooxanthellae use acetate (oxidized fatty acids) to form lipids.

The source of the acetate? The corals. Corals, by ingestion of food (e.g.

microplankton), intake fatty acids which they oxidize in the process of

digestion.

This acetate then converted to a narrow spectrum of saturated

fatty acids and exported to zooxanthellae as energy source for

photosynthesis, who then convert the these fatty acids to lipds which are

recycled to the coral as their energy source.

whew

So, to sum it all up in one sentence (albeit long sentence),

within this symbiosis, there exists a beautiful, complex recycling of

available nutrients between coral/clam and zooxanthellae in a nutrient-poor

reef setting, ensuring the survival of both.

This is about as tight as any relational interdependency between

animals (i.e. corals) and plants (i.e. zooxanthellae). Remarkable, wouldn't

you agree?

[Achilles Tang]

i thought zooxanthellae produce basic sugars through photosynthesis  that are taken up by the coral host as food.now i'm puzzeled!

All living things needs oxygen to survive, coral hosts included.

The question was related to bubbles... so perhaps I need to elaborate whether it is expelled as oxygen bubbles from coral tissue.

The zooxanthellae in coral hosts is very much like algae... photosynthesis is very much the same here too... turn light energy into usable energy eg. nutrients produced as a result of photosynthesis, which is used up by the coral tissue. Oxygen is a byproduct which is also taken up by the coral tissue. Excessive oxygen output is prevented/released, but not as bubbles.... but by cutting the source itself eg. the zooxanthellia!

The zooxanthellia may be overgrown till oxygen is overproduced and that could be toxic to the coral hosts, the coral hosts ejects some zooxanthellia to prevent this from happening...

[Achilles Tang]

Ahh yes...

I extracted a statement from your attached article to support my POV.

"Zooxanthellae receive a constant supply of CO2 as a result of the coral's

respiration, and in turn the coral receives O2 (for respiration) from the

byproduct of photosynthesis performed by zooxanthellae".

So O2 (oxygen) is taken up by coral tissues and is not wasted. Nor is it expelled as bubbles.

[Tanzy]

Hi all,

There are small little bubbles on the LR and I can also see bubbles forming in the sandbed. What happen ?

Thanks in advance for any info.

Limpc

Green algae, diatoms, dino, cyano..etc will produce oxygen gas bubbles if given intense light for photosynthesis.

If I stop all powerheads in my tank, after about an hour, the bubbles become very obvious and will start rising up like some planted tanks.

[Limpc]

Hi guys,

thanks for the feedback. I really take my hat off for bawater's thesis. Sorry too late in the night to disgest the valuable info. Will try tomorrow.

AT, you were right. This phenomenon only happens yesterday when I finally completed your ex-DIY PL light. I believe there is a drastic change in the amount of light. From 2PL + 2FL to 9PLs now. Also, this is the 5th day of the dosing of AZ-NO3. These are the 2 major events which took place past few days.

Limpc

[eprouve]

If they are abundant, it could be the green hair algae...