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>>Eric, i never thought of it that way,(breeding in another tank) I will be getting a new tank shortly,<<
Not trying to force you to do anything, but given your regular spawning and apparently settlement, as well as the appearance of this coral, I would think this is an ideal situation.
>>Something else i noticed today,I wish i knew the Lingo sorry... In the stalk of the cloves there are eggs again, but inside the coral still!!! so i think they are going to do this again...<<
So, again, I can't say for sure as we don't have a definite ID, and even if we did, the species are in need of revision, and even then, the reproductive behavior is probably not studied specifically. But, based on what they appear to be, based on the literature, and based on your descriptions, I think you have a surface brooder. Simply put, the eggs are fertilized in a maternal polyp and released before they are fully brooded or developed (a little unusual for corals, but some do this) ad they finish their development on the coral surface before they are settlement competent. At this point, they can swim, have parental zooxanthellae, and can settle easily. So, what you are probably seeing are immature larvae, not eggs as eggs are produced in ovaries attached to the mesenteries so it is unlikely they would be visible but larvae released from the ovaries but not yet from the polyps would be.
>>Also i found a bunch of baby cloves,They are every where(to tiny for pics) i thought there was only a few, until further inspection with a magnifying glass=)..<<
That makes perfect sense, and I am not surprised but thrilled to hear it.
>>Would it help if i colected eggs and sent them to you, i read somewhere, that This coral may self fertalize ?<<
Unless you have two colonies of different sexes and it is gonochoric or two hermaphroditic separate colonies, the answer is yes.
>>the eggs would tell the story, no ?<<
No, because you would have to check for sperm in the water. It is possible to have spermaries and ovaries in the same polyp in many hermaphroditic colonies, but these are usually packaged as bundles that are released in broadcast spawners. In brooders, you may have individual polyps releasing sperm to other polyps containing eggs. Without histologically sectioning some polyps, its hard to say what is happening in your colony.
As for collecting and sending, you could, but I think its easier for you to do it there. The major impediments to settlement for brooders, and to the tiny larvae that settle and metamorphose is predation (swimming larvae and as tiny settlers), competition and lack of substrate. Basically, a filament of cyano or filamentous algae, a couple specks of sediment or detritus, or almost any grazer can kill the settlers.
What we do is collect the larvae and put them in a settlement tank (usually a ten gallon tank with a rigid airline and very minimal light - a 15 watt undercounter fluorescent is fine. Once they settle and metamorphose (a few days at most for brooders - as little as a few hours), they can be moved to a grow-out tank with numerous small grazers that are not inadvertently chowing juveniles (large Trochus, urchins etc. are not what is needed at this point). Then, once larger, they are moved back into a display.
In your case, if you move everything but these colonies to another tank, all you really need is enough grazers and enough rubble so that the settlers are easily removed and you don't have to chip out chunks of your rock. I would basically keep the colonies as they are on the current rocks and spread rubble all over the bottom and let this colony do it's thing.
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Eric Borneman
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| >Not trying to force you to do anything, but given your regular spawning and apparently settlement, as well as the appearance of this coral, I would think this is an ideal situation< No, Not at all, Last week i was offered a eclipse 12 and 6 gallon tanks..Heaters,stands,light upgrade,filters, and a bunch of other stuff for 50 bucks..i just need to pick it up.So i think i might do that,i also have a bag of calcium reactor media that should work out good for substrate. I don't have many grazers in my tank,1 small snail and 2 reef scarlets,As far as the settled larva(from what i see so far) they are on most of the exposed edges of rock on the sand bottom,and the rest are somewhat close to the colony..The color of them is not like the mother colony,they are kinda pale looking. Question..Hydroid worms, will they kill corals ? i have a few solitare worms, mabie a inch or two long,they have small white balls going down the side of them, They rub all over the cloves all day long. I have seen no i'll efects"yet". Also, I turkey basted the poyops today to try to get a pictures of ( what i thought was larva in the coral),They dont stay closed long enough...But your right,i just checked now the lights are off and there is nothing, What is in the coral durring the day?Its only in part of the colony . Thanks,
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| You can see a few that have settled here 
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I can't really see from the photo, but would love to...can you send a bigger file to my email?
>> No, Not at all, Last week i was offered a eclipse 12 and 6 gallon tanks..Heaters,stands,light upgrade,filters, and a bunch of other stuff for 50 bucks..i just need to pick it up.So i think i might do that,i also have a bag of calcium reactor media that should work out good for substrate.<<
Agreed. I would age the media - and I like Taiwan coral grave #10 from Nature's Ocean or something similar, as the substrate. I would let it get a biofilm and corallines on before using for recruitment to avoid algal growth. Blue light and some coralline crusts that are pulverized into a dust from your tank should get that started quickly.
>>I don't have many grazers in my tank,1 small snail and 2 reef scarlets,As far as the settled larva(from what i see so far) they are on most of the exposed edges of rock on the sand bottom,and the rest are somewhat close to the colony..The color of them is not like the mother colony,they are kinda pale looking.<<
I would use Nassarius and loads of Ceriths - make sure they are tropicals and not Sea of Cortez temperates or you'll wind up with a lot of empty shells.
>>Question..Hydroid worms, will they kill corals ? i have a few solitare worms, mabie a inch or two long,they have small white balls going down the side of them, They rub all over the cloves all day long. I have seen no i'll efects"yet".<<
Hydroids - yes, they can by consuming the larvae or outcompeting them for space. I wouldn't worry so much about small worms, but avoid the large Eunicids.
>>Also, I turkey basted the poyops today to try to get a pictures of ( what i thought was larva in the coral),They dont stay closed long enough...But your right,i just checked now the lights are off and there is nothing, What is in the coral durring the day?Its only in part of the colony .<<
My guess is maturing larvae, perhaps getting some light by moving up in the polyp by day.
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Eric Borneman
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Eric Borneman (5/29/2009)
I can't really see from the photo, but would love to...can you send a bigger file to my email?
>> No, Not at all, Last week i was offered a eclipse 12 and 6 gallon tanks..Heaters,stands,light upgrade,filters, and a bunch of other stuff for 50 bucks..i just need to pick it up.So i think i might do that,i also have a bag of calcium reactor media that should work out good for substrate.<<
Agreed. I would age the media - and I like Taiwan coral grave #10 from Nature's Ocean or something similar, as the substrate. I would let it get a biofilm and corallines on before using for recruitment to avoid algal growth. Blue light and some coralline crusts that are pulverized into a dust from your tank should get that started quickly.
>>I don't have many grazers in my tank,1 small snail and 2 reef scarlets,As far as the settled larva(from what i see so far) they are on most of the exposed edges of rock on the sand bottom,and the rest are somewhat close to the colony..The color of them is not like the mother colony,they are kinda pale looking.<<
I would use Nassarius and loads of Ceriths - make sure they are tropicals and not Sea of Cortez temperates or you'll wind up with a lot of empty shells.
>>Question..Hydroid worms, will they kill corals ? i have a few solitare worms, mabie a inch or two long,they have small white balls going down the side of them, They rub all over the cloves all day long. I have seen no i'll efects"yet".<<
Hydroids - yes, they can by consuming the larvae or outcompeting them for space. I wouldn't worry so much about small worms, but avoid the large Eunicids.
>>Also, I turkey basted the poyops today to try to get a pictures of ( what i thought was larva in the coral),They dont stay closed long enough...But your right,i just checked now the lights are off and there is nothing, What is in the coral durring the day?Its only in part of the colony .<<
My guess is maturing larvae, perhaps getting some light by moving up in the polyp by day. Email sent, Those Eunicids how many tenicals do they have on there head ? I also think i have one of those, it moves small colonys of acans and other frags and keeps building a tube, this thing also dislocates its jaw to fill its mouth with sand..I tried to set it up with a piece of food, i was going to chop him in half with a razor blade but ,it seemes it feels the slightiest movements in the water, it the retreats to the cave..
>make sure they are tropicals and not Sea of Cortez temperates < How do i tell what is what ? Thanks,
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I'll post photos later. As for the grazers, you order the right ones by seeing where they come from. Many reputable online vendors provide this information. I'm not sure how MD would feel about me posting my preferences for sources given competition, but feel free to email me.
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Eric Borneman (5/30/2009)
I'll post photos later. As for the grazers, you order the right ones by seeing where they come from. Many reputable online vendors provide this information. I'm not sure how MD would feel about me posting my preferences for sources given competition, but feel free to email me.No worries thanks,I found em. Here is another picture, 
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Omg!!! i woke up to more eggs today, only about 10% right now..I will post pics later=)I need to get a live video feed on the tank any Ideas ?
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Sorry if I haven't been responding online as Cory and I have been going back and forth by email.
Keep documenting and keep rearing, Cory!
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Eric Borneman
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Here are some pics from today!!! My water is kinda cloudy today, not sure if its because the Spawn or mabie its time for a waterchange... 
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