S Pistillata Lab Report

I am proposing an experiment to take place in lab, in several different tanks with the exact water chemistry as areas where S. pistillata is currently or used to be abundant, in its native areas. This species has been native to the Gulf of Aden, Red Sea, southern Japan, South China Sea, West Pacific and Central Pacific, and has also been found in parts of Australia. This species can be found as deep as 15 meters and typically thrives in shallow water reef environments. Ex-situ conservation of S. pistillata should first be done in order to have a large enough coral population for testing. A tank will be setup and water from the Red Sea will be used (Tank 1), all tanks will be 3 meters deep and 5 meters wide. The pH of the water will be monitored

Due to the fact that this is a fast growing coral, it will be grown for one year to ensure the population grows to be large enough for experimentation. Once enough coral has been grown, six other tanks will be filled with water from the areas mentioned to be native to S. pistillata. The seawater pH and temperature will be monitored, daily, as well as the growth of the S. pistillata. The ensure growth of the coral, the pH will be maintained to represent natural habitat conditions, and the temperature will initially be 26oC, for all tanks, and over time will slowly be increased or decreased to match the temperatures of the corresponding water habitat. The temperature will be adjusted by 0.1oC every week until the ideal water temperature is met for each tank after six months of growth. By allowing the coral to initially grow in altered water pH, it will allow the population to thrive due to being able to adapt to only changing conditions based on OA. Bahr et al., performed a study on the coral species Montipora capitata and came to the conclusion that OW is a more significant threat to coral growth when combined with OA and high irradiance (Bahr et al.,