Nutriment for the corals

Oualid · 05/24/2017, 04:38 PM

Hi,

I am wondering.
If the level of the phosphate (PO4) needs to be very low around 0.03 ppm and also the level of the nitrate < 1.0 ppm how do the corals get the nutriments?

/Oualid

SpottedMoocow · 06/19/2017, 06:19 PM

Photosynthetic coral have a symbiotic relationship with a photosynthetic dinoflagellate called Zooxanthellae. They are able to produce almost all the sugar and proteins (as well as building blocks for amino acids) that a coral needs. The zooxanthellae are what needs the nitrogen source (nitrate) for photosynthesis and phosphates for cellular structure.

05/24/2017, 04:38 PM	#1
Oualid Registered Member Join Date: May 2017 Posts: 1	Nutriment for the corals Hi, I am wondering. If the level of the phosphate (PO4) needs to be very low around 0.03 ppm and also the level of the nitrate < 1.0 ppm how do the corals get the nutriments? /Oualid

06/19/2017, 06:19 PM	#2
SpottedMoocow Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2016 Posts: 258	Photosynthetic coral have a symbiotic relationship with a photosynthetic dinoflagellate called Zooxanthellae. They are able to produce almost all the sugar and proteins (as well as building blocks for amino acids) that a coral needs. The zooxanthellae are what needs the nitrogen source (nitrate) for photosynthesis and phosphates for cellular structure.