Are my Utter Chaos supposed to look like this??

H.garza10 · Apr 22, 2020

I just noticed today that my UTer Chaos are looking “floppy” they’ve been in the tank maybe a week. They still haven’t fully opened up. Every other Zoa is happy.

GK3 · Apr 22, 2020

H.garza10 said:
I just noticed today that my UTer Chaos are looking “floppy” they’ve been in the tank maybe a week. They still haven’t fully opened up. Every other Zoa is happy.

That polyp looks really big for a UC zoa. I have them in two places in my tank. The ones in lower flow are bigger and as you said “a little floppier.” What’s the flow like in that area?

H.garza10 · Apr 22, 2020

GK3 said:
That polyp looks really big for a UC zoa. I have them in two places in my tank. The ones in lower flow are bigger and as you said “a little floppier.” What’s the flow like in that area?

its about medium flow. that rock he is behind could be blocking the flow coming from the right to left.

GK3 · Apr 22, 2020

H.garza10 said:
its about medium flow. that rock he is behind could be blocking the flow coming from the right to left.

Hmmm, the ones I am talking about in my tank are in 0 direct flow, only catch some from natural current around my rocks. You could try moving to more flow. I’ll try to grab a picture of mine tomorrow so you can compare.

Albertan22 · Apr 22, 2020

I’m not a zoa expert but I always thought that big, floppy heads with longer necks meant that the light was a little low for the species.

littlebigreef · Apr 23, 2020

It’s been my experience that utter chaos’ appearance (size and color) are tied to tank parameters more so than any other zoa out there. It’s not unusual to have dime sized polyps or dark polyps or extremely cream colored polyps. From the OP’s pics above I don’t see anything unusual.

Nburg's Reef · Apr 23, 2020

littlebigreef said:
It’s been my experience that utter chaos’ appearance (size and color) are tied to tank parameters more so than any other zoa out there. It’s not unusual to have dime sized polyps or dark polyps or extremely cream colored polyps. From the OP’s pics above I don’t see anything unusual.

Agree. My colony changed when I condensed everything to a smaller tank after a move with lesser lighting and flow. The all grew long stems and the centers turned a creamy white swirl rather than orange spots and the polyps grew pretty wide. The skirts are still orange tho. I fragged some and put them really high up in the tank and they turned orange again and have shorter stalks. I think UC like LOTS of light. In my old tank, there were in SPS zones (>300 par) and looked great.