I'm joining the club!

Schnizzle · Dec 10, 2019

The Aquatic Arsenal said:
I can't tell from the pic what the new polyp is besides a zoa lol. As far as the zoa with the bryopsis growing on it, if you can remove them and place on a new frag plug, I would suggest doing that. Another method you could try is raising your magnesium levels. This article should help explain the process https://reefhacks.com/bryopsis-fluconazole-dosage/#tab-con-12

I'll try remounting. I accidentally had my Mg around 1545 for about a month and still had bryopsis show up around that time on a snail's shell. I'm afraid if I adjust it again my corals will be peeved and they just hit their stride. I think I just hit mine as well. haha

Schnizzle · Dec 10, 2019

The Aquatic Arsenal said:
I forgot to add that for zoas that won't open, you can dip them in some lugol's iodine to help them out.

This I might have to try. I'll see if I can find some. I noticed the sticky in this forum about that.

45ZoaGarden · Dec 10, 2019

I would wait. They will open up eventually. Zoas are Easy... no need to dip them but I would dip the one with biropsis just in case... closed up zoas don’t mean jack squat as some are much slower to get acclimated.

Schnizzle · Dec 26, 2019

I got busy and ended up doing nothing. I did move the rack to a point the CUC could access it. All polyps have since opened and all algae is gone so I doubt it was bryopsis.

I finally got a chance to mount everything and of course it didn't lay out as planned. I managed to keep it very close to the original plan but turned sideways.

Hopefully I can get some better photos tonight under the blues with some clean glass.

I know the frag plugs are ugly but, there is a method to my madness. Once they overgrow the plugs, I want to be able to pull the plugs with some zoas on them. This way I can trade or sell them for some other new corals.

I also pick up several new pieces from a tank being shut down. One of them was this rock with some unknown (to me) zoas. I feel like they resemble the radioactive dragon eyes I have. I'm not good at picking out the subtle differences between all the flavors yet.

45ZoaGarden · Dec 26, 2019

Looking good! And yes, those are radioactive dragon eyes

Schnizzle said:
I got busy and ended up doing nothing. I did move the rack to a point the CUC could access it. All polyps have since opened and all algae is gone so I doubt it was bryopsis.

I finally got a chance to mount everything and of course it didn't lay out as planned. I managed to keep it very close to the original plan but turned sideways.

Hopefully I can get some better photos tonight under the blues with some clean glass.

I know the frag plugs are ugly but, there is a method to my madness. Once they overgrow the plugs, I want to be able to pull the plugs with some zoas on them. This way I can trade or sell them for some other new corals.

I also pick up several new pieces from a tank being shut down. One of them was this rock with some unknown (to me) zoas. I feel like they resemble the radioactive dragon eyes I have. I'm not good at picking out the subtle differences between all the flavors yet.

45ZoaGarden · Dec 26, 2019

Schnizzle said:
I got busy and ended up doing nothing. I did move the rack to a point the CUC could access it. All polyps have since opened and all algae is gone so I doubt it was bryopsis.

I finally got a chance to mount everything and of course it didn't lay out as planned. I managed to keep it very close to the original plan but turned sideways.

Hopefully I can get some better photos tonight under the blues with some clean glass.

I know the frag plugs are ugly but, there is a method to my madness. Once they overgrow the plugs, I want to be able to pull the plugs with some zoas on them. This way I can trade or sell them for some other new corals.

I also pick up several new pieces from a tank being shut down. One of them was this rock with some unknown (to me) zoas. I feel like they resemble the radioactive dragon eyes I have. I'm not good at picking out the subtle differences between all the flavors yet.

What’s that crab in the top right of the first pic? He’s got some Menacing little claws!

Schnizzle · Dec 26, 2019

45ZoaGarden said:
What’s that crab in the top right of the first pic? He’s got some Menacing little claws!

That dude is hilarious! It's a Porcelain Anemone Crab. I hoped it would hang out with my Porcelain Crabs but no joy. I just roams around looking for something bigger than the Rock Flower nem I inherited as well. They all came together with a bunch or other stuff. He's peaceful. I offered it some meat and it wasn't too interested. I squirted some Reef Roids at it and it started trying to catch it all with the fans.

Schnizzle · Dec 26, 2019

They'll sooner throw the claw at you than use it. They are wimps.

45ZoaGarden · Dec 26, 2019

Hahahaha! It would’ve loved my tank. I used to have a RBTA that was over 8 inches across. I unfortunately sold it for some other corals

Schnizzle said:
That dude is hilarious! It's a Porcelain Anemone Crab. I hoped it would hang out with my Porcelain Crabs but no joy. I just roams around looking for something bigger than the Rock Flower nem I inherited as well. They all came together with a bunch or other stuff. He's peaceful. I offered it some meat and it wasn't too interested. I squirted some Reef Roids at it and it started trying to catch it all with the fans.

Schnizzle · Dec 26, 2019

I really want an anemone but they scare me. I have a pair of ocellaris clowns as well that would probably like one but the only proper ones for a. ocellaris get huge. Maybe when I get the 300 I dream of I'll try a nem.

45ZoaGarden · Dec 26, 2019

Schnizzle said:
I really want an anemone but they scare me. I have a pair of ocellaris clowns as well that would probably like one but the only proper ones for a. ocellaris get huge. Maybe when I get the 300 I dream of I'll try a nem.

Just because you have a nem doesn’t mean the clowns will like it. I put a pair of clowns in my tank they don’t even go near the nem. They just stick to the gsp and swim around the Duncan to get a reaction out of me LOL

Schnizzle · Dec 27, 2019

Clean glass and full blues. The Rising Suns have some fuzzy algae growing on them that must be irritating because only one of the four polyps want to open. Interestingly, the open polyp is the one that fell off and rolled around the sand for a day. Mr. PAC probably isn't helping by chasing the hermits and snails away. Hopefully I can look back at this soon and say everything went exactly as I planned.

Zoa Garden from top left to bottom right as you would read in English:
Rising Sun, Armor of God, Omega One
Bob Marley, AOI, Bonfire, Pink Diamonds
Dragon (Ballz or Ball Z?), Utter Chaos, Radioactive Dragon Eyes, Blue Watermelon

Also pictured:
Radioactive Dragon Eyes rock bottom right.
Walking Dendro bottom left.
Tubs Stellata Monti top center.
Mystic Sunset Monti top right.

45ZoaGarden · Dec 27, 2019

You might need to move the utter chaos up, keep an eye on them. Mine like higher light

Schnizzle · Dec 27, 2019

45ZoaGarden said:
You might need to move the utter chaos up, keep an eye on them. Mine like higher light

Thanks for the heads up. That's why I'm documenting everything so I can keep an eye out. Sharing knowledge is also a great perk.

Schnizzle · Feb 19, 2020

Looking pretty good almost two months later. I can't believe how fast the time is going by. I'm blaming it on the baby coming in June. haha Just wanted to drop a visual update for everyone interested. The Rising Sun melted away. I'm really missing the yellow that it provided. I would love to find a Pikachu locally to possibly trade for but it isn't looking good. I may have to order one online.

Everyone in the garden growing well. The Bonfire is definitely exploding. The AOI are doing very well, which is a pleasant surprise considering the investment there.

The zoa rock has been populating nicely too.

Schnizzle · Feb 19, 2020

@Strawberry did you get some Pikachu Zoas in the live sale in December? If so, how are they doing?

Reefyyy · Feb 19, 2020

Strawberry said:
No pro tips but wow what a haul! I hope you don’t have any melt aways! Just be sure to acclimate, dip, and if you can, quarantine to protect your display tank investment. It can be costly to have any infestations or hitchhiker pests make it into your tank.

Schnizzle said:
These will be arriving Friday and I'm thinking this will be the arrangement for my garden. I will gladly welcome any advice or pro tips before I dive in Friday evening.

i agree make sure to dip them. when i got my first ever coral i did not dip them and it resulted in an infestation of things i still have no idea what were (by the way if you have ideas go check out my forum about it please) and it was bad. if you dip them and maybe set up a QT for a little while to make sure there are no little hitchhikers! have fun!