New Zoa Polyp’s (what do they look like?

[ReefJunkie28]

just curious because I can’t for the life of me find anything in google, on reef2reef, or youtube about what a new polyp on a zoa looks like. wondering if anyone has any pictures of this?

 

[Daddy-o]

 

[Daddy-o]

 

[ReefJunkie28]

I get they start small, but I’m talking about what does it look like when they first start forming? are they just super super tiny??

 

[ReefJunkie28]

I get they start small, but I’m talking about what does it look like when they first start forming? are they just super super tiny??

sorry guess I should have been more clear

 

[ScottR]

Here’s a super fast grower. The mat (skeleton) will stretch out and slowly a head and tentacles emerge

 

[ReefJunkie28]

Here’s a super fast grower. The mat (skeleton) will stretch out and slowly a head and tentacles emerge

so the mat will be a lighter color than the other parts right? just curious, picked up a rasta frag and it has one big polyp then 3 other small ones that are new growth according to what i’ve seen here. but there’s a small portion of the mat that that’s like a bubble but much lighter than the rest. so I assume this is what you’re talking about

 

[ScottR]

so the mat will be a lighter color than the other parts right? just curious, picked up a rasta frag and it has one big polyp then 3 other small ones that are new growth according to what i’ve seen here. but there’s a small portion of the mat that that’s like a bubble but much lighter than the rest. so I assume this is what you’re talking about

This is a great question. For my faster growing zoas, I can see the mat stretch out. It’s a light color. Maybe light gray? For my slower growing zoas like rastas and utter chaos, I will see tiny heads pop up but no visible mat. When they’re closed up, they look like a bunch of balls clumped together.

 

[sde1500]

Full grown, but closed, zoa head. With one just starting to open baby on the bottom right and starting to push out another bottom left.

 

[ZipAdeeZoa]

It just looks like a tiny closed zoa/ slight bump in the tissue.

 

[ScottR]

My lights just kicked on so things are just starting to open. You can see the mat on these rastas and how they’re connected. Again, I can see this better on faster growing types, where the mat stretches outward, a small slit forms and a polyp begins to emerge after a day or two as a tiny head.

 

[ReefJunkie28]

my rastas. I have 3 tiny polyps. was wondering if another may be trying to come out... or 2

 

[ReefJunkie28]

my fruit loops too with a super tiny polyp at the very top

 

[ScottR]

Those rastas look freshly glued and from the pic I doubt it. Just give it time. A fellow reefer taught me a trick with zoas. If you place them at the base of a rock where the side of the Zoa can just barely touch the rock, the zoas will start to climb up the rock faster. Not sure if this is true but mine cling on to the side of rock and have attached already. This was a few months or so of waiting however.

 

[Daddy-o]

Those rastas look freshly glued and from the pic I doubt it. Just give it time. A fellow reefer taught me a trick with zoas. If you place them at the base of a rock where the side of the Zoa can just barely touch the rock, the zoas will start to climb up the rock faster. Not sure if this is true but mine cling on to the side of rock and have attached already. This was a few months or so of waiting however.

That is what I am toying with. I mounted the frag plugs to 1x6 tiles leaning on the back wall to see if I can get quicker growth in my frag tank.
Cheers! Mark

 

[ScottR]

That is what I am toying with. I mounted the frag plugs to 1x6 tiles leaning on the back wall to see if I can get quicker growth in my frag tank.
Cheers! Mark

Nice Mark! I saw this pic a few weeks ago or so and was trying to remember whose it was. If it works, share! Maybe you can get spot at MACNA.

 

[Daddy-o]

Nice Mark! I saw this pic a few weeks ago or so and was trying to remember whose it was. If it works, share! Maybe you can get spot at MACNA.

Like a lot of reefers, I have no clue as to how fast a coral can/will grow. I do know that for 2 years all of my zoas just disappeared. Wasnt until a couple months ago I realized that Asterina Starfish were the culprits. They would devour the polyps. Now they are all growing like weeds.

 

[ScottR]

Like a lot of reefers, I have no clue as to how fast a coral can/will grow. I do know that for 2 years all of my zoas just disappeared. Wasnt until a couple months ago I realized that Asterina Starfish were the culprits. They would devour the polyps. Now they are all growing like weeds.

Oh wow. IME once a coral, especially zoas, start growing, the don’t stop. Zoas can become a pest after awhile. I have some that I wish I never put in. From 4 heads to 50.

 

[ScottR]

That is what I am toying with. I mounted the frag plugs to 1x6 tiles leaning on the back wall to see if I can get quicker growth in my frag tank.
Cheers! Mark

Thought I’d share this as it’s on topic:

December 31, 2019 I picked us these rastas.

Taken today, February 18, 2020. The circled yellow part is where I tried to glue to the rock. A snail or flow pushed it off. Or bad glue job. Anyway the zoas started reaching for the rock and have continued to grow upwards.

I’ll just let them grow where they please.