Zoanthid Growth Rate

What is the average growth rate for zoas?? I got a frag of some pretty nice zoas and was wondering if they spread pretty quick or not...

 

I think it depends on what kind. I have had some hardly grow at all and some that grow a polyp every week to two weeks. Also it depends on lighting and water quality.

 

+1 DC. The variety makes a huge difference, and its particular placement. Some zoas like lots of light, some like it a little lower in the tank. A good way to tell is to frag it, and put one frag high, one low and see which one is doing better.

Also, feeding might help. Eric Borneman, in his book Corals, wrote that some zoas are more inclined to take food than others - some like phytoplankton rather than zooplankton. Cyclopeeze has worked for me, my corals take it greedily, and seem to be growing faster. Some of my Armor of God palys didn't start splitting until I started feeding them.

 

those Armor of God palys are SWEET!!! maybe i should make this into a suggestion thread, anyone else know of bright palys and zoas that arent super expensive??

 

What I do is I go to the LFS and look at some of their established tanks, and on the bottom are usually some random frags in the rubble that go by the wayside, having fell off of a long lost main colony or something. I usually grab them for dirt cheap, and usually under my lights they color up big time.

Coral Fanatics have great colorful zoas - have never ordered from them, but I always go to their website to check out some of the amazing stuff they have. And it looks pretty cheap, too.

 

The nuclear green palythoas (giant green buttons) are SUPER colorful and usually pretty cheap. On top of that, they grow faster than anything I've ever seen.

 

Usually the brownish ones grow the fastest The brighter colored ones are much harder to get to spread.

 

The only nice zoos I have in my tank are growing rediculously fast. Bought a frag of 5 heads in late october, now I have 100+.
Oddly, my ugly brown ones don't really grow that fast, I think partly because I didn't kill myself finding a good spot for them.

 

You are lucky Solorall. I have two big patches of less desirable zoos doing very well. The cool ones seem to just stay the same.

 

I just bought a bunch of expensive zoa frags from another reefer (the kind that sell for $10 to $15 a polyp). I'm picking them up tomorrow. I hope they grow fast! I'm too impatient for his hobby sometimes.

 

Those are purdy ones ccCapt.

 

ccapt those are really beautiful, how do you feel about shipping them??

Biff, post pics of those zoas when you get them!!

 

yea, my LFS SUCKS though and they never really bring anything cool in... they have 100 trumpets, bubble corals and leathers.... and thats about it...

 

You know it! They will be posted in my build thread.

 

I can make my purple death palys grow a new polyp every week if I feed them every day. I turned a frag of 5 into 60 in less than a year. It only cost me about one package of frozen cubes. Maybe $5 for the frozen food + electricity and salt? :mrgreen:

 

Hey pufferguy, since I work in North Dakota I would be willing to meet you somewhere and we could trade frags or I could sell you some of my zoa"s as soon as they are ready to frag. :mrgreen:

 

By the wy CCcapt, those zoa"s you have are awsome:bowdown::bowdown::bowdown::bowdown::bowdown:

 

Rc, you feed zoas??? How? Just squirt some food over them? And yeah I would down for a meet sometime, it would depend on the date but I'm definitely interested.