Hitch hiker polyp invading zoas

[tebstan]

When I got this frag of zoas from a friend, there was one cute little star polyp on it. It was cute when it was a loner. It remained a loner for a long time, but has suddenly sprouted some friends.

What can I do about this to keep the zoas from being overtaken?

http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/Zoanthids/StarPolypinvadingZoa.jpg

[justahobby]

Are they star polyps or clove polyps? Either way, your best bet is probably fragging the zoas off. If they are clove polyps you may have some time. They tend to grow upward and blocking light will be the cause of death. The GSP will just sting the zoas to death rather quickly.

[tebstan]

Hm. Good question. I just said star without thinking about it much, since they are generally star shaped. Aren't clove polyps hard at the stem? The one original polyp might be big enough to tell if the stem is hard, the others are way too small.

Fragging won't just anger it into reproducing, will it?

[justahobby]

Sorry I meant frag the zoas. I've only had one clove coral and it wasted away after I exhausted all efforts including a diff. tank. Yours appear to be a type of clove similar to xenia and fast growing too. Either way, they are growing fast enough that I don't see your zoas being able to compete. Lucky for you, its an attractive coral. People with bubble algaes and aiptasia should be jealous lol.

[justahobby]

Are the new polyps feathery in appearance?

[tebstan]

Yeah, feathery. I think. I'm pretty sure. Geez, I was just looking at them, you'd think I'd remember. The lights are out now, so I turned my handy dandy head lamp on. The original grand daddy polyp looks like a dark little tube. But the mass where the babies are breeding looks like a clump of something similar to coraline. Maybe I can scrape them off without breaking up the zoa colony.

[justahobby]

Now that you said that I do remember them having a mat. They look pretty snug with the zoas but its worth a short right? Are those Christmas zoas?

Here's a good shot at cloves:
http://www.reefland.com/forum/reef-hot-spot/26312-new-le-clove-polyp-frags-live-coral.html

[stoneroller]

You might be able to peel them off, atleast give it a shot. Get a good pair of tweezers and a magnifying glass or some 2x readers. Go to town.

[tebstan]

I don't know what kind of zoas, Christmas sounds good, lol.

Definitely look like that pic of cloves. So pretty, a shame to scrape them oblivion. But I like the zoas more. Any chance the cloves will survive if I scrape them off and try to get them attached to some rubble?

[justahobby]

If you are diligent about going under the mat they should recoup just fine. Heck, I would even take them off your hands for you lol..... for a trade of course.

[tebstan]

Lol, my fragging skills are mediocre at best. I'll give it a shot though. I've got a magnifying glass, Xacto knife, cuticle scissors and tweezers dedicated to tank projects. Wish me luck!

[StevenSeas]

Justahobby - I have the mother colony and am willing to frag some more off if you wanna trade.

[justahobby]

Tebstan, I've found a good razor blade and patience will take of the thinnest layer of LR off without cutting into the mat.

aggiereefer, are you still in college station or going to the frag swap?

[StevenSeas]

I will be back on the 12th so I can bring it down then if you would like, and then pick up the trade on my way outta town on the 21st if thats cool. I might be able to swing by the frag swap only problem is I dont have a place to keep whatever I get till I get back. Unless I get the gf to "baby sit" them, course then I have to get them back from her . . .

[tebstan]

I owe you some free babysitting time for that Devil's Hand you raised for me.

[StevenSeas]

true you could hold some for me, you wanna go to the swap?

[tebstan]

I got nothin' to swap. But I'll go, I guess, if my schedule allows.

[StevenSeas]

they swap for cash too ;)

[justahobby]

Tank lights are off, but I will look tomorrow and see what kind of frags I can offer via PM. If I have something you want, then we can work out the swap.

[StevenSeas]

what kinda frags do you think you might have? how many zoas would you want?

[tebstan]

they swap for cash too ;)


like I said, I got nothin' to swap! lol

[justahobby]

Oh, I wasn't as interested in the zoas. I meant if he was shaving off cloves I would give them a second go in my tank. Hm, those zoas are pretty bright. Are they Christmas zoas? Off the top of my head, I have a few heads of Eye of Rah, 3 baby heads of red acans, purple digi, and I can always frag my relentless German Blue digi.

[StevenSeas]

I would prefer the acans as I am attempting to get my tank eventually to all LPS but am going to use zoas, and softies to get there. . . by just this method :) Course idk it might be fun to try a sps frag. Anyways I think my cloves got out competed, or I traded the rock that they were on. Tebstan on that mushroom frag I gave you are there anymore? I can frag those off there for you. As for the kinda zoas they are I have no clue honestly, they look like they could be christmas zoas. My gf picked them up to me when they were still in the bag . . . supposed to be fire and ice... ya not so much

[stoneroller]

Lol, my fragging skills are mediocre at best. I'll give it a shot though. I've got a magnifying glass, Xacto knife, cuticle scissors and tweezers dedicated to tank projects. Wish me luck!

Don't forget the goggles! Wash carefully afterwards. Zoas are very toxic.

[justahobby]

Yeah, I will trade the acans. I have Biocube that I am trying to get a zoa garden built up for. They look like a nice addition.

[justahobby]

I actually tried out my goggles last night. It was nice being able to frag without regard

[tebstan]

Goggles? I already wear glasses, is that good enough?

Hey aggiereefer, lemme borrow your goggles? :)

There's the granddad polyp, and then a colony of babies that's smaller than a dime. I'll try to get them off in the next few days. If I chicken out I'll recruit you when you're in town. You haven't seen my tank yet, anyway.

[StevenSeas]

And I can bring my goggles . . . they have saved my eyes enough. Just today my buddy tried rinsing his test tube with sulfuric acid which failed to loosen the precipitate so he just added nitric acid. Pretty cool result . . . glad we have to wear goggles :)

[tebstan]

And I can bring my goggles . . . they have saved my eyes enough. Just today my buddy tried rinsing his test tube with sulfuric acid which failed to loosen the precipitate so he just added nitric acid. Pretty cool result . . . glad we have to wear goggles :)

Nerd. :wink_smile:

And you say you don't like studying.

...Bring that bristle worm trap too! Or does your lady have it? I almost hate to trap the monster. He's gotten to be such a regular presence I've named him. (I named him Kevin Bacon. Guess why.)

And I think I officially just hijacked my own thread. :lauging:

[StevenSeas]

I dont like studying . . . thats why i was on here all night checking new posts every minute or so, so that i didnt have to study for my exam :)

[allan]

I dont like studying . . . thats why i was on here all night checking new posts every minute or so, so that i didnt have to study for my exam :)


Perhaps it isn't actual peer reviewed journal entries, but that is the very definition of studying. :)

[StevenSeas]

Justin - I have some of the cloves however they are fairly well intermixed with the polyps as well, if you want I can have a go at making a frag of just polyps, and polyps mixed with the cloves or I can attempt to separate the two

[ErikH]

Chrisas zoas are black skirt with green centers?.?

[Europhyllia]

Chrisas zoas are black skirt with green centers?.?
Picky, picky, lord of the zoas...

Those are nice - the zoas and the little snowflake clove polyps. Hope you can manage to save them both, A.!

[tebstan]

Those are nice - the zoas and the little snowflake clove polyps. Hope you can manage to save them both, A.!

I'm going to give it a try this weekend when I have time to focus on it.

Erik, any idea what these would be called? I call them the red ones. I also have green ones and orange ones. :angel:

[justahobby]

Frag them however you feel most comfortable. I can always go back and try separating them later.


Chrisas zoas are black skirt with green centers?.?

I thought Christmas zoas were red skirted, green centered. In the picture I see an orangey skirt w/ green center....

[tebstan]

Well, it didn't go as well as I had hoped :(

But I guess it's still a success, partially. The zoas are fine, totally undamaged. That was my primary goal.

But there was no way I was getting such a tiny polyp without destroying one or the other... so the clove had to go.

There are still a few there. When I reach for the frag everything sucked in, of course. When I pulled it out to get a closer look, I could not tell where the baby invaders were! The two bigger ones were still itty bitty. I got them, and scraped lightly around that area.

When everything was settled and the zoas came back out, I can see a significant decrease of invaders. Still a few though. How long should I wait to try again? I don't want to stress my zoas, but they don't seem to be showing any signs of stress.

Here's the same area as pictured before:
http://i556.photobucket.com/albums/ss9/TebstansTank/Zoanthids/ChristmasZoa3-8-10afterremovingpoly.jpg

[justahobby]

If you aren't disturbing the zoas, I would think you could do it indefinitely. You many want to wait a day or so in between. That will help encourage the cloves back out so you know where to scrape. Thanks for posting your results. Nothing stinks worse than searching forums for an answer - find a person w/ the exact same problem and possible solutions they are going to try, but they failed to post the outcome LOL.

[StevenSeas]

How would you recommend going about fragging these lil guys, i think i might give it a go before class

[stoneroller]

If you want to get rid of the little polyps, cover them up with a little kalkwasser paste. Turn off all pumps and let it harden up.

[Europhyllia]

seems awfully close to the zoas (she wants to keep) for the kalkwasser approach

[stoneroller]

It can be applied with precision if it's thick enough.

[tebstan]

Stoneroller - If some did get on the zoas, would it kill the colony, or just the individual? Would it regrow in that spot so I wouldn't have a bare patch?

Aggiereefer - do you have cloves on the original zoa colony big enough to frag without killing either?

[StevenSeas]

i might i am going to attempt it on wed, have them in a few spots, just gonna try to scrap off the rock in a few of them and glue it to a new rock

[stoneroller]

It may not even kill the individual zoanthid. Sometimes it's just a little setback. They will eventually regrow.