patbrassil Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Hey so i have a small colony of Whammin watermelon zoas. One of the polyps has a green (the same hue as the tentacles) mouth instead of the traditional blue/purple mouth. If i were to frag this individual polyp, would it's clone/offspring (sorry i don't know the correct terminology?) have the same color morph? I'm just really curious, i've never fragged a coral at all before, but this one polyp is starting to seem like a prime suspect. I really like the coloring on it, maybe more so than the 'traditional' zoa. Thanks! Link to comment
altolamprologus Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 In theory, since all polyps are clones of each other, all polyps produced by that one should look the same. But genes are weird so you never really know. Post a pic Link to comment
patback Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 If its just that one, frag the other normal ones away from it. Don't practice fragging on it. It's easy, after you get the hang of it, but until then, it's a pita. Link to comment
patbrassil Posted April 13, 2012 Author Share Posted April 13, 2012 In theory, since all polyps are clones of each other, all polyps produced by that one should look the same. But genes are weird so you never really know. Post a pic Haha yea I studied biology in college, so genes being weird is something i know a little bit about. I just never even touched upon coral genetics, and wasn't really sure if they got the coloring from their own genes, or from the zooxanthellae? In my own thought process, a minor mutation in the zooxanthellae would occur much more often, just from the replication rates. But i've never really studied corals from a scientific view. Regardless i'll try and get some pics up tomorrow, the macro on my camera kinda blows but i'll get something that works... Link to comment
altolamprologus Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 Coloration is kind of half and half. Greens and browns usually come from zooxanthellae while other colors usually come from the coral's own pigments, but those colors mix to form the colors you see. Idk I never went too in depth with it. But IMO the center in that one polyp having a different color than the rest of colony would point to the coral's own pigments rather than zooxanthellae. Either way it's always cool to find that one gem in the colony. Do as patback suggested above to isolate that one Link to comment
patbrassil Posted April 13, 2012 Author Share Posted April 13, 2012 If its just that one, frag the other normal ones away from it. Don't practice fragging on it. It's easy, after you get the hang of it, but until then, it's a pita. I'd prefer not to frag all the others away, maybe if i meet someone that wants a few polyps and can frag out a path, but i really like the cluster they've formed. And i cant imagine it being all too difficult? I have scalpels, and would it be much different then filleting a delicate fish? Or a dissection? My thought was to gently prod the corals till they retract, and then gently fillet the head away from the rock it's on, or is there a more preferred method? Link to comment
altolamprologus Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 I'd prefer not to frag all the others away, maybe if i meet someone that wants a few polyps and can frag out a path, but i really like the cluster they've formed. And i cant imagine it being all too difficult? I have scalpels, and would it be much different then filleting a delicate fish? Or a dissection? My thought was to gently prod the corals till they retract, and then gently fillet the head away from the rock it's on, or is there a more preferred method? I've done that several times and never had a casualty. If you get some of the rock underneath the polyp with it, that will help. And don't put coral glue directly on the zoa. I prefer the veil method in which you use mesh to hold the zoa in place until it can attach itself (usually about a week later). Link to comment
patback Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 I'd prefer not to frag all the others away, maybe if i meet someone that wants a few polyps and can frag out a path, but i really like the cluster they've formed. And i cant imagine it being all too difficult? I have scalpels, and would it be much different then filleting a delicate fish? Or a dissection? My thought was to gently prod the corals till they retract, and then gently fillet the head away from the rock it's on, or is there a more preferred method? What's the surface like that it's on? I have had it go very smoothly, and ha times that with a brand new. Scalpel blade, I ended up mutilating polyps because of the mat growing into every little nook and cranny in a porous rock. Polyps are actually a lot more "rubbery" than you may think. I guess you could call them fiberous. Link to comment
Euphyllia Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 I accidentally blasted boiling tap water at my Eagle Eye zoas, which have red oral discs, purple mouths and green tentacles. They closed up for a while and when they opened they had electric green stripes on the red part. Pretty legit. Link to comment
redhawk45 Posted April 13, 2012 Share Posted April 13, 2012 I agree with Alto. I have some watermelon zoas, and I thought they'd all keep the same color, but no...there are a batch of lighter colored ones, a batch of darker colored ones...you get the idea. And they were all from one frag. Link to comment
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