My first coral!

[Smokin-Reefer]

I just purchased my first coral yesterday.

 

"yellow colonial polyps"

 

They seem to be doing well, most, if not all of the polyps opening up this morning (day 2) with only 1 or 2, obviously dead polyps.

 

I understand they need medium flow, and medium light, is this correct?

 

The rock they came on is really crappy, and I plan to remove it after they have spread to another rock, then trade it/frag it to another location.

 

I have heard that these ARE zoo's and that they AREN'T zoo's?

does anybody have any idea what I'm talking about?

 

Sorry if these questions are a little broad, I've done some research on them and still don't know much.

 

thanks!

 

-dan

[tinyreef]

i'm assuming they're the same type cajastan just got. see her thread on 'new additions'. they're zoanthids imo.

 

fwiw, you shouldn't have had any dieoff unless they got squished :x or they were wheezing when you got them. they're pretty tough hombres ime.

 

their coloration will point you towards how they're interpreting their environment. darker yellow ~ insufficient light (adjusting themselves with more symbiont algae), brighter yellow (lemon-like) ~ good light, short polyps ~ low flow, higher/longer polyps ~ good med/high flow, floating polyps ~ flow's just a bit too high.

 

good luck, hth

[Satchmo]

They are zoanthids. The confusion may come from the fact that when most people talk about zoos, they're referring to the genus Zoanthus. Yellow polyps are Parazoanthus gracillis, but all are in the family Zoanthidae: a zoo is a zoo is a zoo.

 

If you want them to spread and fill out, feed 'em. They're not at all shy about grabbing anything that floats their way.

[Smokin-Reefer]

wow, thanks for the info.

 

I am currently running 2x13w 6700k bulbs, and hope to add another 13w pc, only in actinic.

 

I beleive my polyps are somewhere in-between the "dark yellow" and "lemon" colors that you described, I hope to get pictures soon, so you guys can acctually see what I got.

 

also, it appears a patch of 3 or so polyps, the mat is somewhat coming off of the rock, I don't know if it was like that I when I put it in, but I was considering removing it from the rock with a blade, and gluing it to a part of my tank with less flow, to see if it will spread.

 

is this a feasible option?

[Korbin]

sure is. I'm kind of leary about using glue on polyps though. Some of mine acted like they didn't like the glue. If you can poke them into a hole in a rock, or wedge them into the rock somehow so they don't move, they will eventually attach.

[Satchmo]

For what it's worth, they'll change colors. Mine are highlighter-yellow to Gulden's mustard, depending on what lighting they're under and where they're placed. I've heard that heavy actinic brings out the bright yellow.

[Smokin-Reefer]

Great, I appreciate all the help/info.

 

I realized the area I placed the polyps was too much flow for them, as the patch is almost "hanging" off the rock, I will find a good place to shove them in, and hopefully, they will "blast off" so to speak.

 

Is there any good product that I can dose, to encourage them to grow/spread?

[Xwhite]

Yeah, I was confused at first. People would talk about zoos and I'd see button polyps. Then I started reading and realized that all colonial polyps are part of the same family or genus or whatever. Hey, I'm not a biology guy okay?

 

So, you may not have 'zoos' as people on the board may interpret it. But they're still zoos.