best way to get good growth from a zoa frag

[manoverboard]

Hello Im trying to get the best growth from a couple of zoa frags ive recently aquired .Do you just mount the 10-20 polyp frags to a bigger rock and wait, or split them up into smaller say 2 polyp frags and place them onto a bigger rock to give them more room for the centers to grow?

 

[Avi]

The less you stress the colony the better is, IMO, the general rule, so mounting the whole colony that you have in a place that's good for most zoanthids is your better bet. That being said, the precise conditions you give them will be very relevant as to how well they do. So, splitting them and putting some in a very good location in your reef while others aren't in as good a place, if you didn't know before-hand which would be best for them, is something to consider in order to get, at least some of them to thrive more quickly.

 

[Zoalander]

Put them in your tank and stop looking at them and don't move them.

 

[TCU Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6628813#post6628813 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Vetter1980
Put them in your tank and stop looking at them and don't move them.

I agree. I used to always move around my frags and rocks and a new polyp never popped up. I left them and the rock alone and they are spreading like crazy.

I do a water change every week and make sure all parameters are in check.

Set them and forget them!

 

[reefgeek84]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6629306#post6629306 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TCU Reefer


Set them and forget them!

that sounds like info-mercial for that damn oven cooker thing! I hope some else knows what I talking about.

 

[Zoalander]

LOL

 

[manoverboard]

zoa growth

zoa growth

Thanks for the input guys .I think i didnt get my question across well in my first post .split them up into 2 polyp pieces so they can grow in all directions hence potential growth from all polyps or leave them in a full colony and just wait for growth around the outer edges of the colony.I know to leave them pretty much alone so they can settle in but if in the long run i would get better potential growth from fraging them again i would.The center zoas cannot grow when they are surrounded bye other zoas.

 

[Zoalander]

The center zoas cannot grow when they are surrounded bye other zoas.

You just answered your own question.

 

[loyalty]

i've had luck mounting frags low in the rockwork and letting them grow "up" the rock. you could try target feeding them as well

 

[Avi]

Re: zoa growth

Re: zoa growth

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6636845#post6636845 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by manoverboard
The center zoas cannot grow when they are surrounded bye other zoas.

The may not "grow" themselves but they do contribute to the general stamina of the zoanthid colony and so a larger colony will spread from a greater perimeter of zoanthids. It's like a head start, as opposed to starting out with a smaller colony.

 

[3S1K]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6637621#post6637621 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Vetter1980
The center zoas cannot grow when they are surrounded bye other zoas.

You just answered your own question.

From what I read from what a fellow reefer posted you are correct.He said If you mount a single polyp on a rock it will produce about 3 more in a single month which is a 300% increase rate. Now take your colony that has lets says 100 polyps on it,it would have to produce 300 polyps in a months time to equal the rate of your single polyp,which probably is impossible.

Frag it in 1 or 2 polyps so they can have some elbow room I had a Zoo rock of Fire and Ice touching a bare area of another Zoo rock and after awhile I moved it to the sandbed and noticed one solo Fire and Ice on that side.Now less than a month later it has 2 more polyps on it.