Care of African blue zoanthids...

[Skipper]

Anyone have some tips on keeping the African blues? A couple of folks have told me they slowing start receeding and loosing polyps for no apparent reason. I've started mine in a relatively shaded area. I did a Furan2 dip and didn't notice any zoa pox or pests come off.

 

[Guygettnby]

i have heard the same thing you have. i had some at one point in time, but they died a week after getting them shipped to me. so i got to see them open 1 time before they melted away. bad shipping i think.

on another note i had heard they like lower lights and decent flow. not sure how true that statement was since i didnt get a chance to try it out.

 

[650-IS350]

I had some a while back before it started getting popular. Will do real well for a while then just melt in 2 days even a large frag.

 

[Pufferpunk]

Mine didn't make it either, even with high dosing of VC.

 

[650-IS350]

I'll wait when aquacultured ones hit the market. even at a decent price. no point buying when it just melts on you.

 

[zoagirl]

i got a big colony like 2 weeks ago, they're melting away, i did Furan2 dip but its not working , now i understand why the LFS store sold me that colony for cheap when i got the colony the polyps were opening good, they're incrusted on Lava rock.

i guess my colony is not gonna make it either

 

[ksanmamaril]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14924172#post14924172 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zoagirl
i got a big colony like 2 weeks ago, they're melting away, i did Furan2 dip but its not working , now i understand why the LFS store sold me that colony for cheap when i got the colony the polyps were opening good, they're incrusted on Lava rock.

i guess my colony is not gonna make it either

never had good luck with lava rock, i always took it off the lava rock and transferred it to another rock or plugs...

 

[650-IS350]

My came on large frag disk... still melted after doing going for a long time.

 

[phurst]

Mine are coming back currently. Started with one head, grew to about 10, melted back to one, and now I'm back up to 5 or 6. I'm really hoping they're stable now after the dieback.

 

[Timanator]

What do these look like?

 

[phurst]

Fair disclosure, not my pic. Thank you Google

 

[650-IS350]

Pretty much most LFS carry these guys. But I just wonder how many are really able to keep them or get them to proliferate. Even here in the bay SOME have a hard time keeping some, having problems with it, even some LFS.

 

[phurst]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14927356#post14927356 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 650-IS350
Pretty much most LFS carry these guys.

Must be nice to live on the left coast

I've never, ever seen them in a LFS here.

 

[Aquatic Hamster]

Well I just bought a large colony of these guys. Hoping I have better luck. They had been in the shop 2 weeks and all polyps were open today. Time to start the good luck zoa dance.

 

[650-IS350]

I suggest you frag a couple give to some friends incase it decides to go south on you. If it does your friends have seeds that you can re-grow.

 

[Aquatic Hamster]

That was already the plan. Looks like 3 frags can be made without trying to remove them from their attachment. Sure hope the make it cause god I love these. I have about 35 color varations but these are pretty special. Desolving goo would not be special. :|

 

[ct_vol]

One of my LFS has a couple colonies... I thought about picking one of them up, but I don't spend money on corals anymore... I was thinking about bringing in some frags to trade for one of them, but we have an upcoming swap and am worried about having enough people selling, so I want to bring as much as possible...

Perhaps these are similar to the Solomon Zoanthids and need Iodine supplementation...
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1153736

Something else to consider/try...

 

[Skipper]

So what is the consensus on their lighting and flow requirements?

 

[Aquatic Hamster]

Well I can tell you what I am doing after reading so far.

They are located at the bottom of the tank, but the tank is only 15" tall with 800 watts of T5. They are somewhat shaded and in a what I would call a medium to high flow area seeing steady movement in the polyps. This colony had been at the shop 2 weeks already so I'm hoping it is a good sign. After an hour in the tank they look like this.

 

[gflat65]

I've got a double polyp frag and a triple poylp frag that have done well since I got them (maybe a month ago). I've had them under a ledge (screened lighting) under T5's. I've got babies already. We'll see where they are in a few months...