Caribbean Zoas!??!?!?

[TampaSnooker]

what kinda license do yo have to have to collect zoas?

FL recreational SW fishing license. See www.myFWC.com for details. Harvest technique and quantities are very specific. Not sure of the time frame, but the Gov gave a free spell where you don't even need a license to help tourism due to the oil spill. Don't get your hopes up about filling your tank. I think you're only allowed 5 ea - zoas and shrooms and NO rock substrate. Haven't looked in a while since none of my friends have the $$$ to get down there to fish and/or collect...

 

[RR37]

Those are some neat polyps from Florida. Very Nice.

 

[Speckled Grouper]

Here are a few more that I had over the years

 

[ErnieC]

Heres a few pics of my caribbean Zoas

Heres a few pics of my caribbean Zoas

Caribbean Zoas I got from Coral Morphologic

 

[ErnieC]

Heres another pic- Little blurry sorry

Heres another pic- Little blurry sorry

2 in center:spin2:

 

[TampaSnooker]

Here's a couple from a nice lady in the Keys
<a href="http://s830.photobucket.com/albums/zz222/tampasnooker/?action=view&current=zoablues.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz222/tampasnooker/zoablues.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
<a href="http://s830.photobucket.com/albums/zz222/tampasnooker/?action=view&current=zoa-turquoisekeys.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz222/tampasnooker/zoa-turquoisekeys.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[fsn77]

I really like a lot of varieties that Coral Morphologic sells from FL area, but never have any luck with them. They look great for a few weeks to a couple of months, then just start melting away, seemingly without explanation and while the rest of the corals in the tank look fine. I definitely love the rics they sell, too, and thankfully have much better luck with those.

 

[TampaSnooker]

They definitely are a finicky bunch. The pics I posted are parents of only 2 colonies I've had any long term success with. I've tried about 2 doz small colonies over the years. The darker blues turned into a monster colony after about 18 months, growing 4-6" below the surface in a tank lit with 4 Geissman HO's and oddly - very little flow. The brighter ones have fizzled down to about a dozen polyps and let me frag 2 that survived. This family seems to have a lot of nice aquas, teals and darker blues but definitely prone to melting.
Perhaps Speckeled Grouper would be kind enough to share the habitat she sees them in - depth, flow, clarity - so we can keep them easier.

 

[wrasseguy2]

here are some pics of some i have kept over the years...they are harder to keep than most zoas i have kept...i think one key to keeping them happy is a little lower temp then what most of us keep our tanks at

the blues under the ric are from flordia

 

[jdhuyvetter]

New law is 5 polyps per day with a 2 day max in your possession with an individual SW Fishing license.

Rule is different with a commercial license.

 

[jdhuyvetter]

I really like a lot of varieties that Coral Morphologic sells from FL area, but never have any luck with them. They look great for a few weeks to a couple of months, then just start melting away, seemingly without explanation and while the rest of the corals in the tank look fine. I definitely love the rics they sell, too, and thankfully have much better luck with those.

I've placed about 5 orders in the past 4 months with Coral Morphologic and I have had great luck. All are growing like weeds.

I am growing them under VHO's.

 

[Casy]

hey tampasnooker I have the same ones!! the second pic!! they grown very quickly

 

[TampaSnooker]

Casy, what light and flow are you growing them under?

 

[sl-atl]

Here are some pics of the ones in our tank. Apologies in advance for the quality pf the photos... They are all growing really well so if anyone in the ATL area wants a frag, just LMK.
I collected the yellow palys with white centers just recently in the upper Keys, and they're still acclimating.

 

[ErnieC]

My Zoas from Coral Morphologic are doing very well and have grown several new polyps over the last couple weeks. I keep them under a Coralife dual 150W 14k HQI with 2 T5's. about 6-8 inches below the surface, with medium flow.

My Original purchase from them was messed up by FedEx during shipping and only 1 frag survived. Colin replaced them all the following week at no cost and threw in some incredible extras. I certainly would recommend them if you want to get your hands on these Caribbean goodies....

 

[Whitebird1]

Nice stuff, gotta go south soon. I also had trouble keeping them, tried different tanks and placement. Lost my colony.
greg

 

[Morphologic]

There are at least 4 different species of Caribbean zoas (and probably a lot of hybrids), and each one has its own positives and negatives. Here is a basic list of these +/-'s I just put together...

People Eaters -

• Positives - Beautiful and extremely rare, large polyp size, can be fed zoaplankton-type foods, zoa pox immune
• Negatives - slow growth

Lotus Eaters -

• Positives - Fast growing, beautiful and rare, will eat zoaplankton-type foods, zoa pox immune
• Negatives - Occasionally go into a 'dormant' period where they stop growing for a month or two before growing again

Zoanthus sociatus - (The ones featured above by Speckled Grouper, except the last PPEs)

• Positives - Common and relatively inexpensive, lots of nice blue morphs (alien eyes, hornets, searchlights, etc), can grow fast for some people...
• Negatives - Zoa pox susceptible, can close up after a few weeks/months of doing fine, fickle for some people

Tight matted Zoanthus sp. - An unidentified species that has very beautiful and tight matted growth form

• Positives - Beautiful growth form, wide variety of color combinations, reliable grower, zoa pox immune
• Negatives - Needs high light for best coloration, also prefers a lot of flow so put them higher up in your aquarium than other zoas

Since everyone has different conditions in their aquariums, not all zoas will grow the same across the board. Some morphs that we find somewhat fickle (Z. sociatus), other people find to be very easy and vice versa. We have recently set up some experimental systems that will hopefully 'unlock' the secret of the Caribbean zoas.

Hope this sheds a little bit of light on these enigmatic creatures...

Cheers,
Colin
Coral Morphologic

 

[TampaSnooker]

Colin - thanks for chiming in. Any comment on habitat conditions where the blue and green sociatus are collected? Depth, turbidity, flow?

 

[Casy]

tampasnooker my lights are just powercompact white & actnic and my flow a powerhead and a hydor koralia 1...

 

[reefWW96]

i have some caribbean zoas that look like blue hornets and purple hornets, also i have caribbean blue steels and many other kinds of caribbean zoas. Camera is broken though
most people would be surprised at how amazing some caribbean zoas look.