Ever have a particular type of polyp not do well?

[kichimark]

Just trying to bring some life back into this place. So to start off, have you ever had a particular type of zoa/paly not do well in your tank no matter what you did? Or a zoa/paly which just needed extra attention as compared to others?

For me, nightmares. My first attempt I grew tons of them rather easy but had a tank crash (ph and alkalinity drop) and I lost all my "fancy" colonies. When I got everything together I traded for a polyp of nightmare which grew to a few dozen polyps but with the invading blondies and zippers, the nightmares receded big time and only have around 5 polyps left and they are small. I moved them to a rack and they have been opening up again.

Below is a pic of the current nightmares. The glass was dirty and the picture a little out of focus for sure. Just gives you an idea. Used to be covered with large nightmares.



And below is where they were squeezed in. I wonder who will win now, the zippers or the blondies.



And just for kicks a FTS...

 

[A. Grandis]

That type of question will bring different answers according to the type of set up people have.
That's why some people say that they have no problem with zoas that others have no way to keep in their systems.
It is very hard, almost impossible, to have a system with all types of zoanthids totally doing 100% fine. If so, that person doesn't have all the types.

It will be interesting to see what they have to post.

Grandis.

 

[kichimark]

What's your story Grandis? :spin1:

 

[A. Grandis]

I could try to keep here most of the Hawaiian polyps, and that will depend on the temperature, light and water chemistry.

Now I have a chiller and temperature won't play with the game anymore.
I use T5's and hardly have problems with lights today, no matter the combination of bulbs I use, as long as I have a good balance there ("whites"/blues).
The problems I've had with light in the past was only when I had metal halides because of the heat. Now with the chiller I don't think I would have problems anymore with the MH either.

So what's left? Water chemistry.
I woud say that if the system is stable and the maintenance schedule has been done properly the chances of having more types of zoanthids are higher.
We need to observe the best parameters for the group of polyps we choose to keep and maintain that stability.

Here all the zoanthids come from Hawaiian waters and therefore the possibilities of having more species together in the same system are higher.
When you have polyps coming from all over the world, to be placed in the same system, the situation is different because the polyps will have different abilities for adaptations and a common denominator will be harder (many times not impossible) to be reached.

That said, I guess it would be interesting for the people to post, not only what they have difficulties in keeping, but also what polyps are doing fine in they're tanks.

My $.02.

:thumbsup:

Grandis.

 

[kichimark]

Thanks for the info Grandis. You got me rather curious when it comes to the temperature, have you or anyone else reading this noticed polyps doing worse when the temperature goes up or down?

And for those reading this, don't be afraid to tell us about that one polyp (or two) story.

 

[A. Grandis]

Bleaching comes when temperature gets too high, as we know.
I would say that after 84°F we should begin to worry.
I had severe bleaching after 86°F in the past, when I didn't have my chiller running.

Temperature too low can stress the polyps to death, depending on how long.
I never had that problem here, of course.

I would think that every species of zoanthids have their own specific temperature limitations, depending on where they came from, and the best average/safe temperature for tropical/sub-tropical species in a traditional home closed system would be between 75°F to perhaps 82°F.
Again, stability is the key to avoid any trouble.

Let's hear from others...

Happy zoaing!

Grandis.

 

[terrypercula]

I have some that do much better than others in growth and reproduction but I've never had one that I just couldn't keep happy. But A.Grandis is more than likely right. I'm sure there are certain types that I just don't own that probably wouldn't do well.

 

[rogersb]

I can't keep magicians/happy PE. I tried 3 times but each time they slowly die off. I had them under t-5 and led. I had them high up, I had them low down. High flow, low flow. Each time they may multiply to about 20 polyps, then slowly die off. If I think hard, there are others I had that did that, but these are the only ones I tried multiple times and had no success.

 

[kichimark]

Bleaching comes when temperature gets too high, as we know.
I would say that after 84°F we should begin to worry.
I had severe bleaching after 86°F in the past, when I didn't have my chiller running.

Temperature too low can stress the polyps to death, depending on how long.
I never had that problem here, of course.

Happy zoaing!

Grandis.

Yes this is true and every species of animal and plant have their own limitations which can even change depending on the age of the organism. For example juveniles are much more prone to the elements than adults.

I am curious to see why people have had problems with either a rise in temperature too fast or a decrease too fast. Grandis, did your polyps bleach rapidly once the temp went up to 86F or was the temp hovering around there for a while and then the issues occurred?

I can't keep magicians/happy PE. I tried 3 times but each time they slowly die off. I had them under t-5 and led. I had them high up, I had them low down. High flow, low flow. Each time they may multiply to about 20 polyps, then slowly die off. If I think hard, there are others I had that did that, but these are the only ones I tried multiple times and had no success.

Did your polyps come from wild colonies or were they aquacultured? I find this rather interesting since your polyps were growing and therefore have a system which worked but then something happened. Can you recall anything different you might have done shortly before the demise of your colonies? I ask about the wild or aquacultured only because some reefers I know see this with their wild colonies sometimes.

In the case of my nightmares, they were growing great and full but the only thing I can come up with are perhaps the growing blondies and zippers crowding them out and maybe, just MAYBE causing an allelopathic reaction or other aggressive mechanisms of which the nightmares were sensitive to. After all, since each type of zoa and paly might be a different species there would be different tolerances as Grandis has mentioned.

I do run carbon so this may not be the case unless it was exhausted and opened up a window of attack. I can't recall when I changed it out during that time for fresh carbon either :headwally:. Once my nightmares recover fully (they are looking good so far), I may let them grow a while again then frag a piece and place it once again in the general area of the blondies and zippers and see what occurs.



Anyone else? Or is everyone too busy complaining about names and prices? :hmm3:

 

[650-IS350]

Nightmares are on my list of polyps I won't try anymore, several times got it , mananged to get it to small colonies just to have it melt for no effing reason or melt after fragging it to be given to friends.

 

[kichimark]

Charles in the house :bounce3::uzi::beer:. What other polyps are on your list Charles?

 

[A. Grandis]

Yes this is true and every species of animal and plant have their own limitations which can even change depending on the age of the organism. For example juveniles are much more prone to the elements than adults.

I am curious to see why people have had problems with either a rise in temperature too fast or a decrease too fast. Grandis, did your polyps bleach rapidly once the temp went up to 86F or was the temp hovering around there for a while and then the issues occurred?

...

The bleaching happened in one day.
Temperature went from 80/82°F average (with the use of fans to cool of the system) that week to 86°F by the end of that particular hot day. Most of the polyps were affected. They took 6 months+ to get some color back. I still have most of them though. Was the worse event and the decision to have AC on 24/7 came after that. After couple of years I added the chiller to save some money on electricity.

Grandis.

 

[frostyjay1]

I have been pretty lucky with the zs and ps I have come across. the one that I cant get to survive though are LA Lakers. I have tried 3 times and they just keep melting away. no probs with anything else though, and I have a LOT of different ones in my tank

 

[kichimark]

I have been pretty lucky with the zs and ps I have come across. the one that I cant get to survive though are LA Lakers. I have tried 3 times and they just keep melting away. no probs with anything else though, and I have a LOT of different ones in my tank

LA lakers are nice and from what I understand are deepwater zoas. Did you get your lakers from the same place? I am wondering if they were from the same place then most likely just clones of one another and genetically identical and would have the same result in a tank which was not to their liking. It would be really awesome if there were some genetic tests done on zoas (perhaps there is and I am unaware).

 

[greg1786]

Interesting thread. I have had a TON of trouble with Lunar Eclipse. I have 8 different types of zoas and palys. All thrive except for the Lunar Eclipse which would have made colony number nine, had they not melted. I started with a single polyp which grew painfully slow but over a seven month period I grew to 9 polyps. I ended up getting a larger tank and after the upgrade they went downhill fast. Once in the new system, they began closing up rather often for no aparent reason. They slowly dwindled down to two small polyps. I tried moving them to several different locations, different flow, different light etc. the two that were left were on a piece of rubble glued to a large LR. They had shrunk down so much that when they were completely wide open, they were smaller than the size of a closed zoa polyp. I thought I had finally found a good spot for them as they stopped shrinking and were staying open like normal(all day except for lights out). Then the unspeakable happened. After all the hard work trying to save them, I came home from work one day to find one of my larger turbo snails had managed to break the glued rubble off the LR and knocked them polyp side down into the sandbed. By the time I had found them and turned the rubble over the polyps were white and deathly looking. They had melted away to nothing by the following morning.

 

[kichimark]

Sorry to hear about that Greg. Turbos are moving machines aren't they. Do you plan on trying again with this particular polyp?

 

[650-IS350]

VDMs, PPE, Mauls... suprisingly no issue with soprano's LOL

 

[greg1786]

Sorry to hear about that Greg. Turbos are moving machines aren't they. Do you plan on trying again with this particular polyp?

Yes I do kichi. I was actually at my LFS a week ago and underneath the frag rack in their zoa tank, there was a single polyp that had fallen through and was very slightly opened but near death. I could see and orange skirt and a dark speck in the center so I bought it for 5 bucks. I know its a super long shot that its a lunar but I figured for 5 bucks Id take a shot since they had a few frags of Lunar Eclipse in that tank about two months ago. If it isnt what Im hoping for Im just going to buy a frag hopefully Ill be able to get one with a few heads on it out of an established reefers tank that has had the colony for some time.when I first started in the hobby over 2 years ago I went through a zoa phase that quickly halted when I was bitten by the sps bug. However, lately ive rekindled my passion for zoas and Ive been making a nice list of upcoming purchases. Lunar Eclipse is first on the list if this long shot doesnt come to fruition.

 

[kichimark]

VDMs, PPE, Mauls... suprisingly no issue with soprano's LOL

I will admit, I never seen a soprano in person. Do they grow fast with you Charles? Got any secrets on them?

Yes I do kichi. I was actually at my LFS a week ago and underneath the frag rack in their zoa tank, there was a single polyp that had fallen through and was very slightly opened but near death. I could see and orange skirt and a dark speck in the center so I bought it for 5 bucks. I know its a super long shot that its a lunar but I figured for 5 bucks Id take a shot since they had a few frags of Lunar Eclipse in that tank about two months ago. If it isnt what Im hoping for Im just going to buy a frag hopefully Ill be able to get one with a few heads on it out of an established reefers tank that has had the colony for some time.when I first started in the hobby over 2 years ago I went through a zoa phase that quickly halted when I was bitten by the sps bug. However, lately ive rekindled my passion for zoas and Ive been making a nice list of upcoming purchases. Lunar Eclipse is first on the list if this long shot doesnt come to fruition.

Better that polyp being with you than in a place at the LFS where it will just perish right? Isn't it amazing how simple polyps can bring people back to them time and time again? I got bit by the LPS bug and I always go back to zoas.

 

[greg1786]

I will admit, I never seen a soprano in person. Do they grow fast with you Charles? Got any secrets on them?



Better that polyp being with you than in a place at the LFS where it will just perish right? Isn't it amazing how simple polyps can bring people back to them time and time again? I got bit by the LPS bug and I always go back to zoas.

Definitely in a better place in my tank than the lfs no doubt. I completely agree, honestly, I love my sps corals and there are still a few I havent found that I really want, but if someone were to tell me tomorrow that sps were illegal and I would have to return all of mine and never keep another one but I could have as many zoas as I could fit in the tank, I may be a little sad but Id be ok with that. If the coin was flipped and I couldnt keep zoas, I would prob give up reefing as a hobby completely lol