Green one doesn't like brown one. :(

[kryppy]

Little prejudice guy.. From what I have read, each one is male & female simultaneously, they just need to find another. No self fertilization anyway...
BTW: The green one was in a decommissioned 10 gallon tank for a week with no food, light or flow and an average temp of 70 and still looked quite happy.

I count 50+ eggs in this swirl, and think some of it broke off.
A good portion are moving around in there as well. I don't know its age. Hopefully I can get a fresh one from my pair to get a better idea how long they take to hatch, and just how many come out.

I think the next step is to find something that will neutralize the eggs, the membrane is pretty thick. I wonder if anything can even penetrate it. Extreme temps zoas could survive have no effect.

 

[gflat65]

Good start to an experiment. Keep us posted on life cycles, etc. There has to be something out there that can at least cause a lower survival rate from the eggs. I guess the real trick is finding something to do that and not damage the coral, though, huh.

 

[smp]

Cool.
The green one is actually a nice looking animal. How big are they? 2mm?

 

[kryppy]

The green one is about 2mm the brown in 3.5 or so. Here's some more pics.
The brown one likes the green one.

Green one cruising polyp and not making it close!

Later I caught the brown one doing this!!!

Brown cruising polyp without making it close!!!

A new capture.

 

[KathyC]

Your pics are awesome!
I'm sure they will help folks who aren't familiar with what these guys look like.

 

[SitBackAndWatch]

what exactly are those?

 

[Angela Short]

Awsome pics! This needs to be stickied with a new title called "Pics of nudies and eggs" to make people just hitting the forum for a fast look don't have to mull through tons of posts to stumble across a pic! Nice! Ineresting they have survived so well with no food. Keep up the experiment!

 

[kryppy]

SitBackAndWatch: Those are the infamous zoa eating nudi.

Angela: I gave them a chunk of palys and they won't eat it. Maybe a nibble or two.
Sure had no problem laying eggs on them though. Weird little guys, I guess I'm going to have to give em what they really want.
I don't think they like being in a plastic bowl either. I am going to hook them up with a 5 gallon so I can control the environment a bit better.

 

[slowECUdiver]

awesome! very nice photography skills i might add. i'll be watching this with earnest as i am continually facinated by the nudi branches and all these little guys can destroy in such a quick time!

my kudos to you, kryppy!