i know somones got an answer

[xdusty6920]

well i have a zoa rock with several different zoas, blues, purple and orange, intense green, and then some crappy brown ones. i want them all seperate and i want to frag the rock up and glue each type of zoa to thier own rocks so i dont have that mix of zoas anymore. problem is when i even start to touch the rock they all close up and i cant tell which is which. i know somones been in my shoes before. howd you get the job done?

 

[Zoalander]

Take a pic before you move it. Then let the chisel meet the rock and hammer them apart.

 

[gflat65]

As Vetter says, take a picture. Depending on how hard ti is to remove the rock from your tank, do it in several passes. Target one or two types, then let them open up again. Then hit another couple of colors later.

 

[ficklefins]

Can neighboring zoas share a mat?

I think the answer to this is no. So, if you were to start fragging a certain color it is safe to assume that this frag will be all one color as long as the mat is continuous. Once that mat splits up then place that next mat on a different rock or plug. The only problem with this theory is that I am assuming that you will be able to pick up a clumb bigger than 5 or 6 polyps, which isn't always the case.

 

[xdusty6920]

ok i made some cuts. because the rock was about 6 inches and covered on all sides (extremely hard to place the rock without shading some zoas) i simplified it by cutting the rock into several smaller pieces. ill cut groups away from each rock in a few days

 

[Reef Junkie]

Glad to hear you cut the rock.
I was gonna say the same thing Fickle said.
When you pull a multi species zoa rock out and break up the colonies, the seperate mats will pull apart. You may even see one of the mats growing over the other.