Quick question about armor of god

Sandman71

New member
How can you id the real armor of god vs knock off zoa? I'm pretty new at this and I'm trying to educate myself. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
 
I would contend that the bottom left of ZoaID is not true AOG. I have a morph like that as well as what is believed to be true AOG. They react very differently to light and have morphed to be quite different.
 
They're also much much brighter than those pics can capture. I've only gotten one decent pic that shows its coloration, and even that was way too dull.
 
It is really hard at times to tell from people's pictures. You try to check the coloring and pattern, but that's all you can do unless you trust them or can get someone to vouch for them. I'm amost going to sell some frag packs that include them as well. heh.
 
Sandman71, welcome to the RC zoanthid forum. I see this is your first post. Just curious, and I mean absolutely no offense in asking this, but what was your concern in knowing if they were this name or that name. I see that you stated you wanted to educate yourself, but did you feel as if you were ripped off by someone or something like that?

If you are indeed new to this, I would stay far away from purchasing any expensive zoas or palys. I would focus more on common basics until you are well acclimated to reefing and zoa keeping in particular. Though they are hardy, there are many pitfalls that can cause your zoas and a new system to take a nose dive. See link below.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1081461


Just want to hopefully save you some money and disappointment possibly. I mean no disrespect at all.


Mucho Reef
 
Yup make sure your tank is able to hold some expensive zoa's as you don't want to go my route were I was buying every type of nice looking zoo's except the highly prized ones IE' PPE, AOG, EOL's, etc.... but I ended up loosing 2/3 of them to being eaten by certain culprits.. but now have ridden my tank of these pests and now starting to collect again....
 
herman,

lemme kno when u gonna sell the frag pack. i need to add to my collection.

need AOG, want AOG, must have AOG...haha....j/p.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9662787#post9662787 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Peter Eichler
I would contend that the bottom left of ZoaID is not true AOG. I have a morph like that as well as what is believed to be true AOG. They react very differently to light and have morphed to be quite different.

Not everyone is obsessed with obtaining zoas from the exact same lineage as in the pictures on zoaid.com. For most of us, if a zoa looks like AOG we call it AOG. Regardless of the minute differences. Zoaid.com is an ID site for zoas to help us classify different colors/morphs and keep track of them. It isn't the end all be all definitive guide to obtaining a specific morph. If you think zoaid.com is wrong for adding pictures of named zoas that you don't agree with, perhaps you should start your own id site. Personally i think they do a great job of IDing zoas for the everyday collector.
 
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<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9700026#post9700026 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by impur
Not everyone is obsessed with obtaining zoas from the exact same lineage as in the pictures on zoaid.com. For most of us, if a zoa looks like AOG we call it AOG. Regardless of the minute differences. Zoaid.com is an ID site for zoas to help us classify different colors/morphs and keep track of them. It isn't the end all be all definitive guide to obtaining a specific morph. If you think zoaid.com is wrong for adding pictures of named zoas that you don't agree with, perhaps you should start your own id site. Personally i think they do a great job of IDing zoas for the everyday collector.

I'm not talking about lineage... I'm talking about it being different and therefore responding to tank conditions differently. Plus, I've seen a lot of similar morphs to AoGs and true AoG enough to realize that the true AOGs glow out of the tank like no red center paly I've ever seen (pics don't do them justice). Plus, every paly that even resembles AoG instantly gets labeled AoG around here and it gets a little annoying. Personally I think the names are a little silly, but it is what it is and I've accepted it. Thanks for the rant though :rolleye1:
 
I think someone traced the lineage of the true armor of god and the goochsters and found they came from the same mother colony.

Here is a grow out frag of goochsters under 150 watt 14k pheonix bulbs about 8" down. This piece came right from the mother colony in the second pic.
IMG_1509.jpg

These are my two mother colonies, both started from small frags of less than 10 polyps. They are under 10k lighting only about six inches below the surface. There is no actinics in any of these pictures. They look bright orange under this light but as soon as you put them under the 14k they look red.
123003.jpg

123002.jpg


And yes they are extremely bright and many times the first thing someone sees when they stop over. But don't ask me for any cause I do not have any I want to part with. These are going into my 375 gallon tank.

I know there is a comparison thread just a few posts down.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9705643#post9705643 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Peter Eichler
I'm not talking about lineage... I'm talking about it being different and therefore responding to tank conditions differently. Plus, I've seen a lot of similar morphs to AoGs and true AoG enough to realize that the true AOGs glow out of the tank like no red center paly I've ever seen (pics don't do them justice). Plus, every paly that even resembles AoG instantly gets labeled AoG around here and it gets a little annoying. Personally I think the names are a little silly, but it is what it is and I've accepted it. Thanks for the rant though :rolleye1:

Perhaps you should begin your own id site if you don't agree with the pictures Whodah adds to his site instead of criticizing it.

Its funny to me that you are so particular about the "true AoGs" and are so quick to point out that a very similar looking zoa is not "true AoGs", then you say the names are silly. You do realize just about every single coral out there, regardless of species, has a name don't you?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9707481#post9707481 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by impur
Perhaps you should begin your own id site if you don't agree with the pictures Whodah adds to his site instead of criticizing it.

Its funny to me that you are so particular about the "true AoGs" and are so quick to point out that a very similar looking zoa is not "true AoGs", then you say the names are silly. You do realize just about every single coral out there, regardless of species, has a name don't you?

Oh give me a break with the drama... My comment was hardly derogatory to ZoaID and I appreciate the time they have taken to gather the database they have. Just because I don't fully agree with everything on the site doesn't mean I don't appreciate. The little I know if Who Dah is that he is always willing to listen when people don't agree with something on his site. Zoanthids do funny things when they get into peoples tanks and can morph, he understands that as much as any of us.

No, not every single coral out there has a silly name. Zoanthid owners have taken the naming thing to a whole new level, sometimes a green zoa with an orange center can be just that... However, the naming and zoaid has made it far easier to trade and seek out morphs that you want, and for that reason I greatly appreciate the names and zoaid no matter how silly it can be sometimes.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9707421#post9707421 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gooch
I think someone traced the lineage of the true armor of god and the goochsters and found they came from the same mother colony.

Here is a grow out frag of goochsters under 150 watt 14k pheonix bulbs about 8" down. This piece came right from the mother colony in the second pic.
IMG_1509.jpg

These are my two mother colonies, both started from small frags of less than 10 polyps. They are under 10k lighting only about six inches below the surface. There is no actinics in any of these pictures. They look bright orange under this light but as soon as you put them under the 14k they look red.
123003.jpg

123002.jpg


And yes they are extremely bright and many times the first thing someone sees when they stop over. But don't ask me for any cause I do not have any I want to part with. These are going into my 375 gallon tank.

I know there is a comparison thread just a few posts down.

To me those just look like AoG with a lot of light so I don't doubt they came from the same colony. The more light mine get the more intense the orange/red becomes, less light and the stripes are more apparent. All the similar morphs I've had would lose the orange in the center and fade out a bit if exposed to the kind of light AoGs can take. Perhaps that has something to do with them being aquacultered for longer, but I don't think so as frags of frags of the similar morphs I had react the same way to lighting conditions.
 
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