Super changing zoas

zachfishman

Active member
Look at the ridiculous morphology change my Eagle-eyes underwent. Anybody else have zoas that changed dramatically like these did?

When I got the frag six weeks ago:


Today:
 
Heres a series of pictures from mine. Beginning is the first pic, and each pic after shows how they morphed.
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NOW
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Original adult zoas are still orange with white speckles, the 2 babies that grew (one out of each seperate adult) are black with white speckles.
 
I know this is an older post but I was wondering if anyone else could contribute I have always wondered what it was that made these corals change. more pics or info anyone?
 
AHH! What you have there are polyps! THEY CHANGE UNDER ALL TYPES OF CONDITIONS!! I HAVE SAID THIS OVER AND OVER BUT MOST OF YOU STILL BUY NAMES AND NOT BY POLYP AND ORIGIN! A BULL BUTTKISS COULD BE A CHOCOLATE BUTT DREAM IF HIGHER LIGHT IS PROVIDED. Just an example of the stupid name thing and how polyps change under different circumstances..JMHO
zachfisherman thanks for bringing this up! BTW yours need more light
 
Just to add to the absurd names...What do you really see in the difference between these two polyps?
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1918510

One has absorbed more phosphates IMHO

Me..I see a dulled out Indo polyp under different circumstances..chemistry/light wise.. I might start dulling out my orange polyps to get these?? Absurd! Look at the 2nd pic down.

Can you all start to see that polyps change under circumstances? good luck all drones!
 
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gauging by the stupidity of most polyp buyers..you would be better off in keeping them under lower light! they then become red wasps..or something like that. good luck
 
Geoxman you seem to always be interested in orgin as I am as well however I think thats exactly the point you can take one polyps from a certain colony/origin and place it in a different location in the same ocean say moving from a shelf at 15 feet to a lagoon at 3' and get a totally different look. I dont necessarly like the term morph but genetic mutation happens in nature all the time and once a mutation occurs often its very difficult to reverse. there was a study by the University of Florida on a species of Lemur's who genetically had longer tails and fingers due to their environmental need of it. when the scientist tried to reverse this mutation ( leaving out much detail as to how) they couldn't. I guess my point is it's not always that your polyp needs something its not getting it can be that a coral mutates for its own needs, and sometimes that mutation is forever. JMHO im not attacking you in any way.
 
Typical with Z's and P's , depending on lighting , tank parameters... it can " MORPH " sometimes better sometimes worse. be it color, pattern, rings, alternating skirt etc etc nothing new, but the pics show it.
 
I never realize that the Morphs could be so drastic. It is actual beautiful. I have here of it happening, but never envision what it actually is. Geo, why is the ORIGIN so important to the morph? If polyps are the same (meaning same type of polyp), and conditions being equal in a tank wouldn't you get the same result?
 
Falcao, in answer to your query..Different polyps require different light, flow, salinity, nutrients substrate..etc.

Solomon polyps because of the shallow collection areas and lagoonal areas in which they are collected are very stressed in the wild. Open sewers pouring on them, super high light, open exposure to air for periods of time.etc..These polyps are often very bright and loaded with algae when they arrive at your LFS and are an instant sale because of their color. Most place them super low in a tank and they dull in quick time because their original environment is tough to replicate.

Indo polyps come from somewhat deeper waters, decent flow and can be under exposed to the sun's light. This makes for a ton of different morphs when brought into the aquaria and can really drive the $per polyp sales..as they can change on a dime.
Most are fast growing and can take a huge range in lighting, flow and chemistry..and will change accordingly..as most polyps do.

Australian polyps are some of the newer to the polyp world. Most like high light and good flow..but in my experience higher salinity??? I have no idea why but a tank I have with higher salinity and uber light, they are doing extremely well.

Fiji and Tonga stuff is also high light and flow stuff, very vivid colors because of the higher light and rapid growers. They will dull under lower lighting

I have no desire to go on but every region has a different quirk as to keeping the polyps at their prime. Any one can morph any polyp...just keep that in mind when trying to ID a polyp! It is all based on pseudo names and not origin...and that is why I always ask for origin...as I am looking to help.. good luck
 
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Geo,
thank you for your respond. I understand why you are asking for the origin instead of the name game. I was trying to understand is a morphing polyp that usual, or is there anything you have to do specifically to the polyps
 
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Thanks Geo again for all the input I too wish more people would focus on the orgin rather than the name, but there is a major lack of info as to where a species comes from. For example I have some polyps that I bought a year or more ago they are my favorite coral ever, someone told me they were called "eye of rah" but even looking in the name website coralpedia they dont look much like what they show....I just wish I knew where they are from so I can grow them better (they tend to grow slow for me) I have tried different environments for them and still the same, im content if they stay slow I guess my concern is more that my other zoes will crowd them out since these are very tiny polyps. Here is a pic they are the yellow ones.

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The plate coral in the pic was damaged by another coral :sad1:
 
WOW great color! It looks an Indo polyp. Let them go and they will be just fine...they are creeping in on the green in your last pic, so I would not worry much. Fantastic color, just where they should be IMHO! Just a guess but Phoenix 14k about 11-12 inches down?? good luck
 
we are conversing about captive polyps in captive aquaria. It is awesome that you can experience these polyps in the wild....but most can't. Can you take pictures? good luck
 
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