Utter Chaos

[mike61289]

Just out of curiosity, what's the difference between the "true" utter chaos and other utter chaos in terms of appearance? Any difference in care?

 

[eastlake]

care should be the same and as far as "other" utter chaos goes I'd venture to guess that its still utter chaos just a different morph in color. My colony looked more like the prototypical color in my tank and for one reason or the next I had to move them to a friends tank for temporary storage. In that tank they have taken on a peach a cream appearance, very different from how they looked in my tank. So, all in all, I'd say they share the same care requirements

 

[mike61289]

Very interesting! Thanks for the info!

 

[Arringar]

It may be a different color morph, sure. But it's just as likely that water and lighting parameters dictate their color and appearance making people think there are multiple varieties. @eastlake's experience really just goes to prove that.

 

[ozmosis7]

I've seen different varieties of utter chaos in the same tank before, so like many zoas, I do think there are different strains. I'm not sure there is one specific strain though that embodies the "standard." Coolest morph I've seen had a hot pink glow to it. I regret not buying those.

 

[Redcar802]

In my experience it depends on the strain and also where you have it in your tank.

 

[mike61289]

They're on the sand bed and I can see that they're changing colors a bit down there. Still no new polyp growth but I'm sure that will happen soon enough. They've only been in my tank for a month now.

 

[mike61289]

So my frag has been looking off this week. The polyps were open, but not as open. The skirt on each polyp has been down. The colors aren't as vibrant either. They haven't been moved since I put them in, but I'm wondering if my cleaner shrimps have been irritating them. Those jerks like to walk over my other zoa and paly frags, the utter chaos included. All of my other frags look normal.

Any ideas?

 

[mike61289]

I think they're melting... I moved them towards an area of lower light. It was on the sand under bright light before and now it's still on the sand, but under a ledge.

Any advice?

 

[sh4rkbyt3]

Good luck with those mike, hopefully they bounce back for you. That's the only acclimation I've ever done for zoas is for lighting. Not sure why but some (variants?) /colors seem to be full on ready where as others need even a few weeks sometimes and others just a day or two.