Who else is dorky enough to count polyps?

[mskurdah]

Hi I'm Matt....and I'm a reefaholic.

Is anyone else out there as dorky as me?

I have about 10 mini colonies of my favorite zoas: Orange Bam Bams, AOG, Fire and Ice, "Elite Red Paly" etc. I don't think a day goes by when I don't count the polyps about six times and try to calculate how long before ALL the rocks in my nano are completely covered. I get so happy when I see new polyps.

I dream of showing my 'finished tank' here on reefcentral and basking in the "oohs" and "ahhs". My current projection is July, 2009. It's a 30G, and for a Nano, those are some big rocks, and some tiny zoa colonies. (Assuming some evil nudi outbreak or power outage doesn't kill my dream...)


I know it's stupid....but it makes me happy.

 

[Kigs]

me! me! ...:lol: I do it periodically. I get lazy and not pay attention to my frags for few weeks and before I know it, they are already covering the entire plug, growing onto the sandbed. For some reason, they grow faster when you don't look at them as much.

 

[kiran523]

If you like taking a little bit of risk then try making cuts here and there on the mat between the polyps. More counting fun. lots of babies

 

[mskurdah]

I'm going to try it! Thanks!!

 

[customanimalart]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10681748#post10681748 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kiran523
If you like taking a little bit of risk then try making cuts here and there on the mat between the polyps. More counting fun. lots of babies

You mean just take a razor and cut the mats and don't remove any polyps? This will make them spread more? If so, I am going to try it.
Is there a recommended zoanthid frag size before doing this?

 

[customanimalart]

:lol: :lol: me toooo!

 

[crazy_reefing]

you need a woman

j/k I do polyp counting also

 

[72884]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10681748#post10681748 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kiran523
If you like taking a little bit of risk then try making cuts here and there on the mat between the polyps. More counting fun. lots of babies

Really?

Thanks for the tip

 

[kiran523]

That's what I have noticed. I just used an exacto knife from hobby lobby. Yes, a cut without removing any polyps. It works better on zoanthids that are a little bit larger in size. My guess is that it is a 'survival of the fittest' reaction. They multiply due to the micro trauma caused by the incision. This technique has worked very well on my AOG colony. I know another reefer who made a cut completely around a PPE without removing it. It gave 3-4 babies. Zoanthids are generally very hardy corals.

 

[customanimalart]

That is reall something. I think I may give it a whirl. Thanks.

 

[Bud's Reef]

Ha! I count mine, but I only started doing that when they all started dying. Once I got them all stabilized, I started counting them several times a day looking for new growth.

 

[RevHtree]

Im a dork!

 

[Scythanith]

I count, and then tell myself only 10 more ployps till Im brave enough to frag it haahaa!