Zoa growth?

[triguy]

What would cause a colony to continue to grow in only one direction/side of a rock/plug? I have a blue hornet colony of about 120 polyps that has grown from only 2p but has only continued to spread on one side of the plug and onto the sandbed and rock rubble. Half of the plug it came on does not have a single polyp on it. There are no other zoas/palys or other coral on that side to make it grow away from it. There is coraline on the part of the plug without polyps, would this do it?

 

[A. Grandis]

Probably older polyps on the side that it's growing.

Grandis.

 

[SIR PATRICK]

I also have wondered what makes polyps grow in just one direction, and not another.

Anyone else???

 

[dublo8]

It's hard to say why in all honesty. Many people have experimented with things such as that. There is really no good answer or any answer to be truthful. If I were to guess it would be a combination of flow and light. On the other hand people have grown out a colony and removed the plug from the center of the colony which left a hole and the hole never filled in. I think there is a thread about it on the first page. Mine did the same thing, when I removed the plug. It just never grew where the plug was, but continued to grow outwards.