Zoa vs Paly growth

[Cajunreefer87]

I have a mixed reef tank that has a colony of purple death paly and some unknown green colored zoos. The paly has new heads appearing every few days while the zoa hasn't had any new heads appearing since it has been in my tank about two months. The zoa looks very healthy and opens fully every day. Has anyone noticed that palys grow at a much faster rate than zoas?

 

[JZinCO]

I think my true paly's grow the fastest. I read something about 6" radial growth per month in the wild, and I have seen 2". I'm going to have to get in there with a blade soon.

In general I think 'proto' palys grow faster than zoas but I have many exceptions. Seems the uglier ones grow faster too
I mean, I have one zoa colony that grows pretty fast while my purple death have gone from 2 to 3 heads in 9 months... the purple deaths are next to a colony of rasta zoas. I upgraded lights and since then the purple deaths won't open up all the way.. meanwhile the rastas have exploded.

Sometimes I have no clue what causes some colonies, paly or zoa, to grow faster or slower and it is head scratching...

 

[Cajunreefer87]

I know what you mean. As I said zoas don't seem to grow to me, we'll at least they still looking good.