Help finding/IDing this long lost Zoa.

[Andamaite]

This is my best attempt at a "re-creation". I picked these up close to 20 years ago. They grew very well for me (almost too well) and I gave them away when I had to break down my system. The only photos I have are very bad old flip phone photos that just look like mush.

They were on the larger size per polyp. Not quite brown/green Paly sized, but larger than most zoanthids I saw. The mouth was a blue-green color. The skirt was a darker purple with a "metallic" blue-green shine on just the topmost layer of the tissue. If I recall the mat itself had that same "metallic" quality. I don't recall striations on the disc, I don't recall any mottling or speckling in the color. The blend might've been much less "soft". It's been 15+ years since I had them, so I could be a little foggy on details.

Any ideas of what this might've been, or where I could find something similar these days?

 

[starfishguy869]

Miami vice Zoas are my best guess.

 

[Andamaite]

Miami vice Zoas are my best guess.

Those are gorgeous, but way too much blue. They're absolutely going on the wishlist, though!

 

[starfishguy869]

All the other ones are either speckled or the wrong colors. I hate bringing this up, but could it be possible that this “strain” of zoa is extinct now in the hobby? 15 years is a long time, and some different variants of zoas back then don’t exist now.

Maybe try blue agave, but it is a pretty big stretch.

 

[Andamaite]

All the other ones are either speckled or the wrong colors. I hate bringing this up, but could it be possible that this “strain” of zoa is extinct now in the hobby? 15 years is a long time, and some different variants of zoas back then don’t exist now.

Maybe try blue agave, but it is a pretty big stretch.

Honestly? It's possible. I would put money on them having been wild collected back then. There's no telling what happened to the colony after it left my hands or whether frags ever migrated out from there.

The nearest that I've seen are some random "indonesian pink", but they lack the blue-green. And there's similarity with Pink Wink, Pink Zipper, and Purple-Eyed Pinks. I figure they're somewhere in that "family", but might be a lost cousin.

 

[starfishguy869]

All the other ones are either speckled or the wrong colors. I hate bringing this up, but could it be possible that this “strain” of zoa is extinct now in the hobby? 15 years is a long time, and some different variants of zoas back then don’t exist now.

Maybe try blue agave, but it is a pretty big stretch.

Honestly? It's possible. I would put money on them having been wild collected back then. There's no telling what happened to the colony after it left my hands or whether frags ever migrated out from there.

The nearest that I've seen are some random "indonesian pink", but they lack the blue-green. And there's similarity with Pink Wink, Pink Zipper, and Purple-Eyed Pinks. I figure they're somewhere in that "family", but might be a lost cousin.

If you find them someday, please let us know, they’re absolutely gorgeous.

 

[Danjoethepirate]

It looks like purple death palys almost.

 

[Tikki]

Maybe a variant of purple people eater?

 

[Andamaite]

Partial resolution for any future readers of the thread. I managed to find some that look almost like I remember. The skirt is not quite right, but close enough. Saltwateraquarium.com has them as part of a colony rock. Unfortunately for me a colony rock is a little larger than what space I have available right now, but at least I know they're out there. Elsewhere they list similar zoas as "bubblegum pink". This gives me a place to look when it's time to start ordering!

 

[RedFrog211]

Partial resolution for any future readers of the thread. I managed to find some that look almost like I remember. The skirt is not quite right, but close enough. Saltwateraquarium.com has them as part of a colony rock. Unfortunately for me a colony rock is a little larger than what space I have available right now, but at least I know they're out there. Elsewhere they list similar zoas as "bubblegum pink". This gives me a place to look when it's time to start ordering!

Just a warning; I was looking into buying a colony from saltwateraquarium.com. Their website advertises good reviews, but TrustPilot is not so forgiving. I certainly recommend double checking the reviews before placing an order You could look at Armor of God zoa morphs- that might get you close to what you’re looking for