Should I cut apart my Zoa frag?

Rohirrimus

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Hello guys, weird title perhaps, but let me explain.
I have this Zoa frag that I purchased as it was pretty stretched for like 30$.
I have it for about a month now, but the stretching isn’t getting better.
The reason is that there are 3 (or 4 not sure) types of Zoas there, and they keep trying to basically grow on top of each other .
I had some polyps of this frag fall off and I glued it higher and lower in the aquarium and neither are stretching, so light isn’t the issue.
besides stretching they are doing well, growing quite fast.

these are the pictures ( blue light and yellow filter so not the best , but you can see it )
FF8E9CD5-BE39-4E2F-A224-3FBD6D0AB14C.jpeg
5583311F-A5E9-4F33-AD09-E21C215D7FD0.jpeg


I was thinking to perhaps tear the frag apart and glue each on individual frags?
I’m not sure what’s the best option here , or to just leave them

many advice is appreciated .
Thanks
 
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Rohirrimus

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I'd just let it be
So today I took a better picture, this clearly shows the issue, it's much worse than on the previous picture:
IMG_5117.jpeg


This was how it looked this morning. As you can see the zoa with green tips is getting chocked underneath. so then what happens is that it closes and tried to stretch above the other ones.
I honestly don't know what to do, twice already it dropped polyps. I bought them and put them on a frag plug, but the ones in here are clearly suffering being next to each other.

Any suggestions are appreciated.
 

undermind

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Hmmm. My general response is to say not to worry too much about it.

I don't think I'd refer to what's happening the same way you are, that they're growing on top of each other. They're all just stretching for the light. Each individual polyp is competing. If you look at it every day and feel concerned about certain individual polyps, you'll drive yourself crazy.

In time, as it settles in, the mass of the "frag" will round out and they will take on a roundish mound shape. And within, every single polyp will likely have it's little bit off real estate.

Here's a pic of a rock in my tank that is fully covered. There were 3 different tiny frags glued on originally. As you can see, one type has spread like wildfire, but the other two are still there and happy. If you look closely, you can see the Rastas and the Pink Minefields claiming their little spots.
01B111D3-2681-4B43-A92B-5780CFC505EA.jpeg
 
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Rohirrimus

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Hmmm. My general response is to say not to worry too much about it.

I don't think I'd refer to what's happening the same way you are, that they're growing on top of each other. They're all just stretching for the light. Each individual polyp is competing. If you look at it every day and feel concerned about certain individual polyps, you'll drive yourself crazy.

In time, as it settles in, the mass of the "frag" will round out and they will take on a roundish mound shape. And within, every single polyp will likely have it's little bit off real estate.

Here's a pic of a rock in my tank that is fully covered. There were 3 different tiny frags glued on originally. As you can see, one type has spread like wildfire, but the other two are still there and happy. If you look closely, you can see the Rastas and the Pink Minefields claiming their little spots.
01B111D3-2681-4B43-A92B-5780CFC505EA.jpeg
Thanks for the response. My biggest concern was the one with black spider-like legs, when I got this zoa there was one polyp of it, now a month later there is like 5-6 and it just seemed to be suffocating everything else, and every day they seem more stretched due to the shading. I'll leave them be then , hopefully it will be okay
 

undermind

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Thanks for the response. My biggest concern was the one with black spider-like legs, when I got this zoa there was one polyp of it, now a month later there is like 5-6 and it just seemed to be suffocating everything else, and every day they seem more stretched due to the shading. I'll leave them be then , hopefully it will be okay
Well that's just the thing about zoas... Some will always grow way faster than the others.

And it's always the one you don't like

In my picture above, that was taken during the last hour of my photo period when only the ReefBrite strips are on. So those big purple rimmed ones with the orange centers that have taken over the world? They look brown and light brown the other 6 hours of the day with the white light on. Naturally, I wish the Rastas or the Pink Minefields were the ones that went crazy. But that's the way things go with zoas.

If you want to be able to control which particular zoas grow, you've got to plan for that before you glue them down. You have to glue them far enough apart so that the ones you "like more" will have room and time to get established before getting swallowed up by a fast grower.

You can also use tiles or discs that can be lifted out if you need to rescue a certain zoa type.

Or you can be like me and not heed your own advice and just let'em go and see what happens. But over time I've developed an eye for which ones (usually) grow like weeds and look crappy – and I just avoid those.

My guess with your zoas is that the ones on the right with the gold dust looking center will outgrow everything else.
 

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So today I took a better picture, this clearly shows the issue, it's much worse than on the previous picture:
IMG_5117.jpeg


This was how it looked this morning. As you can see the zoa with green tips is getting chocked underneath. so then what happens is that it closes and tried to stretch above the other ones.
I honestly don't know what to do, twice already it dropped polyps. I bought them and put them on a frag plug, but the ones in here are clearly suffering being next to each other.

Any suggestions are appreciated.


I still wouldn't worry. You can cautiously frag it (outside the tank with gloves and eye protection) if you want. However, I try not to mess with the coral in my tank when this happens. They are naturally stationary colonial animals in the wild, and events like this likely occur in the wild Their growth is thus likely adjusted in the wild to their situation (albeit out lights do not "move" like the sun does across the sky).


Something like this is nearly unavoidable in reef tanks unless you have multiple lights angled across the tank or on a moving track to mimic the sun (which would be awesome haha). Also, keep in mind that some light is bouncing off the glass onto the side of the coral too.
 
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Rohirrimus

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I still wouldn't worry. You can cautiously frag it (outside the tank with gloves and eye protection) if you want. However, I try not to mess with the coral in my tank when this happens. They are naturally stationary colonial animals in the wild, and events like this likely occur in the wild Their growth is thus likely adjusted in the wild to their situation (albeit out lights do not "move" like the sun does across the sky).


Something like this is nearly unavoidable in reef tanks unless you have multiple lights angled across the tank or on a moving track to mimic the sun (which would be awesome haha). Also, keep in mind that some light is bouncing off the glass onto the side of the coral too.
Thanks, I’m still thinking about it but those non-orange ones are definitely a pest at this point.
how would you approach fraging if you did it? Would you cut everything out and glue on separate rocks or try to just remove the incanted one ?
also should I cut it off with a razor or try to pry it off? Thanks
 

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Thanks, I’m still thinking about it but those non-orange ones are definitely a pest at this point.
how would you approach fraging if you did it? Would you cut everything out and glue on separate rocks or try to just remove the incanted one ?
also should I cut it off with a razor or try to pry it off? Thanks


I'd search around on here for tips on fragging them as I am not the best at fragging zoas or palys. In particular, its the re-setting part that I find difficult.
 

Steven Garland

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80% of the time,Z/P's stretch when the light isn't the strongest. They are like tree's they grow towards the light. For MOST zoa's but not always stretching like that is them trying to get closer to the light source.
 
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