Zoanthus polyps

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Zoo's / Button polyps Zoanthus

Zoo's are one of those addictive corals that can become an obsession ! Many hobbyists covert them and collect them maintaining tanks dominated by the different varieties and colours of zoo. They come in a wide range of colours blues, purples, reds and some stunning combinations. They are close relatives of the sea anemone and can be described as a colonizing anemone.

Zoo's are renowned for there toxicity always wear protective gloves and eye coverings when handling specimens discard carefully any shipping water and paper.

Aquarium care.

Zoo's are quite effective feeders of particulate matter, heavily stocked aquariums with Zoanthus should be fed daily to maintain healthy growth. We have found some varieties to be very selective in what they will feed on, others willing to take almost everything offered. The best way to work out an appropriate food item is to offer different types of feeds and particle sizes. When the right food is offered the coral will show a feeding reaction. Each polyp has a mouth at its center and tentacles around the rim. When an acceptable food is offered the tentacles will capture it immediately folding inwards to pass the morsel to the mouth. If the food offered is not suitable the polyps ignore it remaining open, you will have to try something else till the right food is accepted. Most meaty foods will need to be crushed or blended < 1mm in size particles some larger zoo's can take whole mysids or adult artemia. In most cases only dead offerings are palatable, though some zoo's will take live rotifers and newly hatched artemia. Other foods to try are blended shrimp or fish, frozen rotifers, fish roe, hydrated crushed dry marine pellets or flakes and hydrated sprinula powder.

Lighting is also a important factor though quite variable between the different morphs. On the reef we only find some types of zoo's in the shallowest and the clearest of waters never else ware. Others can be found 10meters and deeper or even in extreme turbid water.

Although not confirmed in a controlled study, we have made observations of amphipods eating Zoanthus. We have lost entire seemingly healthy colonies to amphipod attack. Once the amphipods get a taste for a type of zoo latter additions of the same zoo are also often eaten, even though there may be several other types of zoo in the same system un molested. We always now keep pipefish's, sea horses or dragonets with our zoo's controlling amphipod numbers.

Well fed and well lit your zoo's will grow fast, they are capable of stinging and killing stony corals as they over grow them. Positioning them on smaller rocks that can be removed from the aquarium so they can be trimmed back from time to time. Also placing your zoo's in a cluster, the different types grow up to each other but once they reach each other they have to stop growing outwards.

Zoo's fast growth plus ease of attaching to almost any substrate allows us to use them to hide plumbing pumps and other equipment. They make fantastic aquascaping possible even able to form solid walls of polyps on the aquarium glass.

Propagating Zoo's.
Protective precautions are a must with Zoo's serious injury blindness or even death can result from poisoning.

Wear protective gloves and dispose of them immediately after use.
Wear protective eye ware and make any observers also wear some, Polyps can pop when crushed or cut and squirt toxins a considerable distance.
Dispose of all contaminated materials paper towels, water used for propagation etc and wash cutting boards towels etc.

Zoo's have amazing regenerative powers, provided a healthy environment is provided to recover even partial and single polyps are capable of generating new colonies. There is two components to the asexual propagation of zoo's separation or harvest and the reattachment.

Separation.
Individual polyps are interconnected by a common basal tissue. You can cut the polyps away from the rock carefully with a scalpel blade or some colonies will allow you to actually peel them away from the rock with a blunt butter knife. Once you have a suitable sized piece separated from the rock you can cut between the polyps to separate the new colony away from the mother colony.

Partial polyps can also successfully be harvested, use sharp scissors to cut a single polyp about 1/4 the way up its stem.

Reattachment.
For single or partial polyps you can place them in a tray of coarse sand where they can naturally heal and attach themselves. You can also thread them along a stainless steel wire, wrapping the wire around a rock in time the wire can be removed once they have established. Supa Glue also works with zoo's and is quick method to re attach them though the bond can be weak and some do manage to dislodge themselves.