reef-life

Sorry for the delay in getting back here scooter blenny. The method assumes you started with a zo frag, 10-50 polyps on a small piece of rock. If you need to frag a larger rock, a hammer and chisel or screwdriver work well, as do hedge shears. But with those methods again you're killing zos and presenting an opportunity for fungus or infection to take hold. Ideal water conditions for zos vary greatly, seemingly by colony. Even in the Zoanthus species, some like high light (blues & pinks), some like lower light, some like high flow, some low. But if you aim to keep things moderate you're headed in the right direction. Many people are claiming faster growth rates with skimmerless tanks. Nothing scientific to back it up, but it does make sense since zo's mostly absorb dissolved nutrients from the water column for food. BTW, I'm subscribed to this thread but I don't get an email when someone replies? I'm always available at travis@reef-life.com, but no, I won't ship zos overseas. Travis

Last I heard, yellow polyps were being called parazoanthus gracilis. I remember that name being under some argument in the scientific community, but then again when isn't a scientific name? Epizoanthus are commonly called stick polyps, or baja reds. Thanks for the kudos on the photos and the zos. I put a lot of work into both. As far as the "proper" way to propagate zoanthids, I am firmly of the opinion that the proper way to do it is to let them spread on their own. There are lots of techniques for doing this. A famous zoanthid farmer by the name of Bryan Kile (www.thelogicalreef.com), and also a good friend, suggests pinching a piece of rubble into the colony. The zos are tough and grow around it, and he tells me this pinching activates a reproductive response from the zos. I've had some success with this but it's still early. My favorite method is to take a small zoanthid colony (on a rock) and glue that rock to a larger one, preferably a flat piece of rock. The zos colonize out in all directions and the rock is covered pretty quickly. As far as cutting zos, well, it just hurts me to do it. Maybe my prop tank would be more profitable if I did it, but it pains me to kill so many zos in the process. I've never had good luck with cutting or tearing. Shipping to singapore? I'm still trying to release my zos in the US! Sorry. Travis

Thought I might be able to help clarify matters and add a few pics to help. First of all, ai[k²]wan is correct the family is called zoanthids. In this family there are several types of zoanthids, the most popular being zoanthus, palythoa, and protopalythoa in that order. There are also parazoanthus (yellow polyps for example) and epizoanthus (nonphotosynthetic red polyps for example) Here are some pics to help identify each: ZOANTHUS (I just lost this colony to fungus infection ) PROTOPALYTHOA These are a bit larger than zoanthus, tough to distinguish- BUT protopalythoa WILL respond to finely chopped food, you can see them close up and engulf the food unlike zoanthus. PALYTHOA PARAZOANTHUS EPIZOANTHUS (Had a pic of these somewhere, but can't find it.) Hope this helps Travis

Well, you've all certainly been busy while I was gone. OK, the way I see it there are two issues here: 1) Copyright infringement This issue is SETTLED. No need for anyone, including you Ricordia, to bring it back up. Nothing will add salt to any wounds or fan the flames because there are none. Continuing to bring this up is beating a dead horse. 2) Seller Ethics/misrepresentation of the product This issue is up to you guys. Personally I'm quite confident that the majority of people on this forum are now aware of what has gone on... so hopefully you will all be more careful when dealing with any seller. What else is there to accomplish here? To the moderator: I for one think this thread has outlived its usefulness. I am but a humble guest on your boards here, but I've always been the type to voice my opinion. And my opinion is, the thread should be locked. Travis

Thanks for the compliments and warm welcome. My zoanthids weren't that expensive, getting my collection was more labor than expense. Constantly checking LFS and online for those cherry-picking pieces. Most of my zos came from bryan at thelogicalreef.com Here's to new friends Travis

OK, I have had a bit of correspondence with Ricordia regarding this issue. I believe he misunderstood copyright laws and I will certainly give him the benefit of the doubt on that. He has expressed to me that he went about this with the best intentions and acknowledged he now understands his mistake. I don't hold anything against ricordia, he has agreed not to do this again and as far as I'm concerned the slate is clean. He is correct that my web site needs to be more clear in copyright notification, and I will be correcting that soon. No hard feelings ricordia. Now... I would still urge everyone to either buy a coral from an actual pic or, if you must, a verbal description, but never from a pic of someone else's coral. Not just in Ricordia's case but from anyone. Ricordia, an apology to you... I should have brought the copyright issue up in private messages rather than publicly. Sorry. Travis

Hello all, glad to see zoanthid fans in your corner of the globe. My name is Travis Staut, I am the photographer who took the picture. Ricordia, you do NOT have my permission to use my photos and I think this thread is the perfect example of why- you are misrepresenting your corals as mine and people are certainly not getting what you advertised. The fact that my name and URL are on there is not implied permission to use the photograph- just the opposite, it's a copyright notice telling you that you can't. I'm not sure of the protection afforded to US copyrights overseas but if you continue to steal my photos and use them for your shady sales I will certainly find out. I would like to warn everyone to NEVER buy a coral advertised in this fashion. How can you be sure what you're getting if the person doesn't post up a picture of the actual coral? I have looked at the pics posted by those who purchased the zoanthids. I can tell you with absolute certainty those are not the zoanthids in my picture, nor will they ever look like them. On a final note, I created my web site with minimal photo protections so that other reef keepers may enjoy my photos in their purest state. If problems like this continue, I will have to heavily watermark the photos and not allow people to download them for their computer desktops. My thanks to the person who alerted me to this unlawful usage of my photograph- it's people like Ricordia that will end up ruining it for everyone else. I urge you not to give this person your business. He has to know full well he is selling a different product than the one pictured- I think a blind man could see that. Thank you, and happy reefing. Travis E. Staut