Do Zoas ever change colors?

Octoberfest · 01/06/2009, 06:55 PM

I have had these orange zoas with green skirts....no idea what you call them. Anyway.....they have been this way for over six months and spread at a descent rate. For some reason a few of them have changed color to a green with yellow mouth. You can see the colors in this picture, one of each.

What would be the reason for this.

JEFFR259 · 01/06/2009, 07:50 PM

I'm by no means a zoa expert, so hopefully those people will chime in. But I think it's called color morphing or something like that. Don't know why, although if I had to guess it would be diet induced. Just a stab in the dark tho.

Curious.... Tagging along

ScubaDiver93 · 01/06/2009, 08:36 PM

Every coral has the ability to change its color because of the symbiotic relationship that the coral has with zooanthelle. It has the ability to expel and take in new zooanthelle which would result in different colors.

seafansar · 01/06/2009, 08:41 PM

Yours look like the same morphs on the rock I have. You can see the green w/ yellow center on the bottom left of the picture. They may have morphed from the same zoa, but I don't know for sure.

redfishsc · 01/06/2009, 08:51 PM

^ Man those are some beauties Sara!

I have some green and brown palythoa that, under 50/50 (10K and actinic) turned poop brown.

I recently changed my lights to 3 blue and one 10K and the palys, over a month time period, regained the green and now look very green.

lovethereefer25 · 01/06/2009, 09:00 PM

I had some change a couple years ago and I could never figure out what happened. They were green with yellow mouths and skirts and are now red and pink. Nice to know.

seafansar · 01/06/2009, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by redfishsc
^ Man those are some beauties Sara!

I have some green and brown palythoa that, under 50/50 (10K and actinic) turned poop brown.

I recently changed my lights to 3 blue and one 10K and the palys, over a month time period, regained the green and now look very green.

Thanks! I took that photo for a actinic lighting contest. Under 10K MH they are pretty, but they really pop under the actinics.
That's cool that your paly's color improved with the new lighting!

01/06/2009, 06:55 PM	#1
Octoberfest Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: NC Posts: 1,350	Do Zoas ever change colors? I have had these orange zoas with green skirts....no idea what you call them. Anyway.....they have been this way for over six months and spread at a descent rate. For some reason a few of them have changed color to a green with yellow mouth. You can see the colors in this picture, one of each. What would be the reason for this. __________________ 29 gallon bio-cube with 150w metal halide sunpod fixture, stock 14 gallon bio-cube

01/06/2009, 08:41 PM	#4
seafansar Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Deltona, FL Posts: 1,023	Yours look like the same morphs on the rock I have. You can see the green w/ yellow center on the bottom left of the picture. They may have morphed from the same zoa, but I don't know for sure. __________________ -Sara Current Tank Info: mixed reef

01/06/2009, 08:51 PM	#5
redfishsc Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Wake Forest, NC Posts: 3,696	^ Man those are some beauties Sara! I have some green and brown palythoa that, under 50/50 (10K and actinic) turned poop brown. I recently changed my lights to 3 blue and one 10K and the palys, over a month time period, regained the green and now look very green. __________________ "The measure of a life is not its duration but its donation." Corrie Ten Boom “The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins” -- Søren Kierkegaard Current Tank Info: ghetto grad school reef.....11g rimless tank, 36X9X9, lit by Cree and Rebels scobbled together. Stocked mostly with free stuff I got from panhandling my fellow reefers.

01/06/2009, 07:50 PM	#2
JEFFR259 Registered Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Fort Myers, FL Posts: 595	I'm by no means a zoa expert, so hopefully those people will chime in. But I think it's called color morphing or something like that. Don't know why, although if I had to guess it would be diet induced. Just a stab in the dark tho. Curious.... Tagging along

01/06/2009, 08:36 PM	#3
ScubaDiver93 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Los Angles, CA Posts: 566	Every coral has the ability to change its color because of the symbiotic relationship that the coral has with zooanthelle. It has the ability to expel and take in new zooanthelle which would result in different colors.

01/06/2009, 09:00 PM	#6
lovethereefer25 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Kennesaw, GA Posts: 52	I had some change a couple years ago and I could never figure out what happened. They were green with yellow mouths and skirts and are now red and pink. Nice to know.