Zoanthids, aka button polyps

I now have corals, and my nano marine tank has officially changed into a nano reef.

Button polyps, zoanthids, green button polyps, or even incorrectly called sea mat, are members of the soft coral family. They are some of the hardiest corals and excellent for beginners. They come in a range of colors, but tan is the cheapest and most commonly available, which is good enough for me.

I also had my eye on some green star polyps If these zoanthid polyps work out, I'll give the green star ones a try as they look really cool.

Here are some pics:


I've positioned the base of rock the 60+ polyps are embedded on atop the sand, at the foot of the tonga branch and gnarly fiji piece. My hope is to have this fast-colonizing button polyps spread onto both rock pieces.




Here they are up close. I acclimated them for a good hour, adding 1/4 cup of tank water every ten minutes, slowly dripping it into the bag. I also suspended the bag in the water so the coral never once touched air. I heard this from the LFS, don't know if it's necessary or not, but it sounded like the prudent thing to do ('specially since these guys cost $35, which is actually cheap for coral).

They opened up almost immediately, and within ten minutes, every bud was open.

I do not know what that nasty white string is, but it looks dead... I guess it's just some die-off. Hope it's not a bad omen.

Until next time.

- Josh
http://joshday.com