My Coral Pics with Questions

[georgec]

Hi there. Thought I'd post some pictures of the corals I picked up so far for my new aquarium ;D Some easy zoanthids and mushrooms to start things off.

Here are the questions:

• 
  [li]For the zoas with the neon green centers, notice the purple branches that are mixed in. Are these also a type of soft coral? If so, could someone identify what kind they are?
  [/li]
  [li]For the zoanthids with the pink rings and purple centers, notice the trunk link appendage that is extended straight up. Is this part of the zoanthid colony or some other type of coral? It seems to have a little mouth or something on the end.[/li]
  [li]Also, as a newbie, I don't really have anything for the frag swap... or even know how to frag anything. The neon green center colony is pretty large, probably 40-50 heads at least. Is it big enough to frag into one or two 5 polyp fragments? If so, do they look like something someone would trade for, and is there anyone in San Francisco that would be willing to help/show me how to split them off?[/li]

Thanks for the help!

 

[GreshamH]

purple branch = some type of macro algae
appendage sticking up in neon green center zoas = snake polyp (soft coral)

The zoas are fairly common, but I'd still give em a fraggin. Some one is bound to want them. As for fragging them, there's a few methods could use. You could break the rock, but that won't guanantee the amount of polyps you want to do. You can also carefully remove them using a dental pick under their mat. I'd visit the prop or zoa forum on RC. Both have a ton of advice on fraggin zoas. One word of caution, some zoanthids and Palythoa have a gnarly toxin in them (attacks central nerve system) so use both eye and hand protection when fragging them. Don't let any animals even think about licking any of your tools, or drink any of the water. A few people have lost dogs and cats to this. No one has died, but several people have been hospitalized. If something should happen, there should be a sticky in the Zoa forum on RC. It's best to have it printed out for the doctors as they probably aren't familiar with a exotic toxin like this.

 

[georgec]

Thanks for the info. I've been using gloves to handle the zoanthids because of the toxicity potential. I'll take a look at the colony sometime this month when I'm feeling brave to see if there is a convenient way to frag it without killing it...

So the purple branches are macro algae? Theoretically then, that should compete with the microalgae forms for the same nutrients? I actually like the look of the stuff. Can I cut some pieces off the rock and glue them elsewhere in my tank?

I'll dig around a little more on RC for specific fragging information.