Blue Zoanthids

Summary of Blue Zoanthids

This article will address the general nature of pink and blue zoanthids. This is in regards to the actual physical appearance and maintaining the clue color or even the health of your pink zoanthid colony.

Origin of Blue Zoanthids

In general, blue zoanthids are found in the Pacific ocean. It is not uncommon for them to be imported from the Caribbean, too. Both of these blue zoanthids have needs that are very specific and different from one another. The blue zoanthids from the Caribbean fare better during propagation than blue zoanthids from the Pacific. I propagated blue zoanthids from a colony by isolating a couple in a patch found in the Caribbean.

Infections of Blue Zoanthids

An aggressive fragmentation affects a very large percentage of Pacific blue zoanthids. You will have a much higher success rate propagating blue zoanthids from the Pacific with starters with at least 20 polyps.

Salinity and Blue Zoanthids

 

Another observation that is very helpful is that blue zoanthids from the Caribbean handle high salinity better than Pacific blue zoanthids. This was very apparent over a period of time that I ended up separating the two and creating a system for Caribbean zoanthids and a system for Pacific blue zoanthids. The high saliently on the Caribbean blue zoanthids was that it made them expand their tentaclesless often.

 

The colony would gradually shrink one polyp at  a time and dissolve. I tested this theory by isolating two blue zoanthid colony sections that were equal and put one in the Pacific zoanthids system and the other in the Caribbean blue zoanthid system. After a few months it was obvious that the blue zoanthids in captivity had faster growth rates and were better preserved.

 

Lighting and Blue Zoanthids

The last thing to keep in mind when it comes to blue zoanthids husbandry is aquarium lighting. I have kept blue zoanthids in various aquarium lighting situations. This includes hardware that is VHO, HO, PC, MH, MH and PX, and the like. I have used pretty much every combination of bulbs possible. After these experiences it is obvious that blue zoanthids from the Pacific do not hold their blue color as intensely under bright lights. They also have problems with setups that don’t have much blue wavelength. On the other hand, as you brighten the lights in a system with Caribbean blue zoanthids they tend to brighten up. Overall, it is much easier to keep the Caribbean blue zoanthids, but the most intense color belongs to the Pacific blue zoanthids.