Quote:
Originally posted by MUCHO REEF
With all due respect, I have to disagree. And just because we disagree, doesn't mean we can't be friends.
All zoos are not alike nor the same. The one common denominator that I have found with all of them is that they are extremely hardy and will adapt to most types of lighting. I can't see how the above theory of reproduction can possibly be true or consistantly true. If I and 4 other reefers did exactly what you did, do you think we would yield the same results exponentially? I would say no. Because no two system are the same. Tank variables/parameters/lighting/current etc and not the zoos themselves will determine growth and the rate of reproduction. It is impossible to say that consistantly you will have one new polyp in 3 weeks. Sometimes I get 5 in 3 weeks, other times I might get one. All things being equal, if you have a system with all parameters and conditions dialed in perfectly and consistantly, you should and could maintain steady growth, but you can't calculate growth this month based on growth last month or with other colonies or a schedule. All zoos and palys are not alike when it comes to reproduction.
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I think my point was missed. It wasn't that any zoanthid is going to follow the same growth pattern. Doesnt' matter what zoanthid, paly, sps, lps, anything really.
You could take any zoanthids/palys out there. If you had two equal chunks of 100 polyps each of the same exact zoas/palys.
Let say you take the one colony and devide it into 33, 3 polyp frags. And the other one you leave as a 100 polyp colony. Doesn't matter if they grow fast or slow, if they are int he same tank with same conditions and the same zoas, IME they will have have similar growth rates.
So, lets say however long it takes those 3 polyp frags to average 3 new polyps each. That's 100% growth. I can bet you time and time and time again, it will be faster that those 3 polyp frags will each grow 3 new polyps, than that original colonly can grow into 200 polyps sitting there. It's really about surface area and subdivision.
Hope that makes more sense. If not I will have some diagrams soon too.
Similar techniques are used in horticulture to maximize yeilds.
There are other factors involved too and it's by far a perfect science. Things like die off are common because of the small sizes of the frags make them more delicate IME.
As far as not being able to predict the growth. IME, it's hard to predict growth when the zoas are growing in colonies. But in the last 18 months that i have been propping zoas on a regular basis, I have to say that I am pretty dead on with predicting when frags will be done. I have the zoas that I frag on a regular basis and when I sit down and make up 10, 3 polyp frags I can predict, within a couple weeks anyway, of when those frags will hit 10+ polyps. And they usually grow out pretty uniform with each other too. Some are slower, some are faster, after a few runs you can predict pretty accurately how it's going to go. Obviously there are runts from time to time. The most important thing is the glueing. That can stunt a new frags growth really bad.
Anyway, enough rambling from me. Hope the theorie makes sense, it really has nothing to do with any certain type of zoa and pretty much would apply to any coral that can be fragged. If you look at any of the large aquaculture outfits, it's no secret to them.
Obviously this is worthless to someone trying to grow out a colony in thier tank, but if we are talking polyp for polyp growth.....