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Wow. Such great information being thrown around here. I hope that I can add to it as well as others.
First, answering the questions:
2: It it true that placing them high up nearning the MH will promote fast growth as well as spreading?
Our zoanthids seem to grow faster under the MH lighting in our 150, than under PC in our 40gal tank. Thats not to say the growth rate is poor in the frag tank, just not the same as the 150. Can I prove that lighting alone is the difference? No. We have better flow, skimming, fuge, pretty much everything on the 150. I've also grown zoas under NO flourescents just to see if I could, and their growth was terrible, however, not non-existent. Over the course of about 2 months, there were a few new polyps spreading out here and there. Color sucked but there was growth.
3: Does Feeding Zooanthids PROOVE accelerates Growth?
As with whats been stated before, its possible. I find that in the 150, which gets fed (fish) more often than the frag tank (corals only) that the zoanthids grow much faster. Again, this is far from a scientific conclusion.
4: Does Fragging helps to speeds up the growth rarte?
I currently dont have enough larger colonies to see whether or not, but read below on my "time" factor ideas. I do however, see logic, and some what in practice that multiple little frags produce an overall larger colony faster, however, I dont have per-polyp rates to justify my opinion - just logic. Somewhat the same theory as tinier bubbles in a skimmer have more surface area. In this case, there is a greater perimeter for the zoas to grow out on each side, rather than merely on the edge of a colony.
5: Is it proven that Mild Current do help acclerate the growth over Weaker Current?
I find that having exactly the most flow you can possibly have over a particular colony of zoanthids without having them react (ie. close up) produces the highest growth rates. Perhaps its because it keeps nuisance creatures (hermits) from wandering over them, or it prevents detrius from settling, or it just keeps the energy flowing in them and helps them spread. It also may be a fight or flight response, and the high flow is causing them to "move on" but in the process they leave behind the predecesors. I havent taken my zoanthids to the psychiatrist, so who knows. We have a colony of zoanthids that absolutely loves the output of our Seio 2600. It sits about 18" from the output of a Seio 2600 (which despire the "dispersed flow" still has a powerful punch at that distance, hell, it has enough force to ricochet off the opposite side of the 150, which is 6' long, and noticeably have some bounce back.) and they are spreading pretty quickly. I have also noticed that the polyp size itself has increased with the added flow. It may or may not be related.
6:What Other Conditions will help Quicken The growth rate of the Zooanthis.at a fast speed..
Heres my "time" factor theory. As mentioned above, I believe that moving a frag/colony of zoanthids elicits a "reset" function of sorts. I've noticed the best growth rates on my zoanthids after leaving them alone for extended periods of time. Damn, its a good thing I was at college during the semester, because I like messing with things in the tank. At any rate - this would seem to contradict with the fragging to produce a "colony" faster. I find, however, that if I frag a colony of zoanthids, it seems to start popping off new polyps much faster than the frag (which undoubetedly endured more stress during the fragging process). I've used several different fragging techniques as well, and noticed this during all of them. One technique is to scrape at the rock a bit to get the polyps loose. This seems the least stressful on the zoas IF you can get into the rock. Often times, I end up tearing at the base of the zoas - not good. I've also used the technique where a colony overgrows onto rubble (or a frag plug in my case, intentionally placed near the colony), and just busting the rock apart (which is my least favorite method).
An experience: Zoanthid: Wildfire zoas
This was the first colony/frag I actually, purposely, counted the number of polyps and kept a mental and written note as to the growth rate. I purchased a bunch of 2 and 3 polyp frags of these zoas. I placed 11 polyps (three 3 polyp frags, and one 2 polyp frag) onto a single frag plug. Inside of a month, that 11 polyps had nearly doubled into 20 polyps. Now, about 3 months later, I have taken two frags of it, each with about 10-15 polyps each (probably 2/3 of the polyps of each frag are little buds around one or two larger polyps) and the colony is now well over 50 polyps. I use generalities, because I dont have the time or patience to count each individual polyp. But this colony has seemed to follow the time factor theory, as I didnt mess with it after it was glued down until recently when I pulled the frags off. I also had a single polyp frag of these zoas on a frag plug and now - about 4 months later - there are at least 10 polyps. I wish I had monitored it closer, however being away from the tanks makes it difficult.
Note: not all of my zoas grow that fast. I have a few zoas that prefer to pop off only a few babies from time to time.
For what its worth - I dont regularly monitor anything beyond nitrates, pH, and SG. Our water changes have been less than regular on both the 150 and the 40. But whenever I'm home I try to get a decent water change in on the tanks.
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