Similar to the purple hornet zoanthids, the blue hornet is another zoa with very distinctive patterns and vivid colors.  While the purple hornet sports a purple mouth and purple plate, the blue hornet sports a blue plate with a purple mouth.

These corals were originally found off of the African coast and thus have been harder to collect than corals found on other coasts.  While these zoas also look similar to the Blue Eyed Dragon, it does share more similarities with the Purple Hornet by having the same color ring and skirt.

If you’re looking to get some of these, make sure you keep them in low, indirect lighting.  Also, if you are buying from a private party, check and see how long the seller has had the colony.  Word on the street is these zoas are fickle and emo.

When new zoas are formed, the mouth glows.  As the zoa matures, it becomes slightly white/light blueish.

If you’re into collecting blue zoas, make sure you add these to your collection.  Like most blue zoas, you will want to keep these off of direct lighting to keep the majestic dark blue color.

The Fire and Ice zoa has a fiery red/orange skirt along with a light blue body. The mix of colors has dubbed this as the Fire and Ice zoanthid and is another one of the commonly traded zoas in the hobby.

Fire and Ice zoas grow rather quickly and do not require intensive care like some of the slower growing zoas. These do well under medium, sporadic currents and will work under PC’s or metal halides

Fortunately, blue zoas are not considered rare in the hobby even though they are great collectors’ items. If you’re looking for these beauties, my advice would be to try trading for them with local reefers. If all else fails, there are a number of online stores and private collectors that carry these zoas in stock.

If you’re lucky enough to get these zoas, my experience with them is that they like lower lighting conditions. Tub’s Blues‘ polyps are pretty small compared to other zoas and do not require spot feeding.

If you own these blue zoas and would like to trade or sell frags of them, please post in the comments below.