Sunny Delight is a multi-colored zoa and it certainly is a ray of sunshine in a sea of colorful zoas. After getting through the purple stuff on the edge, you get to the yellow plate and the neon green core. My favorite is probably the light blue mouth on top of all the other complementary colors.

This zoa is currently highly sought after. If you have some for sale, please let us know and we can highlight your store on the right. If you have some to trade, please feel free to post your availability in the comments below.

3. Candy Apple Reds

With amazing colors on both the zoanthus plate and skirt, it’s no wonder that Candy Apple Reds are some of the most desired zoas in the hobby.  We’ve gathered a lot of attention on this site for featuring this zoa so chances are if you have some in your collection, you can get some great trades for it! Have you seen other rainbow zoas as bright as these?

2. Purple Deaths

The majestic Purple Deaths paly gets a lot of attention in this hobby due to its color and its size. These paly’s certainly seem like they are large enough to swallow up whole critters. If you have these in your collection, we would love to hear how you are taking care of them. What conditions have you found to be ideal for these?

1. Purple Hornets

Deep colors zoas are a favorite amongst zoa collectors. Combine deep colors with bright florescent markings, you have a collectors item!  Purple Hornets, the darker cousin of the Blue Hornets is now one of the hobby’s most sought out zoas – even more than the Purple People Eaters! If you have these, please share them with the community so they can be more widely distributed and preserved.

While yellow polyps grow like weeds under the right conditions, yellow zoas have always facinated me cause not too many people collect them.  Often times they are a morph of green zoas under extreme lighting conditions but once the zoas come home, not too many stay yellow.

While the above zoas do not have a black center plate with yellow skirt, they do look amazing. I would almost argue that these look like lions due to their yellow body and tan mane. (But I didn’t name these zoas.)  A frag of these would certainly look amazing next to some purple and blue zoanthids.  Anyone have any to trade?

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.

However, as our appreciate for the sea grows and our wallet shrinks, fragging and trading corals is one of the best ways to expand your personal collection, meet local enthusiasts and save some money in the process.

If you are thinking about joining the trade yourself, below are some supplies you will need to pick up to start the process.

Protective Gear – Goggles and latex gloves are highly recommended if you’re new to coral fragging. Some of the stuff you’re cutting up can be very toxic and you would not want to have a zoa accidentally squirt into your eye or mouth.

Exacto Knife – Similar to performing open heart surgery, these precision cutters are the perfect tools for cutting LPS and zoanthids. If you’re looking to trade soft corals, make sure you pick one of these up along with a few spare blades. Working with saltwater items tend to rust out the blades sooner than you think.

Snips / Cutters – If you’re looking to trade SPS (hard, bony) corals, then having a heavier cutting tool will allow you to break off the SPS fingers more precisely than say… breaking the coral by hand.

Superglue Gel – Most of the glues sold in the hobby are just variations of the generic superglue gels you can find in your local drug store. Why pay $15 a bottle when you can pick one up for $2.50? I recommend getting the gel over the regular liquid superglue cause you never know how the two surfaces will line up – especially under water.

rubble rocks are just smaller rocks

Rubble Rock – If you’re looking to frag corals, rubble rock, or small pieces of live rock/dry rock can be a great place to attach your new frag. It also makes the reattachment process a lot easier when you can pull out a small piece of rock to work with while you’re fragging.

Sand Plugs / Ceramic Plugs – If you like the unified look or would like to go PRO with your fragging operation, I recommend you check out the compressed sand plugs by Boston Aqua Farms. I am personally a bigger fan of the compressed aragonite plugs over ceramic ones because when you’re ready to attach the frags permanently to your display, it’s much easier to snip off the unwanted parts of the sand plug than ceramic or plastic plugs. Plus aragonite is a natural ingredient of the reef.

Egg Crate – If you are using sand plugs, then you will want to head down to your local Home Depot or hardware store’s lighting department and pick up an egg crate to keep the plugs upright. These egg crates can be easily cut into smaller pieces using the snips tool and if small enough, you can even super glue them to a magnetic aquarium glass cleaner to create a shelf for your new frags.

Styrofoam Tray – Depending on where you’re cutting your frags, you probably do not want globs of glue or toxic coral matter on your table that is normally used for other things. If you’ve bought fish or corals online, you can use the insulated box-top as your tray, otherwise, I recommend picking up a styrofoam piece to protect your workstation.

Tupperware / Saltwater – When working with frags and glue, you should always have some saltwater in a tupperware nearby. The reason being the glue cures a lot faster underwater so once you cut and set the frags, it’s recommended you give them a quick dip to finish the job.

For the serious frag trader...

Frag Tank – Now, if you’re REALLY serious about trading or selling frags, you can also get a separate aquarium for just your frags. Frag tanks are basically smaller, shallower tanks that allow for more lighting to promote the growth of frags. Keep in mind that once you’re at this stage of the game, you will try to justify its purchase as an investment to help earn some money back from the hobby through sales or trades… but what it really means is that you’ve just cross the line from hobbyist to addict. =)

Now that you have all the pieces in play, make sure you check out my next post in the series: the fragging.

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 bleeding hearts zoas are undoubtedly one of the nicest pink zoas in the hobby. In addition to the vivid pink body, the zoas have a bi-colored red skirt. These zoas really pop under actinics and should be placed in medium flow area.

purple hornet zoas

As you can see, this zoa sports a purple body with a distinctive yellow ring around the mouth and what appears to be a alternating purple and yellow skirt – definitely a gem in the industry.

So do you have these for trade or sale?  If so, please post in the comments section below.

purple hornet (actinics)

As you can see, these zoas look pretty amazing in actinics as well.  Thanks Jarrod for sending the pictures.

Armageddon is one of the most striking red zoanthids in the hobby and a quick peek at its plate shows you why.  Not only does this morph glow in actinic lighting, the pattern resembles part nuclear explosion, part event horizon, part gates of hell.

Due to the popularity of this coral, you can trade for a number of other exotic corals by having it in your collection.  This zoa is also easy to propagate when placed in medium flow and high lighting conditions.

If you want to talk about N-I-C-E orange zoas, you have to check out the Creamsicles.  I’m not sure where the origin of the name came from but whoever named them must have thought these resembled the old school popsicles or something.  In a way, I guess they do.

The center of the Creamsicles do not pop as much as say… Eagle Eyes or Dragon Eyes, but they are definitely colorful in terms of orange zoas.

If you’re looking to acquire these beauties, you can probably find a good number of them in your local community – just check out your local reef club or online coral forums.

Similar to the Green Death, the Purple Death is another one of the large polyp death corals.  The colors on the Purple Death can vary depending on tank conditions but ideal colors for this coral is an electric purple which photograph well like the one above.

Like the PPE’s, Purple Death palys are currently in high demand and can be traded if you find zoa enthuiasts with this coral in their collection.  Please keep in mind these palys do slime when stressed and they are more toxic than most zoas – which says a lot.

The Joker’s paly is a polyp coral that contains a purple body and a green skirt. It’s very similar to the Purple People Eater (PPE) and have often been mistaken for it by newbies. However, while similar, it’s polyps are not as big as PPE’s and it lacks a neon green mouth.

I would guess that the Joker’s paly was not named because it looks like the Joker or that it has colors that are similar to a clown. It may have been named Joker’s because for many PPE hopefuls, this paly has played a cruel joke on them and shattering their dreams.

However, if you can look beyond the named zoas fad, this is a pretty cool morph seeing how deep purple morphs are not all that common except for a couple of morphs. You feeling the funny yet?

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

I imagine the reason these corals were called deaths is because of their shape and size and how similar to a venus flytrap, these corals look like they’re out to grab something from the water.

The Green Death is the first of a few corals that were introduced into the hobby with this type of shape. The Green Death is great in its striking green color and its ability to make the color pop under the right conditions.

If you get one of these corals in your collection, it is recommended that you do not freshwater dip these due to their fragile nature. Make sure you do acclimate them properly and that the salinity of your tank is closely matched with the incoming water. (Or you could drip acclimate)

Once fully acclimated, this is definitely one of the distinctive green zoas that will be in your tank.

Unlike some of the other Tank of the Month features, there’s no minimum size or cost requirement to submit your tank.  Zoa placement is an art and some of the most amazing zoa tanks I’ve seen have been in nano tanks so don’t be discouraged if you don’t think your tank is big enough.

Dragon Eyes is one of the most distinctive orange zoas in the hobby.  A great colony is kept under MH and actinics and the orange body will really pop under the right conditions.  I’d imagine dragon eyes were named for their intensity and what seems like an intense stare from the mythical beast.  There’s just something about the orange body and the black and white rings around the body makes this zoa really fiercesome.  I’m guessing the green skirts also help blend the zoa to the dragon scales.

If you’d like to get this zoa, you are in luck.  These zoanthids grow very easily and are widely traded in the hobby as of the writing.  If you’re looking for some, please feel free to leave a comment below.

However, if you notice the image below, a lot of the zoas look “normal” when view from afar. Most zoanthids do look amazing when seen up close or when taken with a macro lens. So it’s very possible your plain jane zoas will also look just as good when you take a pic of it with a macro lens.

Like the Candy Apple Reds, these zoas also have a green center with a colorful edge and skirt. However, unlike the Candy Reds, the green portion of the zoa is smaller and a bit more erratic than the other zoas.

Even though the zoa is called Candy Apple Reds, the zoa’s primary plate color is green. Other characteristics include a white colored mouth, a colorful edge and a colorful, striped skirt.

This zoa closely resembles the Kaleidoscope morph and can sometimes be mistaken for them. Of course, both zoa would be great to add to your collection if you’re a collector that loves color.

So do you have the Candy Apple zoas in your collection? If you’re willing to trade or frag your colony, please leave some comments below.

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.

I don’t think this particular morph were ever officially named, but regardless of their anonymity, these classy pink zoas looked great in my tank. New polyps always started in the yellow spectrum and eventually they would color up into the pinks.

If you’re just starting out and are looking to trade some zoas for some pink ones, leave some comments below and let other reefers know. The pink zoas are pretty easy to take care of and under optimal conditions can spread pretty quickly. The pink zoas I had grew pretty fast in the shadier parts of my 90g which were under 14k Metal Halides with actinic supports. Your mileage may very.