Best zoa food

I've seen a zoanthid eat a NLS pellet. It opened it's mouth wide and ate it! They won't eat if I try to spot feed though.
 
I feed my entire tank in a broadcast method once a week with a mix of all kinds of stuff in varyiing particle size. I don't know if the zoes eat it but I will say about 1-2 days later they seem to poop something out of their mouths which leads me to believe they do eat but then again they seem to do this during other times too so maybe thats from the fish poop, I don't know. I don't feed for the zoes its more for the other corals.
 
Reef Bass said:
I used to believe this but my thoughts have shifted for several reasons. First, have you every watched video of a colony of zoanthids on a time lapse basis? There was a good video posted here several months ago which demonstrated this, and I believe Mooch even asked his usual type of "make you think" question, like "what do you think those polyps are doing there?". You'll see every so often a different polyp "blink", or close and then reopen (slowly over several to many seconds, but looks like a blink in time lapse). Now I'm not talking about being touched or hit by a piece of crud and recoiling, or when one can watch a line of them close as a bristleworm slithers through the mat beneath the open polyps.

This "blinking" is, in my opinion, zoanthid feeding. Let's also keep in mind that zoanthids, just like palythoas, have a mouth. That mouth didn't just magically appear so zoos could put on lipstick. Those polyps with mouths have a survival advantange - the ability to ingest more and larger pieces of food than a polyp which gets its nutrition by absorption / diffusion across its external membranes.

I totally get and have experienced attempting to target feed zoos only to have them appear to not react at all, or to recoil from being pelted with a stream of water and food. They seem positively disinterested compared to some palythoas which are like little venus fly traps closing in around prey as soon as it makes contact with their skirt tentacles. But if you take a longer view (literally!), you will see zoos feeding, just at a glacial pace compared to their paly cousins.
Click to expand...



+1 on the Coral Frenzy hands down. But as a secondary source of nutrition a couple times a week.

I'll try and find that video Reef Bass.

Mooch
 
Coral Frenzy every few days works great. I think zoas do eat since I've seen all of mine eat. If they don't come in eating, they eventually start eating in the tank.
 
Marc Weiss Reef Bugs works great once a week, Mine also grab cyclopeeze and mysis when the fish are fed
 
Marc Weiss products are typically viewed as complete trash, or at best incredibly deceptive advertising. I don't have any experience with that one, but I suggest you search and use with extreme caution.
 
Ive used it for years now with no issues my zoas tend to grow faster when I use it regularly vs. when I get lazy
 
I like the combination of Reef Nutrition's Phyto and Oyster Feast products. I dilute them (roughly with a 4-1 ratio of tank water to food) and lightly baste the polyps. Because of the varied and appropriate particle size, a feeding response is easily elicited.
 
I've used MW Coral Vital, MW Reef Vital DNA and MW Organics Combo Vital.
Used as recommended.
Noticed marks on my fish on the very first day.
Something in one of the products "burned" the fishes. Probably in the MW Organics Combo Vital The wrasses were more evident.
My system is parasite free, so I now it wasn't anything to trick the parasites. It was "burning" on scales. White marks.
They went away after 10 days. Never again!!!

Grandis.
 
A. Grandis said:
Zoas can grab the food, yes. Their response is slower, comparing to Protopalythoas and Palythoas, but they will grab the particles.

I believe there is only so much food that can help zoas to growth. Primarily, the zooxanthellae relationship will fulfill their needs. I think they don't need or can't process the food as efficient as Protopalythoas and Palythoas. I feed mine once a week and they do fine. There is a difference when you feed, but there is more things involved. The fish food and other wastes in the water can contribute to that also, so once a week is more than enough.

Small amounts of amino acids and vitamins could help some. Small amounts!

Say, if you have efficient lights, a good skimmer, water change schedule, the right water movement, no predators, and good water quality, the feeding will add to it. If you have a tank with poor water quality and all the others lacking, the food can add as negative too because their basics are not there. The more food into the system, the more to be removed.

All that is also relative because how much is too much light? What about the water changes? Well, there is the balance, and basically speaking, it will depend on how many bioload one has in the tank to begin with.

Zoas don't need to be fed as much or can't be fed as much.
I found that when all the pumps (including the return) are off they tend to have a better reaction to the particles touching the polyps.

I like the Zoa/Acan food, from Tropical Marine and Microvore, from Brightwell Aquatics.
I've never tried Coral Frenzy yet. That's next!

Grandis.
Click to expand...

Where do u get the tropical marine acan/Zoa food??
 
I've been using Coral Frenzy now for about 4 months and see all corals and fish go nuts over this stuff. After the first month of use, I started to see more pop in the color of my zoas and acans. I am going to experiment with mixing Coral Frenzy with Reef Chili to see if that helps in further coloration/growth.
 
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