Polyps Galore, 70+ Colony Zoa tank

[reeftanknewbie]

This is an amazing tank. I had to subscribe to this so that I can follow along and learn. I am a big fan of zoas myself and am working on setting up a 20l in my office as a zoa garden. Did you start with full colonies or did you grow out most of this yourself? I ask because it seems like some of my zoas grow quickly while others do not. Not sure if this is common or just my experience.

 

[Tank2379]

The camera has an underwater setting which allows me to change my Red/Blue balance, this is with it cranked all the way to the red (Which tones down the blue a bit surprisingly. Not 100% sure of all the settings, 1/8 shutter, 4:3 5Mb, its a wicked point and shoot.

HHHMMM.. I have a Point and Shoot I might have to try that It's a Cannon... But I don't think it has under water settings... :fish2:

BTW your Zoa's look amazing...

 

[asmodeus]

NICE SET UP MAN, wow do you ever know what you are doing, its the first time seeing this Setup.:beer::wavehand:

 

[i2as kass]

Fantastic tank and read. Thanks for sharing with us.

reef-luva sweeeeet zoas bro'.....

NICE SET UP MAN, wow do you ever know what you are doing, its the first time seeing this Setup.

HHHMMM.. I have a Point and Shoot I might have to try that It's a Cannon... But I don't think it has under water settings...

BTW your Zoa's look amazing...

Thanks again for the compliments folks, always happy to share!

This is an amazing tank. I had to subscribe to this so that I can follow along and learn. I am a big fan of zoas myself and am working on setting up a 20l in my office as a zoa garden. Did you start with full colonies or did you grow out most of this yourself? I ask because it seems like some of my zoas grow quickly while others do not. Not sure if this is common or just my experience.

It's completely natural to have varied growth rate in different morphs of zoas, lots of biochemistry behind it. That being said making sure they are plump and fed is a good way to ensure a little extra growth.

 

[humuhumupukapuka]

That is a fantastic picture.

Actually, I think it kinda sad...

 

[TimG]

Very nice.

 

[i2as kass]

WOW close race, if you like the read please take a second to read the other two nominee's and then make your vote. Only a day or so to go until the winner is declared:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1927873
Levi

 

[Jeff]

WOW close race, if you like the read please take a second to read the other two nominee's and then make your vote. Only a day or so to go until the winner is declared:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1927873
Levi

Very close race lol. 2 votes apart. Both of the two threads that are getting so many votes really caught my attention. I am always looking for ways to improve my softies so I love this thread. On the other hand I am receiving a Maxspect LED light tomorrow, one of the two lights discussed in the other thread. Tough choice .

 

[Devonious]

**Wrong account log in (At bro's house)

 

[i2as kass]

I am blown away at the growth rate of my purple death Palys, have been target feeding them brine shrimp when I feed the main tank and they have gone from 14 to 27 polyps over the span of a little over a month and a half!

Photo taken 09-17-2010


Photos taken today (05/11/10)




And a few other randoms:

 

[reeftanknewbie]

Tank is looking amazing. What is your maintenance like if I may ask.

 

[Jarob]

Post some pics of the "chaeto raceway" will ya? This is an amazing tank and is making me change some of the ways I run my tank.

 

[-Scott-]

Well that was an awesome 7 page ride, thanks for making sure there were plenty of pics in there for us! And especially for the informative and detailed feeding regimen, I think you really helped quite a few folks with that one (myself included).

 

[samdaman]

I am blown away at the growth rate of my purple death Palys, have been target feeding them brine shrimp when I feed the main tank and they have gone from 14 to 27 polyps over the span of a little over a month and a half!

Photo taken 09-17-2010


Photos taken today (05/11/10)




And a few other randoms:

Do you target feed BBS or Frozen. I try target feeding my zoas and the pieces are too big for the polyps to catch. Do you blend it real fine or are the polyps on your zoas pretty big? Mine are small about 3 or 4 cm wide...

 

[samdaman]

Not only what, but when is the real question.

The zoas are fed a special blend of food (Well actually the whole tank is fed this stuff)

1 Whole Jar of this stuff


Also added into the mix was:
2 lbs Muscles
2 lbs Manilla Clams
15 Giant Shrimp
7 Large Oysters
4 Minced Carrots
1 Half Head Broccoli
1 Bottle Selcon
1 Bottle SeaChem Amino acid supplement
2 Bottles of Coral food soak
1 Half Bottle Reefroids
1 Half Bottle freeze dried phyto

Now here is the special part, I have no reaction at all with this food for a feeding response during the day. At night time it's a whole different story, unless you have moon lights they will stay shut so those are also important.

At around 1-2am I turn the return pump off, dial back the close loop and broadcast feed the whole tank. Let it sit until I wake up @ around 8:00am and then turn everything back on. I get a slight temp drop but nothing to large and then keep only the actinics on for the rest of the day.



The zoa tank is 65g it has only been running for about 2 months but I have owned most of the zoas before that point.


Thank you! Your kind words are like daggers to my Visa card, only makes me go out and buy more haha.

Is the jar a powder?

 

[H20Bonsai]

I say that you let us send you some money and you ship it to us. I have looked for 2 days to try and fine something like this and I have had no luck. Let me know if you would be willing to send some our way.

 

[i2as kass]

I apologize for my extended absence have been doing some pretty major tank renovations in the last few weeks but I have some photos to share.
I decided to make it a little easier on myself and removed all the liverock and most of the fish from my main tank. I then transfered all the remaining zoa stock to the main tank and shut down my zoa tank.

FTS










Coral:




Fish:

 

[i2as kass]

Tank is looking amazing. What is your maintenance like if I may ask.

Not to much after the downsize, about 15- 20 mins a day of work.

Do you target feed BBS or Frozen. I try target feeding my zoas and the pieces are too big for the polyps to catch. Do you blend it real fine or are the polyps on your zoas pretty big? Mine are small about 3 or 4 cm wide...

Read back a few pages I have detailed exactly how I feed.

Well that was an awesome 7 page ride, thanks for making sure there were plenty of pics in there for us! And especially for the informative and detailed feeding regimen, I think you really helped quite a few folks with that one (myself included).

You're very welcome!

Post some pics of the "chaeto raceway" will ya? This is an amazing tank and is making me change some of the ways I run my tank.

It's currently in use for frags, no chaeto at all. Thanks for the compliment!

Is the jar a powder?

Yes

I say that you let us send you some money and you ship it to us. I have looked for 2 days to try and fine something like this and I have had no luck. Let me know if you would be willing to send some our way.

Sorry friends not worth my time/ chancing boarder/ resale laws.

Actinic shots, this is with my other camera I'm still a little confused on the settings so everything looks all trippy.
And a few randoms:










One of my favorites:

 

[tiger33]

Hey guys, I found a product call Green Foods Magma Plus. I bought it at a health store in Illinois. I've been feeding this to my tank for three weeks and I like what I see! Growth and sharp color within a couple of weeks. It contains most of the stuff in i2as kass's supplement and it contains no copper! That's the hardest thing when looking for a product like this. I will post pics soon. Waiting for my son to come over with his camera. I feed the tank similar to kass's method and I made a food very similar to his, as well. Fish and coral love it! I have a 75 gal zoa dominant tank that has over 70 different zoas and palys. Filtration is a sump with live rock and chaeto. Light is a 6 bulb nova extreme with home made led moon lights and a variety of different atinic bulbs. Kass is on to something wonderful and if you do something even close to his method, you will be pleased!

 

[i2as kass]

Hey guys, I found a product call Green Foods Magma Plus. I bought it at a health store in Illinois. I've been feeding this to my tank for three weeks and I like what I see! Growth and sharp color within a couple of weeks. It contains most of the stuff in i2as kass's supplement and it contains no copper! That's the hardest thing when looking for a product like this. I will post pics soon. Waiting for my son to come over with his camera. I feed the tank similar to kass's method and I made a food very similar to his, as well. Fish and coral love it! I have a 75 gal zoa dominant tank that has over 70 different zoas and palys. Filtration is a sump with live rock and chaeto. Light is a 6 bulb nova extreme with home made led moon lights and a variety of different atinic bulbs. Kass is on to something wonderful and if you do something even close to his method, you will be pleased!

Great to hear your getting similar results, I will try and post some photos with my good camera tonight as the tank is looking wicked after the upgrade.
I finally have some room for growth/ new additions after the move!

Out of curiosity did you add any supplements to your mixture? I started adding a few drops of coral vitalizer/ sponge power to the water that the food was thawed in. So far the feeding response is similar but I get plumper looking zoas in the morning. I personally dose half the dosage of both sponge power and CV as I get melting if too much is added.