So what happened to the zoanthid forum ???

[jayelblock]

Okey-dokey. Here's a question from a newbie. I have a 10g nano, but i have a 6 bulb Nova extreme pro fixture over it. I've seen a lot of posts suggesting that zoas are "low light" corals. I also saw someone in the nano forum ask if they could use this same fixture on their 10g, and everyone said no, too much light unless you plan to keep only sps. Anywhoo, my zoas are producing new polyps--perhaps at a rate of a new one every week or so--sometimes more. Would you say this is slow growth? Average growth? Could they be reproducing but still suffering from excessive light? What would the signs of excessive light be? The polyps seem smaller in size than the pictures i've seen on RC, but pics are deceptive.
Thanks for your input.

 

[Fcamdog]

Mucho, first, thank you for helping develop many of the now common husbandry practices that we are using today to keep, and help these corals flourish in our aquariums.

Second, Ive been out of the hobby for about 4 years while my job took me all over the globe. Having settled in for a bit in TN I just set-up my old 20g recently. I too haven't been very active in the forum due to not understanding the direction things seem to be going. RC used to be a lot more knowledge and trading. I've seen this forum turned more commercial in nature.

Okay, having said my piece I'll start my own thread and introduce myself and new tank.

Fcamdog

 

[the808state]

The zoa forums have turned into a broken record... Just the other day i logged on and saw the same thread subject 3 times on the first page.

Zoas are getting expensive!? [sarcasm] excuse me while i go buy a $600 acan peice or some $300 Lobos. [/sarcasm]

 

[MUCHO REEF]

All I can say is that this is Custer's Last Stand. If everyone doesn't pitch in and collectively contribute on a daily basis and support the forum, well, it's just gonna be a sad day.


Thank you all for your replies, I'll let this thread go now.

Mucho

 

[Marchingbandjs]

Well ya there are much more exp corals... but we are comparing it to previous prices of zoa not long ago, within a year.

 

[puter]

Mucho,

Good to see you back.

What's killed this forum, IMO:

1) There's very little new information coming out. Over the last seven years or so we've collectively figured out much of care requirements for zoanthids and it's been extensively documented in this forum. The vast majority of questions that are asked can be answered perfectly adequately via "search".

2) By sheer volume of requests people have proven that they generally like to have a name for their zoas. And, by sheer volume of responses, it seems a number of people are determined to try to "right the wrongs" and educate through admonishment: you don't need and shouldn't want a name, you got ripped off, it's not that "rare", prices are too high, things have become too commercial.

I, too, remember (and prefer) when the name of the hottest zoa around was "Dave's red zoa" --Dave being a local reefer and the red zoas being in his tank-- and the "price" for getting some was to trade him something he didn't already have. Those days are gone... and all the whining about it here in the forum isn't going to change that. Mine included.

So, besides the pictures, which I still enjoy, I don't often find much reason to visit.

Just some thoughts,

 

[SIR PATRICK]

I havnt been around much the past couple months.....summer has been very busy. Was a great couple months!!

I have alot of different things planned for the tank (which will all be shared in the forum) this fall/winter. In a couple more weeks, I will be stuck in the house again and will be seen much more (again) this season.

A couple of my biggest topics planned-

ULNS+Pro-biotics and zoanthids. Think this will be interesting! Gonna document my progress here.

My tank upgrade.

Reasearching all the different zoa dips available for all the different types of issues- never got a good grasp on anything other than iodine dips last year.

Looking forward to adding some new additions in the zoanthid pics post sticky- I hope! Looking for some really nice ones this year!


I am out to learn more about what zoas are from where, the conditions that they are used to in the wild and how to distinguish them apart.

And as always- sharing my experiances/info with all that need help/info on their zoanthids in the forums.


Still got some winterizing to do and some parts of the upgrade to acumulate, but will be on the forums in full force in no time! Looking forward to a great new season on the zoanthid forum.

Good to see you around Mucho.

 

[Marchingbandjs]

Ya its also the reef off season, as most people know. Summer everyones outside, less effort and money in tank. Winter, too cold, people inside working more on tank.

And it seems like any ?'s anyone asks has already beenanswered so the only thing left really are ID, i mean not that much changes.

 

[Marchingbandjs]

dbl post, sorry

 

[Reef Bass]

Thanks for your continued interest and support Mucho. Funny, I noticed that this forum had been lagging. I also am not big on haters. Differences of opinion are inevitable and good, as they spur discussion and thought. Hating, not so much.

At last count I had over 100 different corals, mostly sps, some lps and of course zoos and palys. I recently picked up some Tubbs Blues from a local reefer. My Armageddons are finally looking awesome and my Darth Mauls are growing wonderfully. My Fruity Pebbles are overflowing with fruity goodness. My Volcano Icecaps are doing well but seem to be experiencing global warming as they aren't very icey looking. My Orange Star Gazers are beautiful with sparkly centers.

I enjoy feeding my palys while feeding my lps. If anyone knows of a good way to keep bristle worms from robbing polyps of the food they're swallowing (besides a small plastic cover as often the food thieves live under the rock / frag plug the polyps are on), please let me know.

In regards to the questions you posed:

1. How old is your tank? My sps tank is 5+ years old but only full on reef for a bit less than 2 years. My lps tank has only been going for 2 months. They share the same water system and I have zoos and palys in each.

2. What size is it? sps 100g, lps 60g.

3. Deep or shallow sand bed? 2-3" in the sps tank, 1.5-2" in lps tank.

4. Do you have any reefing goals? I wish to provide an excellent environment for the health, color and growth of beautiful corals.

5. What are your feelings on running a fug vs not? No separate fuge, but a wad o' chaeto in my sump sucking up algae fueling nutrients and providing a home for pods to prosper.

6. What are you doing to make your polyps thrive etc? I believe in stability of water temperature and chemistry, and in QTing every new arrival so as to avoid introducing various pest plagues to my tanks.

7. Type of salt you use? Currently running Reef Crystals though I'm not a huge salt snob.

8. How do you mainatin your parameters? My reef controller runs dosing pumps for alk, ca and mag. I do 6 water tests every week or two (alk, ca, mag, nitrate, phosphate and pH) and adjust dosing accordingly.

 

[MUCHO REEF]

Mucho,

Good to see you back.

What's killed this forum, IMO:

1) There's very little new information coming out. Over the last seven years or so we've collectively figured out much of care requirements for zoanthids and it's been extensively documented in this forum. The vast majority of questions that are asked can be answered perfectly adequately via "search".

2) By sheer volume of requests people have proven that they generally like to have a name for their zoas. And, by sheer volume of responses, it seems a number of people are determined to try to "right the wrongs" and educate through admonishment: you don't need and shouldn't want a name, you got ripped off, it's not that "rare", prices are too high, things have become too commercial.

I, too, remember (and prefer) when the name of the hottest zoa around was "Dave's red zoa" --Dave being a local reefer and the red zoas being in his tank-- and the "price" for getting some was to trade him something he didn't already have. Those days are gone... and all the whining about it here in the forum isn't going to change that. Mine included.

So, besides the pictures, which I still enjoy, I don't often find much reason to visit.

Just some thoughts,

Good to hear from you Puter.

I think what makes the forum great is the contributions. The results of those contributions is much needed information flowing out to the reefers here. "If nothing is added, nothing can be extracted", it's just my own objective opinion.

Trust me, there is so much more to share and to be discovered. The last time we had a drop off in posting, I listed, ( no, not bragging ) but I listed 20 topics off the top of my head that could be discussed that hadn't been discussed. That list sat there and nothing happen. "so why didn't you follow up on them Mucho?", cause one, two or a few people aren't responsible for carrying the forum. Everyone has to pitch in.

Yesterday 3/4 of the pages was full of new post, bumping old post and replies. In one day, now imagine what can happen if we all came here and did this everyday. That's all it takes.

I get it, the consensus is pictures, names, ID's, pricing and rarity questions. If that's what the board wants and the majority is happy, then so be it, no problem here. But you just lost a ton of people who came here wanting so much more and those wanting to help. As you can see, many are gone and the replies continue to drop. I'm not trying to kill anything, I simply wanted this forum to be what it was and can be.

I truly have a better understanding now and I mean that sincerely.

I'm glad all of you weighed in, thanks, much respect.


Mucho Reef

 

[maynardjames]

1. How old is your tank? 1year since upgrade from 75

2. What size is it? 120 rr

3. Deep or shallow sand bed? shallow

4. Do you have any reefing goals? best tank possible in my eyes

5. What are your feelings on running a fug vs not? I would love to listen and learn from your experiences. not running one at the moment

6. What are you doing to make your polyps thrive etc? I want to know, we can all learn from the smallest detail. reef solutions really makes mine come alive

7. Type of salt you use? reef crystals

8. How do you mainatin your parameters? brs 2 part-water changes

9. Have you introduced yourself in the link below whether you're a newbie or just new to this forum? new to forum

 

[E.intheC]

For the most part, I'm on the same page as you Mucho.

I really don't like how this forum has turned into "how rare/expensive is this zoanthid". But this really applies to most forums. There is a thread in the LPS forum with a "what is your most expensive coral?" theme.

I haven't been on RC as much due to many different factors. One being a recent tank upgrade to a 72 bow, and that required a lot of time and energy (equipment upgrades, and fish selection mostly). And also due to a large scale crash of my old tank.

I like and dislike the naming of zoanthids though. I don't like that many vendors/hobbiests will use that to inflate prices to near untouchable and IMO insane prices.

However, it does make it easier to I'd (and therefore provide better care) to the zoas. As you know, some are deepwater or some like higher flow than others. Or, it could be one (like the Soprano or African Blues) that for whatever reason are super hard to keep alive. Had I known that about the A blues, I wouldn't have spent the money on almost guaranteed to be doomed coral.

 

[SIR PATRICK]

Looks like things are picking up a bit.

Glad to see more interesting threads, whether its needing help or intersting topics, popping up lately!

 

[manhorsedog]

i think what helped to start the decline was people complaining about other people. This is a free site and people are just looking for a place to share there excitement with other people with similar interest.

It would have been nice to see people lead by example rather than complain about what they didnt like. I must have seen 100's of what happened to this hobby type post. THAT DOESNT HELP!!!! nothing happened to this hobby it is only what you make of it. If anything we have wider range of corals to look at now, that doesnt seem that bad.

 

[IridescentLily]

i think what helped to start the decline was people complaining about other people. This is a free site and people are just looking for a place to share there excitement with other people with similar interest.

It would have been nice to see people lead by example rather than complain about what they didnt like. I must have seen 100's of what happened to this hobby type post. THAT DOESNT HELP!!!! nothing happened to this hobby it is only what you make of it. If anything we have wider range of corals to look at now, that doesnt seem that bad.

That's interesting (sort of) that you feel what helped the decline was people complaining about other people.


Your post in here doesn't help either in my opinion. It's leading.
Have you read that one thread wherein we/i discuss equal time for threads here? This thread is equal time.

What's interesting is why anyone would complain about one thread of this topic, vs. the 50 other types of threads.

Different info for different folks, right? That's a good thing.

 

[manhorsedog]

i honestly could not follow what you wrote.

all i got was you didnt like what i had to say.

can you please try to explain again?

 

[SIR PATRICK]

^ Sorry man/horse/dog, but posts like this do help. It reinforces the fact that there is alot more to zoanthids than what is called what, and the pretty colors of them. This is all fine until things go south for the owner of said polyps and they need help on how to maintain said polyp. Posts like this remind us all to share and help those with real experiances and questions on growing/keeping the said polyps alive. Not just to show off what someone found/has, just to dissapear in a couple weeks for who knows why.

As you can see, since this thread, there have been many more participant on the most important stuff- keeping these polys alive, growing and well.

There are many of use leading by example here on the zoanthid forum. They are just seldom seen while looking at all the pretty pics of zoanthids, till you have a legitamate health/happiness isue with your zoanthids. Thats when they pop up, if you are lucky to have those people around still.

A great many things have happened to the zoanthid/paly keeping hobbie, you just have to go back far enough/ have seen enough to see what has happened. Over the past 10 years, much has changed in this hobbie, and this forum. Complainers have nothing to do with any of these changes, in fact, its quite the opposite. Do some reasearch if you havnt been in the hobbie for long enough to know better.

I can find a wider range of polyps to look at in minutes by doing a simple search on the internet, than I can find on this forum, or if I want to see lots of pics, there is a designated post for polyp pics and tanks to brows through all day long. When you have an issue with your polyps, and they are dissapearing, and you come to RC for help- Are these pics gonna help you? If not, who will? Probly those that care to contribute in the care and maintanance of these polyps, and have the experiances to help you.

I dont see any complainers, just some posters that want others to enjoy their colections for a good long time, and would like to see more educated/helpfull discusions on the zoanthid forums here at RC.

By the way- Iridecentlillys post made perfect sense to me. Maybe you want to read it again?

Hope you dont see this post as "complaining". I am just telling it like it is. Hope you read this post, and have a clearer meaning of this thread, and purpose of this post- no offence meant, hope there is none taken.

 

[Guygettnby]

well said patrick. i know my reason for not visiting or helping the zoanthid forum as much as i used to is defilently not people complaining. there are many reasons but that is for sure not one of them. in fact i think we need people that view things from all sides in order to find the real truths in this hobby or in life for that matter.

i actually had my tank crash a few months ago and i lost all my most prized zoanthids. what upsets me abit is now when i try to aquire them again i simply can no longer afford too. everything is now a limited edition or super dupper rare from the rainbow land of the name game. it is just so sad to see all of the new reefers paying all of these crazy prices for zoanthids and thinking that is normal. i remember back in the day getting all these LE polyps for $10 a frag that contained 20+ polyps. but those days are now long gone and the only thing it seems like people care about is making money without caring about this hobby in general. these are sad days indeed....

 

[manhorsedog]

ok thanks for justifying your point of view, i understand were you are coming from but i dont think its the same on both ends.

My point was more about, why complain? why not just do what you do and help and share with people you feel like? why do you need to call people out when they are just having fun? if they need help dont you think they will know were to go for help? i dont know if you realize this but there are many other places to find help on corals and polyps. AAND just because there are a lot of pictures in this forum doesnt mean the search button doesnt work. If this forum has been here for that long dont you think they could find some great information? Cant you see what i see?

also to the man above me, why not find another way? i have over 45 different polyps in my tank and i have never paid more than $35 for a frag and that was a colony of about 100. Most of my polyps come from trading with local reefers i meet on these sites.

im not sure you guys and gals know this but i was not talking about this thread at all, i thought the content was really good and well said. I was just giving a opinion like all of you.