What do you feed your zoas?
- Thread starter MikeyAl
- Start date
sharkboy99999
New member
I feed them fish food. Take turkey baster and suck some frozen food up and squirt it at all the polyps. I have good growth with this. I have noticed I big difference from not feeding and feeding. I don't care what you say feeding them help. But they will grow with out feeding them you don't have to. But realistically it's to much work for a bit more growth
blasterman789
New member
We might be confusing various strains of palys and zoas here. Most zoas won't take food suspended in the water column or brine ship and will close up. Larger species and most palythoa will happily gobble up brine shrimp and the like if you feed them with a turkey baster. Example of the later are purple deaths, nuclear greens, green implosions, etc. Green implosions will actually eat xenia if they get too close.
I've tried a lot of different feeding combos for dense and rapidly garden tanks and found the same formula seems to work. For most zoas rapid growth for me is achieved under nutrient / nitrate conditions that SPS won't like, although zoas / palys can be quite happy under ideal SPS conditions. If you want them to grow fast though, dirty water helps. I've tried a lot of different foods, and a thumbnail size chunk of beef heart run through a power blender and added once or twice a week seems to work the best. The added protein in the water which eventually breaks down into nitrate just puts everything into over drive. Direct feed palys that will take brine as much as they want.
Iodine drops (3 per week per 10 gallon) helps a bit, especially purple deaths keeping their color. I've also found the addition of kalk (added to the point of precipitation once a night) significantly helps deeper water varities like purple hornets thrive. Low / wide pH swings are what I theorize cause melting, and adding kalk at night reduces the available C02 that causes the low swing. Once I started kalk dosing any variety of zoa/paly I keep thrives.
I've tried a lot of different feeding combos for dense and rapidly garden tanks and found the same formula seems to work. For most zoas rapid growth for me is achieved under nutrient / nitrate conditions that SPS won't like, although zoas / palys can be quite happy under ideal SPS conditions. If you want them to grow fast though, dirty water helps. I've tried a lot of different foods, and a thumbnail size chunk of beef heart run through a power blender and added once or twice a week seems to work the best. The added protein in the water which eventually breaks down into nitrate just puts everything into over drive. Direct feed palys that will take brine as much as they want.
Iodine drops (3 per week per 10 gallon) helps a bit, especially purple deaths keeping their color. I've also found the addition of kalk (added to the point of precipitation once a night) significantly helps deeper water varities like purple hornets thrive. Low / wide pH swings are what I theorize cause melting, and adding kalk at night reduces the available C02 that causes the low swing. Once I started kalk dosing any variety of zoa/paly I keep thrives.
JohnnyHildo
Member
i've tried to supplement mine with reef roids and while they do seem keen on taking the offering it's often followed by them spitting it back into the water column. next experiment is to see if offering a more diluted portion helps.
dentdominator
New member
I really don't think zoas require lots of target feeding at all. However, between the coral food and the fish poop should suffice. Fish poop I think is the best of all foods any corals can take in for a food source.
fity2pounder
New member
For palys I like to use reef caviar. It is very clean and sinks perfectly into their mouths using a small baster.
I've had the same 2 zoa colonies that are about 15 heads each for about a year. They get longer and stretch upwards but no new polyps.... I put phytoplankton in my tank at least once a week and they have shown no improvement... anything else that I should be trying?
Thanks!!
http://www.petpalaceproducts.com/
Thanks!!
http://www.petpalaceproducts.com/
JohnnyHildo
Member
i've been dabbling with pohl's vitalizer and xtra for the past few weeks and although i was skeptical they do seem to make zoas really color up well.
the results have been positive enough that i bought and am going to try the coral snow tonight.
Rotorocious
New member
I do. Haven't seen a huge night and day difference in my zoas but the LPS seem to have improved.
I also use coral frenzy coming from reef chili, seems to be a much smaller/dust like stream with no chunks.
sde1500
Active member
If they are stretching upwards I think that is a sign of not enough light.
