What do you feed your zoas?
- Thread starter MikeyAl
- Start date
Fish poop? Do you mean you simply feed a lot and let your fish do what they do?
I have a very light bio load- 2 ocellaris, 2 pajama cards, a watchman goby, a chromis, and a sixline wrasse.
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Reeferz412
Coral Hoarder
I mix coral frenzy, polyp lab, reef chili, and mysis. I target feed my acans and other big mouth corals and whatever is left i just pour all over the tank. The zoas eat whatever is flying around. I do not target feed my zoas. Its just way too many.
Yeah, pretty much. A bit more bioload and you've got more nutrient import as a result of feeding. More fish eating, more fish poopin', more nutrients in the water!
JohnnyHildo
Member
you just have to be careful with that because with your extra nutrients in the form of food comes uneaten pieces and the risk of nitrates.
on the other side of things, i don't think anyone has proven either way if clean water is the best so i completely understand why people would choose a stable "less clean" environment.
So therein lies my struggle. I keep water clean and sometimes my zoas close up for days (not all but some). So I try to feed a bit more and then I get algae breakouts. So is dirty water really the answer or is broadcast feeding cyclops or reed roids a better approach?
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Holyreefer
Octopus Extreme 300 Skimr
my zoo open for my mix of phyto, reef chill, and fuel. so far so good
that Fish Guy
Frag Swap Crusader!
I Feed 4 Different Foods to my Corals
1. Reef Roids
2. BRS Reef Chili
3. Seachem AquaVitro Fuel (Vitamin and Ammino Acid Supplement)
4. Larry's Reef Frenzy Frozen Food (LRS)
Here is my Feeding Schedule
Tuesday -
- Reef Roids
- BRS Reef Chili
- Seachem AquaVitro Fuel (Vitamin and Ammino Acid Supplement)
I mix all 3 Together in some Tank Water
Friday -
- Reef Roids
- BRS Reef Chili
- Seachem AquaVitro Fuel (Vitamin and Ammino Acid Supplement)
I mix all 3 Together in some Tank Water
Sunday -
- Larry's Reef Frenzy Frozen Food (LRS)
LRS is more for my Acans and Chalices which I Target Feed after Chopping it Up Fine with a Razor Blade but there are Fine Particle Coral Foods in LRS that the Zoanthids can Use.
1. Reef Roids
2. BRS Reef Chili
3. Seachem AquaVitro Fuel (Vitamin and Ammino Acid Supplement)
4. Larry's Reef Frenzy Frozen Food (LRS)
Here is my Feeding Schedule
Tuesday -
- Reef Roids
- BRS Reef Chili
- Seachem AquaVitro Fuel (Vitamin and Ammino Acid Supplement)
I mix all 3 Together in some Tank Water
Friday -
- Reef Roids
- BRS Reef Chili
- Seachem AquaVitro Fuel (Vitamin and Ammino Acid Supplement)
I mix all 3 Together in some Tank Water
Sunday -
- Larry's Reef Frenzy Frozen Food (LRS)
LRS is more for my Acans and Chalices which I Target Feed after Chopping it Up Fine with a Razor Blade but there are Fine Particle Coral Foods in LRS that the Zoanthids can Use.
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JohnnyHildo
Member
at the risk of increased phosphates i have basically stopped trying to spot feed my zoas. in my brief experience i never got the additional growth or color to justify it anymore.
that Fish Guy
Frag Swap Crusader!
sde1500
Active member
Is this more of a broadcast feeding? Or do you direct it at the zoas, with a turkey baster or something?
that Fish Guy
Frag Swap Crusader!
I Target Feed Acans and Chalices with the Flow Off.
I wait 30 Minutes and Turn the Flow on and alot of it Blows around to the other Corals.
For My Tanks with No Acans and Chalices I leave the Flow On and Dump the Food in for Broadcast Feeding.
JohnnyHildo
Member
fair enough.
i also left it kind of vague and feel i should mention that my tank isn't exactly "mature" by reef standards either. the amounts i was spot feeding was causing growth but not in respect to my zoas, it was my algaes that took off when feeding and after a couple months had to stop to get things back under control.
the balance of when and how much is the key i think with zoa feeding.
that Fish Guy
Frag Swap Crusader!
I use Lots of Tiger Trochus Snails for Algae.
They are Amazing.
The "Cadillac of Snails"
Piper27
I love bengals
I don't think you can disagree with someones experience.
On the topic...
I would say ime nutrients in the water is going to help zoanthids the most. It's a balance of keeping lots of nutrients going in and having a lot go out with good filtration. Feeding the tank a lot (broadcast feeding) helps keep everything in the tank well fed and some palys will benefit from this more so from catching food than zoanthid do. I have not seen many zoanthid eat food Making sure you are keeping algaes in check is the hardest part especially in smaller tanks. Everytime I have had a nutrient spike certain zoanthids would take off. Anytime water gets to clean (not enough nutrients going in) zoanthids will loose color especially under good light.
On a side note of this topic... It's easy to keep frag tanks full of plugs and frags and have them grow. It's harder to keep a full reef tank stocked with all types of zoanthid and palys. Polyp competition, algaes, and fish all have to be kept in check or things get messed up. In frag plug tanks you can move things and clean things to make everything look great all the time. In a big reef tank this is much harder. I would encourage everyone here to try to create a full reef tank without constantly fragging. Personally I get the most enjoyment out of doing this and we don't see enough tanks that follow this guideline.
High nitrates and phosphates have always been seen as an issue -- But they shouldn't.
More and more SPS guys are leaving behind the tried and true ULNS for higher nutrient systems. Oddly, when you get your Nitrates up higher your phosphates decrease. A lot of SPS guys seem to be running 5+ Nitrates now, and they're loving the results and improved color.
More and more SPS guys are leaving behind the tried and true ULNS for higher nutrient systems. Oddly, when you get your Nitrates up higher your phosphates decrease. A lot of SPS guys seem to be running 5+ Nitrates now, and they're loving the results and improved color.
that Fish Guy
Frag Swap Crusader!
Yep. I for one, was running ULNS and wasn't happy with the growth, coloration, or overall health of my corals. My SPS seemed like they were pale, and my Zoa's weren't really growing. They were stagnant, a few zoa's shrank and are still holding on, and of course my favorite of them melted away (that's always how it goes, isn't it?).
Nitrates were always 0, Phosphates .03
So stocked up my tank a little more, made sure the fish had plenty to make waste with and within 2 days colors starting to spring back to life already. Still detecting 0 nitrates, but it's obviously a step in the right direction.
Nutrient Rich =/= 'Dirty'
So Fish Guy -- Your 6 tips is a pretty popular post, and while you mention what I feel about Nitrates and Phosphates I don't see mention of where you keep yours. I've been seeing a lot of SPS guys have started pushing Nitrate towards 5+ as the 'low end' and in some cases 8-10. So I'm curious where you like your nitrates to sit.
Nitrates were always 0, Phosphates .03
So stocked up my tank a little more, made sure the fish had plenty to make waste with and within 2 days colors starting to spring back to life already. Still detecting 0 nitrates, but it's obviously a step in the right direction.
Nutrient Rich =/= 'Dirty'
So Fish Guy -- Your 6 tips is a pretty popular post, and while you mention what I feel about Nitrates and Phosphates I don't see mention of where you keep yours. I've been seeing a lot of SPS guys have started pushing Nitrate towards 5+ as the 'low end' and in some cases 8-10. So I'm curious where you like your nitrates to sit.
