Why do zoos hate me so much?

Tank14

Tank14

New member
I have tried a bunch of different types but they all seem to melt away at some point. I have tried different flows, different amount of lights but they just don't seem to work out me. I thought they were supposed to be easy:rolleyes:
 
You're not alone. One of the easiest things you can try is dropping in a little Lugol's iodine every day. Short of that opinions vary, even amongst expert keepers. But the majority tout pristine water conditions, strong lighting, and flow. Groundbreaking, I know. Even the masters will own up to having zoo colonies just melt away in stable matured zoo gardens.

Easy? Not in my book.
 
I'm no expert on zoanthids, but why do you say Iodine is unnecessary? We can all learn something from every thread. Can you be more specific about pH? Higher? Lower? Stable?

Thanks!
 
One month my zoanthids will be growing like crazy, then the next month shrink back. One colony will be doing great and right next to it one will be shrinking. I haven't figured it out yet. I think that is what keeps this hobby interesting. You never figure it out.
 
I feel your pain. my parameters can be perfect and everything else is growing great, looking good but I still lose zoos one at a time until there are none left. It's so frustrating. I've given up on trying to keep them. I'll just stick with torches.
 
my experience. I have over 25 types of zoas and palys in 4 tanks. When the colonies arrive i dose with coral rx for 3 weeks every 4-5 days. After treatment i try to ensure they get some vitamin C. if interested a quick search on RC will turn up tons of information. I have been using vitamarin C by brightwell aquatics for 3 months. Since i have established this action my zoanthids grow larger and expand far faster than previously. For me this is my strategy with zoos until i can find a reason to do otherwise. Heaven forbid you ask me about acros though.

edit* oh forgot to mention, every tank has a parasite eating wrasse in it. Live Aquaria is good on letting you know which are and which are not. The visual rule of thumb for me is: if the the wrasse has a beak like needle nose plyers then he can get in between the zoas or palys and destroy the critters.
 
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The recommendation for pH for zoas is between 8.1 and 8.4.
You usually get the trace elements you need through water changes with new saltwater. A lot of people start having things (including fish, inverts, and coral) die due to iodine overdoses. Adding anything you can't or don't test for is not a good idea because you have no way of telling what is being used or may be building up to toxic levels.

Edit: Forgot to include the link...http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/mar2003/chem.htm
 
I tend to agree with them liking pristine water quality, bright light and moderate flow.But obviously that varysFrom reading some are deep water some come from shallower water as well as more lagoonal areas.
If somethings off they are very quick to show it,certain types definately more than others.

I dont know if any of this will help but just things Ive noticed.
Armor of gods are one of the more sensitive Imo so Ill use them here
Lack of light they get the stretch thing going on like stretching towards the light
Even less light and they stretch and the heads get smaller.
In "range" but fluctuating parameters to much like alk and they wont grow.Moving them around and they wont grow sometimes for a while
Low alk. the tentacles around the polyp wither downwords.pretty much all my zoas will show this with low alk.
zoas that have 2 tones are good to show if they are stressed ,watermelons, eagleyes if you look at the center of a healthy polyp it should be symetrical.If not they are stressed by something the colors will look disfigured and not perfectly round sign of stress imo.
To much flow I dont think they like either,mine will open but wont grow.

nudibrachs can be very tough to spot they usally have the identical color of the polyps their munching on.Id do a dip series if you start to lose polyps even though you dont see anything.

I have pics if you think the'd help of the stuff mentioned.
 
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zoas and palys hate me also,I have horrible luck with them..But I love them so much..It's quite the dysfunctional relationship :(
 
i had a really hard time at first. i believe i had a predator. i'd slowly lose a polyp at a time. i went zooless for six months. lately they do well in less than perfect conditions.
 
Just my 2 cents. Ive only been in the hobby 2 years. For whatever reason I can't explain why but Zoas and Palys actually do much better in *dirty* water. Less then pristine. They grow like crazy and thrive. I feed with a heavy hand so that might be it as well. Which also contributes to the water condition. When I say *dirty* it isn't actually dirty just less then pristine ;)

The Zoas I picked up from Dan and Brent at the ABC swap all have double or more in polyps in one month. I'm happy with that.
 
yeah I do feed on the heavy side as well.You may be right about them liking dirtier water I really dont know.I cant help noticing palys dont grow at all for me unless I feed directly. Zoanthus<----(for the politically correct :) Ive never seen eat anything even though I've tried to directly feed them.

Reading now through this thread again it does kinda make sense as people often report positive effects from dosing carbon sources.That sorta fits in with them liking dissolved organic nutrients like vit c ,vinegar,vodka.
I guess my assumption was that they were more autrophic like sps.

-neoz the ones I got from the swap have done well, along with what I got from you a few months prior.
 
im my 55g display, i am a heavy feeder as well as vit c. I agree that zoanthids liking a nutrient rich enviroment. Also i used to use tap water instead of ro/di, well my brother who watched the tank did and that stunted growth to zero.
 
Lugol's is a great dip. Iodine used to be added to xenia to get it to take off. Probably should never add anything to the tank that you don't check the levels on (or at least I had been told).

Had zoa's and palys for about ten years. My PPE went from one polyp to a colony of over 70 with several frags at this point. Have lost colonies that were very dear to me. Have had others that grow with complete neglect and dirty water.

Make sure no one is eating them!!!!
 
re: Why do zoos hate me so much?

all zoas or specific types? (ie: Protopalythoa)

IME you can't kill some of these things even if you try....
 
my apologies for the last response.. the past few weeks have been a little rough on the family.

Thanks to everyone for their responses. I am going to take another look at my tank to see if something is off. Right now I only have a decent mix of SPS, LPS and soft. Just about all of my zoos have melted away. The only ones that have survived is a real small patch of about 8 heads that are being shadowed by a larger rock on top.
 
In my experience over the years...
Zoa's LOVE fluorescents
Palys love more light.
And what one colony likes another wont.

My advice would be to try different placements.
 
Zoanthidae include: palythoa, protopalythoa, zoanthus and a few others. The first two demonstrate a feeding response and live in a variety of conditions including turbid water. The last are usually high reef animals which demonstrate no feeding response and live naturally in very clean water.
Upper reef water is around .005ppm PO4 and >0.2NO3. Lagoons and deeper water can be much higher.

Some of these animals may come from areas of estuarial run off where variable salinity may play a role. Others may have some symbiotic relationship with surrounding sponge . So without knowing where the animal came from, it's difficult to genralize about their care requirements.

FWIW, my zoanthus do very well under high/moderate light and moderate flow in water with low nitrate and phosphate( NO3 <0.2, PO4 < .05ppm) without feeding.
The protopalythoa and one palythoa I have tolerate a bit less light and do like to be fed.

I suspect zoanthus gain some energy to supplement photosynthesis from absorbing organics since they don't actively feed. Mine seem to like the extra organic carbon available from vodka and vinegar dosing . Ascorbic acid( Vit C) also provides a carbon source but I'm not inclined to dose it for other reasons including it's antioxidant qualities and the fact that it is a sugar acid. My lps corals don't like monomers(sugars) and several studies associate coral mortality with high levels. Maybe ascorbic acid offers a carbon benefit to zoanthus but vodka and vinegar are lower on the bacterial digestive ladder(anaerobic digestion process)and seem to meet any needs for extra organic carbon with less risk.

Dipping in freshwater and/or Revive can help remove pests such as zoapox.
 
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