Zoa garden essential equipment list

[davidadelp]

Im just trying to get a feel for what everyone believes is must haves when it comes to maintaining a zoa garden that makes the Zoas grow to their full potential and multiply.

I have a 4bulb t5 fixture and plan to switch to ATI bulbs and was wanting to know everyones recommendations on the bulb combo in this fixture I want the Zoas to glow and not just look plain.

I plan to eventually get Vortech MP10es so that will be my flow but for now I have 2 aqueon 950 powerhead which produce alot of flow in my tank.

Is there recommendations as far as if I need a doser or not? If so what would I primarily need to dose?

 

[davidadelp]

Really 67 views and no advice at all?!? Come on help a guy out! lol

 

[Bpb]

Also eagerly awaiting replies for you. I also have 4 bult fixture with ati bulbs and many zoa frags, but am getting very little growth. My problem is that running higher nutrients seems to promote algae growth instead of zoa and paly growth. I don't understand how some people run tanks with no refugiums, low flow, mutiple daily feedings, explosive zoa growth, and zero algae. I cannot wrap my brain around that. I run a refugium, short photoperiod, skim like mad, barely feed, yet algae is smothering everything.

 

[slin1977]

Everyone's experience might be different.
My zoas growth is a result of my attempt to keep SPS, therefore the basics of excellent water quality, good flow and stability make zoas grow too.
My personal belief is to run things as close to natural seawater parameters with the use of high quality artificial salt mix with RODI water. Furthermore in my opinion a 10 percent water change weekly can exchange those elements that get exhausted.

What would you dose in your tank and why?

 

[A. Grandis]

Im just trying to get a feel for what everyone believes is must haves when it comes to maintaining a zoa garden that makes the Zoas grow to their full potential and multiply.

I have a 4bulb t5 fixture and plan to switch to ATI bulbs and was wanting to know everyones recommendations on the bulb combo in this fixture I want the Zoas to glow and not just look plain.

I plan to eventually get Vortech MP10es so that will be my flow but for now I have 2 aqueon 950 powerhead which produce alot of flow in my tank.

Is there recommendations as far as if I need a doser or not? If so what would I primarily need to dose?

I believe in stability, clean tank, target feeding and good lights!!!
That's just for the very basics!!
Experience will teach you lots!!

What type of spectrum do you like? I ask that because people here will tell you
what they like. If you get good bulbs the zoas will thrive.

I would get 3 Blue Plus bulbs and a Coral Light or a 10.000K.

Gradis.

 

[A. Grandis]

Also eagerly awaiting replies for you. I also have 4 bult fixture with ati bulbs and many zoa frags, but am getting very little growth. My problem is that running higher nutrients seems to promote algae growth instead of zoa and paly growth. I don't understand how some people run tanks with no refugiums, low flow, mutiple daily feedings, explosive zoa growth, and zero algae. I cannot wrap my brain around that. I run a refugium, short photoperiod, skim like mad, barely feed, yet algae is smothering everything.

Your tank probably needs nutrient balance. Perhaps the system is too young. Wait and things will get better...
Forget refugiums. LOL!! Waste of time, space and money.
Target feeding once or twice a week is a good choice.
Find the stronger skimmer you can get for your size tank.
Moderate to strong flow!
^ Light bulbs posted before. ^
Be patient, love, stability, maintenance.

Grandis.

 

[A. Grandis]

Everyone's experience might be different.
My zoas growth is a result of my attempt to keep SPS, therefore the basics of excellent water quality, good flow and stability make zoas grow too.
My personal belief is to run things as close to natural seawater parameters with the use of high quality artificial salt mix with RODI water. Furthermore in my opinion a 10 percent water change weekly can exchange those elements that get exhausted.

What would you dose in your tank and why?

Well, Water changes depends on how much bioload you've got in the system.
That is the relationship between living organisms and area available.
Most young tanks would do well with like 10% of partial water changes once a month.
Now, when that tank gets full of cnidarians, clams and fishes the picture changes...

Grandis.

 

[davidadelp]

Also eagerly awaiting replies for you. I also have 4 bult fixture with ati bulbs and many zoa frags, but am getting very little growth. My problem is that running higher nutrients seems to promote algae growth instead of zoa and paly growth. I don't understand how some people run tanks with no refugiums, low flow, mutiple daily feedings, explosive zoa growth, and zero algae. I cannot wrap my brain around that. I run a refugium, short photoperiod, skim like mad, barely feed, yet algae is smothering everything.

Well see I have a refugium just cause its part of my sump so I put one in its not that expensive just used some of my live sand and broken up rock. im still waiting for my light to get here then I will start collecting slowly

Everyone's experience might be different.
My zoas growth is a result of my attempt to keep SPS, therefore the basics of excellent water quality, good flow and stability make zoas grow too.
My personal belief is to run things as close to natural seawater parameters with the use of high quality artificial salt mix with RODI water. Furthermore in my opinion a 10 percent water change weekly can exchange those elements that get exhausted.

What would you dose in your tank and why?

I intend to do water changes regularly and I would probably dose some calcium and a few things because I would like to eventually add a few clams and LPS like frogspawn and hammercoral.

I believe in stability, clean tank, target feeding and good lights!!!
That's just for the very basics!!
Experience will teach you lots!!

What type of spectrum do you like? I ask that because people here will tell you
what they like. If you get good bulbs the zoas will thrive.

I would get 3 Blue Plus bulbs and a Coral Light or a 10.000K.

Gradis.

well I dont know what spectrum I would like I just want the best one to make Zoas thrive and glow. I had someone else suggest that very combonation of the bulbs so that will more then likely what I go with.

I keep seeing that high nutrients in a tank will really make them thrive well what exactly kind of nutrients? Is it things that you could add to the system in order to help? I also seen where high end skimmers can actually work against a Zoa tank because it will actually pull alot of the nutrients out of your system. So what exactly isnt considered a high end skimmer that would work against you? Im looking at getting the 179.99 reef octopus skimmer maybe the 110 model? im not sure.

Also for target feeding your zoas, how often to target feed them? whats the best to feed them? Ive heard good things about reef chili but wasnt sure if thats the best thing to use for Zoas.

 

[82ndengineer]

The problem with " high " nutrients in a reef setting are still lower than what most people consider normal in their home tanks. The reefs in their natural settings are very low nutrient levels. So when someone says zoas like dirty water you have to think in relative terms. It would be like going to a semiconductor factories clean room( the reef) and then a hoarders house ( most peoples idea of a high nutrient system compared to a natural reef.) If you do regular water changes with a good quality salt , run a decent skimmer and don't feed to crazy you should have good growth. I would spot feed just before a water change to eliminate accumulation in your tank as well.

 

[A. Grandis]

Well see I have a refugium just cause its part of my sump so I put one in its not that expensive just used some of my live sand and broken up rock. im still waiting for my light to get here then I will start collecting slowly




I intend to do water changes regularly and I would probably dose some calcium and a few things because I would like to eventually add a few clams and LPS like frogspawn and hammercoral.



well I dont know what spectrum I would like I just want the best one to make Zoas thrive and glow. I had someone else suggest that very combonation of the bulbs so that will more then likely what I go with.

I keep seeing that high nutrients in a tank will really make them thrive well what exactly kind of nutrients? Is it things that you could add to the system in order to help? I also seen where high end skimmers can actually work against a Zoa tank because it will actually pull alot of the nutrients out of your system. So what exactly isnt considered a high end skimmer that would work against you? Im looking at getting the 179.99 reef octopus skimmer maybe the 110 model? im not sure.

Also for target feeding your zoas, how often to target feed them? whats the best to feed them? Ive heard good things about reef chili but wasnt sure if thats the best thing to use for Zoas.

The high nutrients they're talking about is basically organics.
That statement is not true at all and you shouldn't wish for excess nutrients in your systems in order for the zoas to thrive. Just keep in mind that many others have great success with zoas in very low nutrient systems full of amazing SPS corals.

You could use many different types of additives in your tank. That's another personal taste and many people use different additives. It's good to do a search and study about additives, then decide if you would want to try or not. Everyone will tell you their different story.

I would get the very best skimmer you can afford and will fit your system.

There are many corals foods out there and again, would be great for you to do a search and decide what you want to try out.
If I tell you what I like, others will tell other things, and so on...

Here is a link where I've posted something about it:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2167572
Not everyone here likes, or even think it is necessary, to feed their polyps.

Grandis.

 

[82ndengineer]

I think with a smaller tank additives really aren't necessary if small regular water changes are done. I personally would like to start spot feeding my zoas and see wether their growth rate changes as opposed to a control group that wasn't.

 

[MadCoral]

Just to bring this to the top, My zoa garden is a 15 gallon, closed system, 4 bulb t5 3 blue plus 1 coral plus. 2 power heads for flow. I run no heater, (temp hangs around 75/76) no skimmer, 2 fish 1 six line, 1 convict tang, fed daily. I do biweekly 4 gallon changes.. My zoa growth and color is outstanding. Just my 2 cents. simple is good. I do want to add that during my water changes many zoas are exposed to air. they seem to grow quicker. maybe only chance.

 

[eg8r210]

well I dont know what spectrum I would like I just want the best one to make Zoas thrive and glow. I had someone else suggest that very combonation of the bulbs so that will more then likely what I go with.

I keep seeing that high nutrients in a tank will really make them thrive well what exactly kind of nutrients? Is it things that you could add to the system in order to help? I also seen where high end skimmers can actually work against a Zoa tank because it will actually pull alot of the nutrients out of your system. So what exactly isnt considered a high end skimmer that would work against you? Im looking at getting the 179.99 reef octopus skimmer maybe the 110 model? im not sure.

Also for target feeding your zoas, how often to target feed them? whats the best to feed them? Ive heard good things about reef chili but wasnt sure if thats the best thing to use for Zoas.

This might come across wrong but for as much info you get on RC that is helpful you are going to wade through the exact same amount that is BS. I say this because no one actually quantifies anything and hides behind subjectivity. Two people will say high nutrients and it means something totally different to both.

If you want your zoas to grow then give the tank time to mature, go slowly and make sure your parameters are stable. If you are only doing zoas and plan on doing regular water changes then I seriously doubt you will need to dose anything. Your water changes should be sufficient. My experience on growth, understand this is in my tank not someone elses, is that more white equates to faster growth, more blue better colors.

As for target feeding, try it out a few times and see if you get any reaction from the coral? If they grab something and close up right away that is a great sign. Try doing it again and see if it happens regularly. Make sure though that they are closing up with food in them and it is not just a defensive mechanism. I use an auto-feeder for my anthias so I have added reef-roids to feed the corals and anything else interested in that food. Since I am broadcast feeding 3 times a day I don't bother with the target feeding and I have been quite happy with my growth. Again, that is quite subjective since my "happy" might not be the same for you. I have some corals that grow slowly and some that are weeds (not counting the actual weeds like pulsing xenia). I highly recommend feeding. You will read/hear from plenty of people that will tell you the light is all the corals need. That might be true in their tank but you will find the same number of people that recommend feeding to speed up growth. I am on the "feed" side.

Good luck!

 

[danimal1211]

As far as food goes, I've recently been feeding Fauna Marin Zoa/Acan food and every coral in my tank (ricordea, zoas, duncans, leptoseris) readily eat it. Even smaller zoas. I've only been feeding them once per week because its messy every time I try to feed them, but I can say they are definitely eating it.

 

[wireefman]

fwiw, i broadcast feed my corals/frags 2x per week using a variety of stuff.. salmon/mussels/shrimp/nori/oranges/mysis/brine/krill/cyclops/silversides and garlic.. and im sure im miising a few ingrediants.. i chop all the big stuff up and blend the crap out of it so that i get all different sizes. when the lights go out ill wait 30 min and shut off all pumps.. add a little bit just to get a feeding responsce... then another 10-15 min later when all polyps are out i dump a nice ammount it.. 3/4"x 3/4"... thawed out in tank water... tank has had corals for 6 weeks or so now and my growth is off the charts with a vast majority of my coral... oh and i do use a swc 180 skimmer on a 70 gal cube... to make sure anything that goes uneatten does get removed... my pumps are off for a good hr in total time

i have also found some corals like diff light spectrums.. my PEs, hawian sticky punch, sunny d's and a few others really like the red and green bulbs in my leds... example: i got a 3 polyp frag fresh cut, of the sticky punches about a month ago... i now have 5 polyps with 7 more sprouting...

lps/zoa/palys/softies are in my tank...

 

[greg1786]

Everyone's experience might be different.
My zoas growth is a result of my attempt to keep SPS, therefore the basics of excellent water quality, good flow and stability make zoas grow too.
My personal belief is to run things as close to natural seawater parameters with the use of high quality artificial salt mix with RODI water. Furthermore in my opinion a 10 percent water change weekly can exchange those elements that get exhausted.

What would you dose in your tank and why?

I agree completely. I got a bunch of zoas as my first corals and they were pitiful. I brought them to decent quality with a little effort but when i started keeping sps and fine tuned everything, they exploded with growth and color. I also run a 4x54 watt t5 ho fixtute but with all geisemann bulbs. My combo is actinic plus x2, pink coral plus x1, and 15k blue plus x1. My best piece of advice for you is that all zoas are different in terms of where they like to be placed. I have a decent zoa garden in a moderate flow and moderate light area. I also have a few colonies down on the sandbed because they hate alot of light and prefer low flow. I had one colony that stayed closed for almost two months because i couldnt find what it liked. It finally opened up when i put it in a low light are with a TON of flow, like super sps type flow. So get your water quality down pat and keep it nice and stable. Then when you add your zoas, be open to the fact that the first or second place you put them may not be best for that particular zoa. Move them around once every two weeks if your not getting the full porential you know they have until you find the perfect spot for em. Heres a few of mine, each colony in these pics started out as one or two browned out polyps and with good stable params and a little persistence turned into this...

..... Good luck!!

 

[SantaMonica]

I'm on the feeding side too. More food particles, the better.

 

[aries426]

I know this post is old but I recently got the new Coral magazine. There is a main article on Zoanthid caring. The article is by Claude Schuhmacher and in his exact words he states that over the years he has found the following water parameters to be advisable:

pH 8.2-8.4
Calcium 400-440 mg/L
Magnesium 1,250-1,350 mg/L
Alkalinity at least 7.5-9 dh (Zoanthus tolerate low alkalinity poorly)
Temperature 75-80 F (24-27 C) (with the exception of subtropical species)
Nitrate up to 10 mg/L
Phosphate up to 0.08 mg/L

There is also other issues with zoanthids, he talks about the best way to frag them, lighting, target feeding, toxicity and tips/tricks for propagation.

Hope this helps and again this is one man's opinion and I did not do this research.

 

[davidadelp]

Well back at the sw tank I go so bumping this thread to the top maybe to get some new ideas and keep me from failing again

 

[greg1786]

Well back at the sw tank I go so bumping this thread to the top maybe to get some new ideas and keep me from failing again

What happened man how did you fail?