zoapaly guide

[Ghxst]

Hey all,

I'm looking to put mostly zoas n pals in the new tank. Prob with, leds and a lot of flow (components are still in the works). I've read a bunch about much with zoas care but was hoping we could get a care guide with things you guys do that seem to make zoos and pals happy. examples, what critters n cucs do you use, how does aqua scape effect them, they do better with sunrise n set modes, reef wave action, magic foods, ect. Any thing helps and if we can muster enough Intel I'm sure we can have a nice club sticky. Ohhh and pics to support your offerings would make this all the better. Thanks!

 

[asn-naso]

I think they do better with semi-dirty water, and have had great luck with LEDs.

 

[Ghxst]

Ah yes dirty water! I have a tank that is clean and it grows sps well but not zoas. So I was thinking that this next build should not have a skimmer and keep up on water changes to pin point the happiness of zoas. I am wondering if there are better dirty waters than others as far as what food offerings should be given to zoas. When I feed the rest of my tank oyster eggs and tiny red shrimp all of them have a reaction except zoas. I noticed if I leave my skimmer off for a few days the softies look better, do they just absorb the food in the water?

Good to hear on the leds, I made that choice after a lot of reading. And I'm recycling used parts

 

[FinsUp]

I'm moving most of my zoas out of my 180 because Mike keeps our system too clean for them, I think. They're going into the nuvo, which I'll be maintaining undoubtedly in a much less spotless condition. I'm also moving the rics and shrooms into the nuvo, as well.
Now that I think about it, I may have to get some sticks or something to fill in my tank. It's gonna be empty!

 

[Ghxst]

Nice! Cindy will you be using a fuge only for the nuvo? I am looking to dial this tank for softies, which sounds the same as your guys build. I was wondering if the zoas would be good with a simple natural filter.

 

[FinsUp]

I'm gonna run the nuvo as is, no separate fuge beyond the back compartment.

Which reminds me... I need to update the build thread.

 

[Ghxst]

Cool, Ill check out the thread when your updated! I was thinking of adding a back compartment or a canister type fuge, still debating.

 

[jda123]

I have a super clean SPS tank - no detectable N or P ever. Z&P will double in size every 2-4 weeks in the system. I had 1 polyp of Rainbow Rhino bought on Dec 7th - now I have 6 of them. Got 3 polyps of Spiderman - now have about 12 in 7 weeks. I have about 600 polyps of Tubbs Zoas that started from 2 in Jan 2013. Clean systems can grow zoas just fine. There could be other reasons that they are not growing, so check elsewhere... lots of high quality light and SPS water parameters work for me... they will grow ever faster if I put them up right under the 14k phoenix, but they mostly stay on rocks in the sand.

 

[FinsUp]

I have a super clean SPS tank - no detectable N or P ever. Z&P will double in size every 2-4 weeks in the system. I had 1 polyp of Rainbow Rhino bought on Dec 7th - now I have 6 of them. Got 3 polyps of Spiderman - now have about 12 in 7 weeks. I have about 600 polyps of Tubbs Zoas that started from 2 in Jan 2013. Clean systems can grow zoas just fine. There could be other reasons that they are not growing, so check elsewhere... lots of high quality light and SPS water parameters work for me... they will grow ever faster if I put them up right under the 14k phoenix, but they mostly stay on rocks in the sand.

Good for you.

 

[Ghxst]

I wish we could make a club zoa guide with personal methods sections! That sounds great, I wonder if Zoas grow from the MH lights just as well as an led tank with dirtier water.....hmmmm

I appreciate the info so far, I will def be logging my experience to the T, even thinking about using it for a project I have to do for an environmental class.

So I read that Palytoxin is bad from a lot of sources especially here (and don't doubt it) but there was an article last night i read stating that palytoxin can lead to increase tumors... crazy!

Back to the zoas and looking good, I turned up my mp40 to high (in a tiny tank) and blew up a corner of my sand bed over a week. There Is a ton of small algae outbreaks but my Zoas grew two heads! I'm thinking that when I get the zoa tank going these will have to be the first ones added.

 

[FinsUp]

I think Chad should head up that effort, as our resident zoa expert! We can pay him in adulation.

 

[SynDen]

I think Chad should head up that effort, as our resident zoa expert! We can pay him in adulation.

+1 to that

 

[Ghxst]

Adulating.....

 

[Ghxst]

While were doing that here is the same Zoas nearly 2 years ago. I went to this place called reef stock to get them, was 7 heads now there's 15. Really slow growing, which is fine, over all health seems good though.