Easiest/hardiest zoas?

Kaisentlaia · Apr 10, 2021

Hey everyone, I come looking for advice. I have a 3.5g pico that has been through some stuff and is now on the way to recovery.

I have a cabbage leather and a couple of mushrooms that are doing pretty well all considered, and a noid zoa that has been slowly recovering after being smothered by algae for months. I did get a couple of frags (a zoa and a paly) but shipping took two days and my water parameters were quite off (I was using the wrong salt). All this stress took a toll on them and they are not doing well.

Still, when the water parameters will be back in check I'd like to get a couple more frags in the hope that faster shipping and better water quality on arrival will give them a better chance at surviving. There are a few morphs that I really like and can get online for cheap:

Watermelon
Tutti Frutti
Bambam
Lord of the Rings

I'm still not confident in my chances of keeping them alive and happy so I'm aiming for something hardy and forgiving that won't break the bank if they don't survive either the shipping or myself.

In your experience, which of those if any are the most unkillable and resilient to fragging, shipping and general noob mistakes?

DDenny · Apr 11, 2021

What are your water parameters? Zoanthids do like a little nutrient rich water. What lighting to do have some of the bright color morphs are uder heavy actinic lighting to get those colors to pop for pictures.

Kaisentlaia · Apr 11, 2021

DDenny said:
What are your water parameters? Zoanthids do like a little nutrient rich water. What lighting to do have some of the bright color morphs are uder heavy actinic lighting to get those colors to pop for pictures.

Thanks for your reply! Currently I'm at

1023sg (planning to raise it to 1024-1025)
alk 8.9 dKh (I'll probably lower it down to 8)
temp 77F
ammonia/nitrites 0
nitrates 1-2ppm (trying to raise them with daily feeding, ordered some reef roids too that will hopefully help)
phosphates 0 (same as above)
12w leds (6w white + 6w blue) on for 10h/day with a midday break, planning to get a 20w Fluval nano marine pretty soon (both the Kessil A80 and the AI Prime are too expensive for me right now and I think they'd be overkill in such a small tank anyway)

DDenny · Apr 11, 2021

I have the AI Prime 16HD on a 4 gallon as they are completely adjustable but yes they are a little expensive. You could look at the for sale forum for used primes. Amazon had the aquaknight light that would probably be better that are like $70 or so that would probably be better light. What test kits are you using to get your parameters? Other that salinity ( I keep my tank at 1.025-1.026) they look ok. I am trying to keep my Nitrates between 5-10 with detectable phosphates.

Kaisentlaia · Apr 13, 2021

Sadly I'm in EU so my choice in lighting is pretty limited. No ABI par38 bulbs, a few used AI prime but still quite expensive and from less than reputable sources. Here on the forums most are from the US and shipping here would be too expensive.

I'm planning to get the Fluval because the few reviews I saw are pretty decent, it has a good amount of color channels, it has a sunrise/sunset feature, it's programmable through an app, it's waterproof, and 20W are an improvement compared to my current 12W. For softies, a duncan and some less demanding zoas it should be okay I hope.

DDenny said:
What test kits are you using to get your parameters?

I'm using salifert for everything aside PO4 which is a JBL, and I have a refractometer for salinity (which I was meanwhile able to gradually raise to 1024). I just ordered a couple of easy corals (GSP and a ricordea) at my LFS, I want to see if getting some corals without the stress caused by long shipping times will allow them to do better in my tank.

Wasabiroot · Apr 13, 2021

Kaisentlaia said:
Thanks for your reply! Currently I'm at

1023sg (planning to raise it to 1024-1025)

alk 8.9 dKh (I'll probably lower it down to 8)

temp 77F

ammonia/nitrites 0

nitrates 1-2ppm (trying to raise them with daily feeding, ordered some reef roids too that will hopefully help)

phosphates 0 (same as above)

12w leds (6w white + 6w blue) on for 10h/day with a midday break, planning to get a 20w Fluval nano marine pretty soon (both the Kessil A80 and the AI Prime are too expensive for me right now and I think they'd be overkill in such a small tank anyway)

I would say that it's fine to stay at 8.9 dKh. It's better to keep your alk stable in a small range than chase a number. I think as long as you have SOME phosphates you should be ok. Especially considering the tank is that small - may be difficult to get parameters exactly where you want them. I would be careful and only feed a small amount of reef roids.