General Zoa care question

[Thraciandrummer]

Hi all,
So my 125g tank has been up for about a year now and it is doing quite well. Got a bunch of healthy fish in there, levels are great, etc. I figured it was time to start dabbling in some easy to keep corals, so my first choice of course were Zoas. I have watched these Zoa forums for a while now and have been fascinated by how awesome these things are. Last weekend I went out to a reputable LFS in my area and picked up a colony of Red People Eater Zoas. The colony has about 30 polyps on it and has seemed quite content so far in my tank. The polyps are nice and opened up when the lights are on during the day and gently close up at night when the lights go off (generally 10 hours of light each day). So what I am looking for is just a the basics here. Should I be feeding these Zoas? I get mixed answers when I ask this question, but I'd like some opinions. Do you feed your zoas and if so what and how much/often? Anything I should look out for when keeping these zoas? I am planning on adding more and different types of zoas in the near future. What are your favorite Zoas? What Zoas would you recommend to add to my tank along with my Red People Eater Zoas?

 

[saltyphish]

You should not need to feed your zoas. They like dirtier water than sps so some nitrates is good. Actually mine seem to do better the higher my nitrates are, mine is at 15ppm. I do target feed them with either reef frenzy or reef chili about once a week. I would recommend rastas, scrambled eggs, sunny d's, fruit loops, and blue eyed blonds too name a few. In all honesty go with what you like look wise not by names and you might save some cash.

 

[Ahruk]

+1 to what salty said.

 

[joshporksandwich]

I don't feed my zoas, just make sure your fish are well fed and their poop will feed them. In my opinion zoas do great when your parameters are steady. No specific parameter will make your zoas better or worse. Once your zoas are used to a specific enviroment they will do great. Here is a thread with my top 20 favorite. Most of them are very common, cheap and easy to find.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/top-20-favorite-zoas.205973/

 

[Thraciandrummer]

Awesome! Thanks for the feedback thus far. My Zoas seem to be doing great. Is it normal for them to close up at night when the lights go completely out? Other than that they are opened up all day when the lights are on.

My water parameters have been very steady for the entire time I have had this tank running so far (just about a year). Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate all 0 and PH around 8.2. I test my water weekly and enter the information into an app that produces charts for me. Everything is very steady.

 

[Ahruk]

Yes, it is totally normal for them to close up at night. If they're light my red people eaters you might want to look at them under a blue light while they're closed up because they actually look green, it's really cool (none of my other zoas have that green color when they're closed up). May want to start considering looking into testing and dosing alk and calc as you start getting more into coral (this is especially important if you have a lot of coralline algae growing in tank). While zoas don't need calcium, they do like stable alkalinity.

 

[Thraciandrummer]

Ok good to know. What's the best way to dose calcium and alkalinity?

 

[Ahruk]

It really depends. I'd start off by watching the BRS videos on dosing just to get an idea about all the methods (kalkwasser, 2-part and calcium reactor) then start reading up in more detail about the one that sounds most appealing to you.

 

[twilliard]

I don't feed mine anything but light and stable water.
When they get going they don't stop. Here are my Eagle eyes that started from a 6 polyp frag about 8 months ago.

 

[Thraciandrummer]

Wow, that's beautiful. I have LEDs on for 10 hours a day so I think they get a good amount of light. I definitely want to get a few more small colonies. I hope th y start multiplying soon.

 

[twilliard]

Wow, that's beautiful. I have LEDs on for 10 hours a day so I think they get a good amount of light. I definitely want to get a few more small colonies. I hope th y start multiplying soon.

They will.
I have found some grow out much faster than others.
Just keep an eye on them and strategic placing is key

 

[Thraciandrummer]

I have mine place almost in the center of the tank next to a big piece of live rock, so hopefully they'll flourish. I definitely want to get a colony of Rastas though. Does anyone purchase these online? What's a good site to purchase from? None of the LFSs by me have Rastas

 

[twilliard]

I purchase all my coral from Scott at unique corals

 

[ToddM]

I've recently inherited a colony of unidentified zoas. It has green-ish zoas that look almost bleached in the middle and zoas that have red outter fingers and brown/black centers that appear to have lost most of the red in the center. Is it possible that in my system with ample lighting and good parameters that they would get their color back?

 

[Gamma]

AquaSD is a very reliable source for zoas and reasonable too!

Question...so everyone says zoas like a little nitrates but I never even have a trace. Am I doing too much of a water change...75g 4' DT with 20g sump and I weekly change out 15g from sump and 5g from DT.

Perhaps I don't feed enough...alternate daily feedings with frozen mysis and seaweed extreme & garlic New Life Spectrum pellets. My fish eat just about everything I toss in.

I also alternate every other day ...marine snow & Nutri/Cell.

I have a really good Reef Octopus skimmer that really cleans things up well.

Any thoughts or am I just worrying for nothing...most of my corals are doing okay but colors are weak which could also be my lights. Two marine leds and dual T5 with actinic and 12k. Thought I might add an additional dual t5 since I have plenty of room...really want the new kessil but my budget just can't afford it.

 

[Harold Green]

I've found the main issue with zoa's is light. Many sps tanks have too much light intensity for zoa's. I have to place mine in more shaded locations with the exception of the red, orange, and pink zoa's that seem to handle the higher lighting. Button polyps, the lower the light levels the browner they are, more light more green color. The best thing about zoa's is you can leave them alone and over the months watch them grow and multiply. Feeding isn't necessary but will encourage faster growth. Stay away form zenia's, anthelias, yellow polyps, green star polyps, unless you can isolate them from the rock work in the tank. They will overrun most of the tank if given a chance. I'm losing the battle to zenia right now as it is popping up all over my reef.

 

[Thraciandrummer]

What's the best way to handle your zoas? I have read that they are extremely toxic and even deadly. The first time I put mine in my tank I used my bare hand, which from what I've read could have been a really really bad mistake.

 

[Harold Green]

It doesn't hurt to be careful and wear rubber gloves. Just be sure they are clean and dedicated to the tank only. I use a large pair of stainless tweezers to frag zoa's but have never had an issue handling the zoa rocks bare handed. Still they can be very dangerous especially if you have even a small cut where the toxins can enter. Now for the warning. Several days back I reached into the refusium and pulled out a handful of macros. Later that day my hand began to itch and half a dozen welts came up like ant bites. I have no idea what I came in contact with but I won't be pulling macros bare handed again.

 

[Thraciandrummer]

Yea I generally go into my tank with bare hands and I ink I am going to start changing that habit. I have a lot of cuts on my hands so I am not messing around with that.