Zoas, why such variation in recommended light/flow rate?

[ebranger]

I can’t be the only one confused by this. I’ve always thought of most zoas as low flow/low light. Just got some Gatorade zoas (and a couple of other zoas) over the thanksgiving holiday. WWC recommends medium light and high flow. For the same same zoa, TSA and others recommend low flow and light. what the heck? That’s a big difference. Why does WWC recommend much higher on the flow and higher on light as well?

 

[AJsReef]

The reality is Zoas can grow in just about any condition. I recall seeing a thread where someone grew them in a glass jar with only ambient light

 

[ebranger]

While that may be true, if there was ever to be an argument made for low light and low flow, you just made it with that example?

 

[zoaprince]

The reality is Zoas can grow in just about any condition. I recall seeing a thread where someone grew them in a glass jar with only ambient light

maybe if you're growing pandoras. Theres many different types of zoas. Some are very hardy; others will melt if you look at them the wrong way.

 

[fryman]

Different zoas like different lighting. And possibly flow too but ime zoas generally like good flow, and higher is usually better

But for light I have some zoas that like 400+par, which would kill most of my other zoas. If I put the high light ones in lower light like a "normal" zoa they stretch out like 3x which looks ugly to me. So if I see that I move them to more light. Most zoas prefer low or medium light, ~50 to 150par and will shrink up if they get too much.

 

[ebranger]

Different zoas like different lighting. And possibly flow too but ime zoas generally like good flow, and higher is usually better

But for light I have some zoas that like 400+par, which would kill most of my other zoas. If I put the high light ones in lower light like a "normal" zoa they stretch out like 3x which looks ugly to me. So if I see that I move them to more light. Most zoas prefer low or medium light, ~50 to 150par and will shrink up if they get too much.

Seems about my experience. All of mine are at in pretty low light in various flows from low to medium. I tried putting some Eagle Eyes about mid tank, and they melted within a couple of weeks. Just seems strange to me that WWC recommends so many for medium/high light and high flow. In my (admittedly very limited) experience, that level of light for most zoas is a killer. If anything, I’ve had to move some lower. And my lighting is much lower than a lot of sps-dominated tanks.

 

[ZoWhat]

Zoanthids grow at varying depths in the wild under vastly different conditions.

Some Zoanthids grow in very clean reef water while other grow next to sewer waste pipes just offshore

Zoanthids are a true mystery bc they are all so different, much like comparing Caribbean Palm Trees to Canadian Maples

 

[ebranger]

Totally makes sense that different zoas need different conditions. But in terms of recommendations by different sites, using your example, it’s like having one site recommend a Caribbean Palm tree’s preferred habitat being a tropical island, while another recommends the Canadian tundra. A Caribbean Palm tree is a Caribbean Palm tred…am k wrong?

 

[polyppal]

Zoas are very different from specimen to specimen. Some may love low light and others tolerate heavy par, I've noticed all of mine like med-low to low flow though....

Id start them out on the bottom low flow, and slowly move them into more demanding spots until you can see they aren't happy.

 

[AJsReef]

Totally makes sense that different zoas need different conditions. But in terms of recommendations by different sites, using your example, it’s like having one site recommend a Caribbean Palm tree’s preferred habitat being a tropical island, while another recommends the Canadian tundra. A Caribbean Palm tree is a Caribbean Palm tred…am k wrong?

May be worth asking the sellers, I'd wager that they write their recommendations based on conditions the specimens experience in their tank/grow outs. If so following recommendations on where they were purchased would likely yield best results in terms of acclimation.

 

[Fishinabarrel]

Zoanthids grow at varying depths in the wild under vastly different conditions.

Some Zoanthids grow in very clean reef water while other grow next to sewer waste pipes just offshore

Zoanthids are a true mystery bc they are all so different, much like comparing Caribbean Palm Trees to Canadian Maples

And THAT is why we don't put palm tree syrup on our pancakes.

 

[mdb_talon]

Totally makes sense that different zoas need different conditions. But in terms of recommendations by different sites, using your example, it’s like having one site recommend a Caribbean Palm tree’s preferred habitat being a tropical island, while another recommends the Canadian tundra. A Caribbean Palm tree is a Caribbean Palm tred…am k wrong?

Because they are all giving their personal recommendations based off their experience and likely where they keep them. Then factor in the fact that some people define "low flow" or "low light" different ways The surprising thing to me would be if they all recommended the same thing.

In any case all recommendations should be taken as a guide....one that you adjust to based off their health in your tank.

 

[mike89t]

Zoas remind me a lot of my ex girlfriends.

Each of my ex's were unique and each had their own separate needs. I've had ones that were really skinny and never grew but were very high maintenance. I've also had ex's who were very low maintenance and grew like weeds. I had ex's that didn't get along with each other and constantly battled each other. At the same time I had ones that got along just fine.

I finally found one that I really liked but she has taken over the entire house now after 20 years. Not sure what to do about that?

Hope that helps.

 

[Jbyrd71]

My Zoas are all over-extended. Need more light?

 

[polyppal]

My Zoas are all over-extended. Need more light?

They’ll Shrink back with more light, if they look happy and big you might’ve found the sweet spot

 

[dk2nt9]

Seems about my experience. All of mine are at in pretty low light in various flows from low to medium. I tried putting some Eagle Eyes about mid tank, and they melted within a couple of weeks.

To be on the safe side, use light acclimation, placing coral frags starting from low light and moving higher if they stretch a lot. Give them some time to adapt, more than hours.

Magnetic frag rack is useful for this, easy to move up or down, but it will be on the side of the tank, where light intensity is lower.

 

[Timfish]

WHatever coral you get it's best to match the lighting and environmental conditions they grew in. A species will have genotypes that may have differing requirements. Two specimens of the same species/genotype may also have different species of simbionts that require different environmental conditions.