Stupid Newbie Question #2 - Lights and Zoos

[Fido]

Ok, sorry for more stupid newbie questions, but....:drumroll:

I have 260 more watts of PCs on their way right now, bringing my total up to 452 watts (All Aqualights, and going with a 1:1 Daylight/Actinic ratio). Tank is anywhere from 20-22" deep, depending on how the sandbed is. Obviously I have a bunch of LR (a 'mere' 176ish pounds of the damn stuff!). Will my Zoos (getting some soon!) do fine with this?

[OUinLA]

I was also curious as to how much light Zoos require, how hardy they are and basic care for them.

I was also curious about how they reproduce/spread (meaning how rapidly). I have never had any but I want to try them out. Any info is appreciated.

[Easily Distracted]

It seems like different zoos have different requirements. You will have to experiment with placement for current and lighting to find out for sure. I have a couple of colonies of zoos that were under some pretty strong light, and when I moved them lower in the tank, with a gentle current, they took off. I also fragged some different zoos and moved them to an eggcrate shelf right under a halide in a really strong current. A couple of them have really taken off. Like I said, I think it depends on the zoos.
If you get a frag from someone, ask them what worked for that particular zoo in their tank and go from there.:)

[ez1ez]

Zoo's are very hardy. They have the ability to survive in many different lighting situations. I have orange zoo's that are growing in the corner shaded by a LR shelf. the pinks didn't like that spot but they like being up top in medium water flow. it is always good to have more lighting than to little. check out www.wetwebmedia.com/zoanthid.htm they have some great info. goodluck

[flamehawkfish]

Fido,

I'm not sure if you mentioned the size of your tank (i.e. 125g, 150g- it must be big if you have almost 200 lbs of live rock).

3 points to consider when dealing with zoos- lighting, water-flow, and water quality. Your lighting seems to be plenty (depending on the size of your tank). Water-flow is up to you. If you throw in 7-8 small powerheads, you won't need to depend on one giant pump. Also, a gentle flow will encourage your zoos to exand, reproduce, and spread. Lastly, water quality is important. Zoos like a trace of nitrate, stable pH, and regular water changes; spot-feeds of phytoplankton always helps, too.

So, remember lighting, water-flow, and water-quality, and you should be all set. Good luck!

Flamehawk

[Fido]

I have a 92g corner tank. Yeah, lots of LR, huh? Just going with what LFS said...I probably would have gone with a little less if I had known, but no matter. Lots of biological filtration and hiding spots for my shrimp :D

Anyway, I use my return from my sump (900gph, but realistically more like 800+/-, breaking surface), two 400gph powerheads and one 176gph powerhead (breaking surface). I have a good brisk flow throughout the tank with no dead spots that I can find (I'm lucky there are even low flow spots...erg). With a corner tank and so much LR it's hard to position everything, but I finally got it how I like it. The two larger powerheads are positioned at each straight wall pointing towards the curved front along the wall. Each has it's stream broken by a piece of LR close to the outlet. Each is pointed slightly towards the surface, with one more surface pointed than the other. I have some pretty good chaotic flow, although there are areas where it is predominately flowing one direction, and then for no reason will flow the other direction for a bit (that's current for ya!)

[ez1ez]

Water Chemistry and Physics: The sea mats and polyps that are zoanthids are far more tolerant than other cnidarians to waste accumulation and otherwise less than ideal water conditions. Nonetheless, minimal nitrate (less than 10ppm), phosphate (one ppm) and undetectable ammonia and nitrite should be your target.

Circulation: Practically speaking, zoanthids cannot receive too much water movement. Such flows should be chaotic; that is, not consistently blasting from one direction.

Lighting: Many of the species of zoanthids kept by aquarists are hermatypic, living with endosymbiotic zooxanthellae within their tissue. These forms appreciate moderate to intense lighting; either metal halide or shallow placement in settings with adequate full-spectrum fluorescents.

[flamehawkfish]

Ez1Ez,

Good break-down of zoo conditions & care. When I mentioned traces of nitrate, I should have stipulated that virtually undetectable amounts are desirable.

Fido,

I know that you already invested in your equipment, but I'd consider ditching that sump. Maybe you could work out a credit with your local fish store. 92g is already a lot of water. Zoos don't need heavily dilluted water. Furthermore, you have so much live rock, you don't need a sump to help with the nitrogen cycle. If you decide to stick it out with those 400 gallons/hour pumps, think long and hard about a power outage- the enemy of any aquarist with a sump or wet/dry. Honestly, 3-4 hang-on-the-back skimmers and a handful of powerheads would handle your needs, and you'd never have to worry about flooding your tank. That peace-of-mind can be very comforting.

The lighting is right-on, and with 170 lbs of live rock, you could really assemble some cool caves and perches- upon which you could display your zoos close to the light.

I

[Fido]

The powerheads are in my tank, they're not gonna flood anything :D

I bought the wet/dry when I was still taking advice from the LFS. I'm going to turn it into a refugium type sump (say bye-bye bioballs).

Got my Zoos and extra lights today. Everything is cool :)

[ez1ez]

NO BIO BALLS!!!! I agree with Flamehawkfish no sump but a refugium is always good, with a deep sand bed and lots of macro's

[Fido]

I'm doing it in stages so as not to shock the system. A few of the BBs come out at a time. Some Macro will soon be growing in part of the wet/dry under some water. Hopefully it won't be too long before I can throw some sand in and have a nice refugium area going. It's already nice and divided in two, so the rest should be easy.