BB or DSB for zoas?

[hoyta]

Hello all! I have become obsessed with zoa in the last couple of months. i was originally going to make my tank SPS dominant, but I think its going to be zoa dominant now
My set-up is this- 65 gallon RR, with symp, Aqua-C EV 150 skimmer, 80 lbs of liverock(some of it is baserock right now, tried to save some money) 2x 820 seios, and I have 2 extra mj1200's, one with a high flow mod on it. Lighting is from a 36" fixture with 2x65 w pcs and 1 250 watt de MH.
My main question is this- What type of snad beds work best for zoas? I've seen alot of pics lately of people doing bb with zoas....

Thanks in advance!-Adam Hoyt

[geoxman]

I have never been a fan of zoanthids but if I were to have a tank of them I would do a medium to small sand bed and not run a skimmer, no carbon or purigen, have a large refugium, medium to high flow, feed more than Thanksgiving dinner and have about 8-12 watts of very intense light. I prefer 20k. I am very serious about everything stated above except-"never being a fan of zoanthids"

There are a million ways to skin a cat, but this how I run my new system.

I ran a skimmer on the previous-but not this one. good luck

I have never skinned a cat, only a catfish!

[jski711]

i like a 3-5" deep sand bed, i really think this is personal preferance rather than having any affect on the tank. if your "feeding more than thanksgiving dinner" and not running a skimmer and not keeping up on water changes that could bring bad results imo. as far as lighting i don't like the 20k bulbs, i think the colors look "fake" too much blue spectrum. i run t-5's on my 75g and have really nice coloration especially on my bam bams. i also have a 24g nano that i just have a pc on and the colors in that tank are great imo. good luck.

[geoxman]

jski711 I do about 20% change every 2 weeks. I do not have the option of 10k with actinic as my tank is top down view. I do not rely on the SB to reduce nitrates mine is just for looks. It has been up for about a month and there is no algae. I also have a huge fuge and sump-much larger than the display 3x3x10

I fed more than Christmas tonight and everything is good.
I feed this mixed with OJ, chromaplex, oyster eggs, phyto, pollen, cyclopleze, and a little bit of horse manure and planting soil.
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...24#post8791724


I have a octopus RC 200 that I choose not to use-but this is based on results. I am not a newb and this is just my experience.

As I said before there are many different ways to skin a cat--I just prefer Horse manure, pollen and uber light. good luck!

[geoxman]

OH! I forgot, I am running a 400w 20K XM SE on an M59 and have had very good results, but this is on a very shallow tank. I have been kicking around the idea of a 1000w 20k but I cant find enough info on the bulbs-good luck!

[BS]

Originally posted by geoxman
I have never been a fan of zoanthids

I almost choked

[BS]

Originally posted by geoxman
jski711 I do about 20% change every 2 weeks. I do not have the option of 10k with actinic as my tank is top down view. I do not rely on the SB to reduce nitrates mine is just for looks. It has been up for about a month and there is no algae. I also have a huge fuge and sump-much larger than the display 3x3x10

I fed more than Christmas tonight and everything is good.
I feed this mixed with OJ, chromaplex, oyster eggs, phyto, pollen, cyclopleze, and a little bit of horse manure and planting soil.
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...24#post8791724


I have a octopus RC 200 that I choose not to use-but this is based on results. I am not a newb and this is just my experience.

As I said before there are many different ways to skin a cat--I just prefer Horse manure, pollen and uber light. good luck!

don't forget the BS....... and is that OJ with pulp or without?

[edwing206]

I have never been a fan of zoanthids

I though someone got the password to your account cuz I've seen pics of you tank and it is PACKED with zoas. haha good one.