zoa only tanks?

[cilyjr]

does anyone have any full tank shots of a zoanthid only tank. i have a 40 breeder just laying around doing nothing and was thinking i might set it up.

[killingseed]

i kinda do, mostly zoa's only there are some shrooms and a couple sps's i got last month which may end up in an sps only tank i might start.

[cilyjr]

can i see a picture please!

[killingseed]

i have a couple images here.

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1279014


some other images

[stevelkaneval]

haha i like the soundtrack on your vid.

[cilyjr]

cool, thanks for posting...

[geoxman]

I have a few zoanthids in my tank.

[chris0942]

geoxman thats an understatement

[cilyjr]

geoxman...pics please......i need to be convinced that a zoa tank is the best way to go....maybe i should mention that i am gonna put an angler fish in. other than that i have no fish plans

[audio101]

Why limit yourself to one type of coral?

[cilyjr]

i already have a 90 mixed reef....i have more room now in a new house.....i plan on doing a top down viewed anemone tank as well (in a few months).... i have a great wife that says that as long as i keep it downstairs she don't care what i build!!!! also i think keeping certain corals in separate systems limit the chemical warfare that will inhibit growth.... at first i was going to do an all SPS tank but there are about 1 million of them i decided to do something less done and zoa colors are really unmatched!

[ricordia nut]

here is my 12 gallon nano

[pepino]

i was about to said to ask geoxman his tank is pretty awesome some really cool zoas where are you?????

[TKByrnes]

here is my aquapod 24

[TKByrnes]

and some more

[islandcreation]

Here's my 24 gallon nano cube before it cracked! Never will trust JBJ again... Loved the tank setup.

This was when it was first setup with larger to smaller frags from my bigger tank. 250 watt HQI phoenix with two 16 watt actinics.

[cilyjr]

cool...do you all worry about certain zoas taking over some others?

[islandcreation]

I have never had that problem. For me, even though I have two colonies next to one another growing they have never taken over another colony. I don't think that can happen? If it does I'd love to see pics of their mate growing over another.

[geoxman]

I worry about quite a bit but have pretty much let nature take its course. I do some fragging and moving around but once another more invasive polyp encroaches on another and gets on the rock of the other polyp, I pretty much give up, as it is too much work.
If you start just a polyp dominated tank just keep a sharp eye on your more invasive polyps. Experience and trial and error will let you know with your system, as too which those are.
One other word of advice if you go forth with your idea, use rubble rather than plugs when buying frags. Some say they spread faster on a flat surface but I have not found that conclusive-plus they look a lot more natural when aquascaping.
I wish you the best of luck if you go forward with your new tank idea.
good luck
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1274521

[scatty25]

nice zoas

[cilyjr]

geoxman i actually saw your tank awhile back and it got me considering a top down viewed tank. my biggest reservations were light reflection off the water surface making it hard to see. and flow creating a lot of surface aggitation also making it hard to view. what did you do if anything to combat these issues?

[cilyjr]

also i have been using the rock rubble approach for most of my frags as i also like the natural look. i have not noticed a difference in growth either (i have frags from the same zoa colony on rubble and a frag disk) but i have found it is easier to frag from the disk than from the rubble. they cut easier and lift off the disk surface easier as well.

[geoxman]

I have tried many of lighting on these tanks and the only one that put off too much of a reflection was a tek t5 unit I tested out. It was not overwhelming but you could see the bulbs in the water, so it was annoying.
With the MH there is little to no glare depending on the angle. I also am using two pendants on this tank.
The best set up, as far as least reflection, was when I was running a SE 20k XM 400W on an m59 with a lumenarc reflector. I went to the two 250w DE because the spread was not enough with the one lumenarc and posterior polyps were really reaching for the light.

The flow is a but tricky and it takes a lot of moving your power heads and returns to just the right spot so the currents are not colliding, except lower in the tank. I had a very tough time because of the clam in the center in trying to maximize flow. It just took a lot of tinkering with height of the returns as well as the Seio's.

In my tank now I think I am around a 70x turnover as far as flow goes and I can see very little ripple effect on the top of the water. It is also key to keep the flow wide and not in a stream.

I really prefer the top down view it a really different approach to viewing and seems more natural-like you are looking down at a reef lagoon in the ocean, rather than through a piece of sterile, man made glass. It might not be for everyone but I sure like it!

You are more than welcome to PM me your design plans for the tank you are thinking about. Size, depth etc.. and I can give you some advice on the best place for returns and a few more tid bits in order to help you achieve the max flow with the least ripple effect on the surface. I have experimented way too many times to count on 3 different top down view tanks. good luck

[nalbar]

Originally posted by geoxman
use rubble rather than plugs when buying frags. Some say they spread faster on a flat surface but I have not found that conclusive-plus they look a lot more natural when aquascaping.
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1274521

Yep!




nalbar