What Does It Take....

[jmc74]

ok, here is a question for the O.G's here...

what does it take to grow zoanthids fast enought to supply?

I mean there is a guy in santa rosa that sells zoanthids for about $20 per frag, and he constantly advertises on Craigslist, also I get very often an email from EliteReefs about their $10 per frag of very colorful zoanthids... if I bought a good amount of samples, and I wanted to grow them fast and maintained their colors, what exactly do they need, i mean lights, water paramenters, etc.

I don't want to do it for $, but it will be nice to see if i can get a large colection for trade, im into the hobbie for fun, not profit, and some of this people are in for the money, I had a great time at the swap, so if I can create a good grow tank for zoanthids, I would like to bring a large amount to the next swap in 6mos.


thanks
Juan

[delsol650]

I'm an avid zoo / Paly lover...

Some just grow faster than others.. I really dosn't matter wether your water quality is ZEOVIT ( 0 ) nutrients or dirty ( not good skimmer, feed heavy, don't do regular WC's, etc )... some reports that zoos grow better in dirtier water, while some say they grow no matter what... same as lighting.. they're kept from PC's all the way to 400watt MH's.

Some say as well, pruning the other zoos in the colony also helps them grow more... Some of my palys grow more from feeding of soft mushed pellets, some zoos grow more from phyto feedings too.. it all difers as all our tanks are different and not 1 is the same...

[jmc74]

so, If I add a let's say 36x18x8 to the side of my 4x2x1 that in using to begin SPS frags, and connect them togheter, will it do better or worse to my SPS, my tank only has been running about 3 months, and Im finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunel... ALGAE!! finally going away... and i have not lost any but 1 frag in the last 30 days, also the colors on the tips are starting to get there...

and one more, since you said the light didn't really play a role on the paly's and zoo's , should i get PC's, T5, VHO or single MH? im tring to maximize the potential, but I need to save on electricity

[delsol650]

I'm a T5guy, more potential for diffent looks in light ( by just chaning 1 or 2 bulbs out of 8 ) , plus I can basically grow anything... from SPS to Zoos/Palys.

My Tek T5 is 432 watts... ( 8x54watts ).... I run a full reef, mixed zoos, palys, LPS and SPS.. you can check out my gallery for pics. I haven't hooked up my calcium reactor yet so coral grow is minimal to how much cal/ I dose.

BTW, SPS dosn't like dirty tanks.. the cleaner your water and steadier your water parameters, the better they will grow... more light the better... my light loving SPS frags are actually on the top of the tank..5" from water surface..

[jmc74]

hmm.. because my main tank, has been running for a little more than 2 yrs, and my SPS grow is ok, my lights are dual 250w 14k phoenix DE & 4x 65w PC actinic blue, and I have several types of zoo's and they don't grow too fast, maybe because I don't feed them often, I feed my corals 1x week, but my fishes (14) eat 2x a day, and I can really keep my nitrates below 20 (thanks wife) she wanted all this fishes...

so I started a fish FREE, 60g custom frag tank 3 months ago, I have a Euroreef RS80 on a 50g sump, I also just added for the alage, a 18w UV sterilizer and a phosban reactor, since I added the UV, about 2 weeks ago, my skimmer has been pulling about 3/4 cup of the most disgusting crap ever, it smells like raw sewage or worst.

so I know it is doing something right, because the algae is declining, and my Montis are getting a purple color on the edges and some even on the flat area...

[Cozen89]

As Delsol said, some just grow fast, others don't. I bought a couple frags at the same time, feed them both equally, have them in about the same height in the tank. One has tripled in polyps, the other has only grown 2 polyps.

I do notice if you frag off a small part of a colony, you will see some growth, but then again, that might be because you can tell the difference from 4 polyps to 8 rather than the difference from 60 to 70.

Maybe other more experienced zoo keepers can give you some more insight.