Do Zoas like CLEAN or DIRTY water best? Let's put this one to rest!

revhtree · Aug 24, 2012

There has always been a debate on whether zoas and palys will thrive better in a "clean" or a "dirty" tank better.

So do Zoas like CLEAN or DIRTY water best and what is your proof?

tampasnooker · Aug 24, 2012

The most prolific tank I keep is one that defies all the rules. It's a 75 with 4 x T5HO, a pump that puts out about 400 gph and is heavily overfed with Spirulina flakes. Rics and zoas cover every surface and the only algae growth is in the anthelia "prefilter" that coats the overflow box.

I think that most true zoanthid species prefer to get their nutrition (aside from photosynthesis) from dissolved nutrients rather than solid particles, which is why the dissolved and broken down spirulina flakes fuel that tank. Another notable is that this is the only aquarium that I have had long term success with z sociatus - the funky teal, blue and neon green ones from the FL keys - which typically starve/melt in a few weeks. While this tank lacks the flow that their environment has, it does have the nutrients. Z sociatus grows on bridge pilings, jetties and other very high energy areas.

Ninjapotamus · Aug 24, 2012

I have tried quite a few systems and can comment on this. Its a matter of NUTRIENT availability and not "clean vs not clean". Take an established reef tank with clean water and healthy fish load. Put zoas/palys in it... the water may read near 0/0 nit/phos but they will still thrive. Why is this? Fish solid/liquid waste is providing them with the nutrients they need. However... attach a frag tank to the SAME system and put no fish in it and see what happens... The water will be 100% the same but some of the zoas/palys will do very poorly. I have seen quite a few people build frag systems off of their display and to keep it clean they wont put any fish in there. "The zoas in my display are doing great... but the ones in the frag tank are not". Dont underestimate the importance of your fish waste! There are quite a few studies about the massive zoanthid growth near fish farms in the ocean.

Tanks that have both low nutrient water and a lack of inhabitants from my experience will do poorly with zoas and palys. Zoas/palys that are not active eaters will do the worst. Zoas/palys that can grab their food will do OK if you feed them. otherwise you will run into a lot of problems... mystery melting... smaller zoas doing horribly, etc.

Tanks with high nit/phos water can perform better and seem to keep both zoas/palys of all sizes and feeding responses quite easily. A dirty tank with low lighting is also an AMAZING remedy for newly imported rocks that are still beat up/stressed. Polyps will get MUCH larger in this type of tank.... However there are problems. Algae/cyano can become a major issue during the initial setup, but tends to lessen over time. My recommendation is to have a LARGE cleanup crew and to let them get the algae in check before adding too many frags.

Lateral72 · Aug 24, 2012

Zoas prefer a STABLE tank. Whether that's clean or dirty really doesn't matter, IMHO.

Ninjapotamus · Aug 24, 2012

Of all my corals I would say zoas/palys are the most flexible when it comes to stability. I can take a frag out of one of my tanks and throw it in three different systems and it will open in each of those tanks within an hour. Try that with any other coral.... My biggest zoa/paly frag tank ATO has been broken for 3 months now and I simply do a large topoff each weekend... the salinity in the system has huge swings and yet the zoas/palys are doing better than ever.

Stability certainly cant hurt... but from my experiences its not nearly as important as other factors.

tropicaltrav · Aug 25, 2012

i prefer a clean system with the main chemicals mag cal and alk all stabilizing( that means stabilizing anywhere, i keep my cal at 450, my mag at 1350 and my alk at 9.6).. as long as they are stable then everything will take off and grow like crazy.. i have 2 frag tanks that are plumbed together in my garage and a display in my house.(seperate plumbing) and my tank grows everything like wild fire.. for example i just put a clementine in my system 2 weeks ago and im already spitting multiple babys rastas i fragged the same day.. same thing.. pretty much how it goes for everything in my tank.. i have 1 clown and that just recently went in because my gf had 4 and 1 got picked on.. so im nursing it back to health.. other than that ive never had any fish in my system.. and i am also growing sps in this same system and everything is doing awesome..

robert · Aug 25, 2012

Zoas and palys put little (if any) demand on cal/alk/mag. For these, stability anywhere as tropical says is fine in my experience.

pH/salinity stability isn't too important either. Zoas and palys don't seem to be nearly as sensitive to abrupt changes as other corals. Chronic instability, meaning large out-of-range swings on a daily basis will waste them however, as I understand this causes internal osmotic imbalances, which the zoas/palys resist through the release of internally produced molecules - proteins and/or carbohydrates. Constant swings, resulting in the release of these molecules, essentially starves the zoas as their metabolism cannot keep up. I learned this the hard way when a leaking sump went un-noticed for a while, everything just got smaller and smaller - some bleached - before I found the cause.

Temperature and light requirements seems to vary quite a bit among the various zoas, and along with nutrient levels, and seems to be key to their proliferation. When introducing something new, its helpful to have several frags to place in different areas to see which environment they prefer.

Ninja's point, that zoas/palys can thrive in both clean or dirty tanks, provided that periodic nutrients are available agrees with my experience. Most zoas and palys seem to do well in high nutrient tanks with or without ancillary feedings. In clean tanks (those kept close to 0 nitrate/ 0 phosphate), the periodic release of fish wastes is sufficient for them to grow. Without this, many varieties which are not inclined to catch particulates will simply disappear.

I posted this: https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/reef-aquarium-discussion/94612-ana-monies-gon-i-o-popas.html
The coral propagator in this video makes a point of explaining that his success is dependent on feeding the fish in his system - not the corals.