How do I get my zoas to grow nice and fat?

[_pabloperetti]

Hey all, im doing great on growth but I’d like for my zoas to grow nice and fat. Is there any specific way to get them growing bigger? TIA!

 

[James M]

feedings and good lighting

 

[Jettareefer223]

Utilizing nutrients and low par blue light (they really prefer it and they look their best)

 

[vetteguy53081]

High blue coloration, feed reef Roids and coral frenzy moderate water flow and no pests = happy zoas

 

[_pabloperetti]

feedings and good lighting

I stopped feeding reef roids but I can’t tell you exactly why I stopped tomorrow I will feed again. Thank you!

 

[_pabloperetti]

Utilizing nutrients and low par blue light (they really prefer it and they look their best)

Just raised my light a bit because I had it a bit too close off the water surface and they seem to love it. I’ve got 6 bulb T5 fixture and I’m running 1 actinic blue, 2 blue plus, 2 coral plus, and 1 purple plus all ATI. Zoas look great and grow great. I just want that nice big polyp look so I’ll start feeding and take a look at the results within a few months. Thanks for the input

 

[Ponraj A]

Apart from good light, I am also using Sodium ascorbate that is Vitamin C two times a week.
It helps.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Also add seachem FUEL twice a week and lugols iodine 2x per week

 

[Jettareefer223]

Sounds like a plan! What brand fixture and how far off the water is it?

 

[Jettareefer223]

Also add seachem FUEL twice a week and lugols iodine 2x per week

+1

 

[_pabloperetti]

Sounds like a plan! What brand fixture and how far off the water is it?

I have a pretty shallow frag tank so the corals are 3-4 inches into the water so I have my lights at roughly 20 inches off. my light is a 6 bulb T5 aquatic life fixture running ATI bulbs. 1 actinic blue, 2 blue plus, 2 coral plus, purple plus.

 

[A. grandis]

Hey all, im doing great on growth but I’d like for my zoas to grow nice and fat. Is there any specific way to get them growing bigger? TIA!

To start... the physical appearance as to "grow nice and fat" will be totally relative to all of us due to our levels of experiences and species we keep. That is what dictates differences of those "ways to make them fat". Your LFS will teach you one way and they will show you how they do. If that's the only place you see zoas, that is what your references are. Just keep that in mind.

To do your very best in order to get "good looking fat" healthy zoas:
1) Make sure your system is mature and in proper balance.
2) Offer the qualities of light to resemble the natural environment.
3) Stability of basic water chemistry with more than acceptable values, using tests.
4) Offer proper water motion and temperature.

In addition: quarantine all organisms to avoid pests and diseases and make sure to choose the right tank mates in order to avoid irritation/predation. To dip is not to quarantine.

Food particles aren't necessary. It could help a lot in some cases, but we can achieve excellent results without offering any food particles to the zoas if the list above is at it's best. In fact too much feeding will give you detrimental water conditions and most likely work against your wishes in the long run when you don't know how to administrate that. All zoanthids will eat food particles and if you choose the right food for your polyps, that will be great. Problem is that many people have no common sense and has no patience doing that. If you expect fast definitive results offering food particles to your zoas you need to slow down.

Water quality: reef parameters. Test at least your Alk, Mg and Ca to keep their values in good balance and stable. No magic numbers here. Just keep them withing the ranges and stable. Do not dose without knowing the numbers. You could shoot your toe in the darkness.

Iodine, Potassium, amino acids, vitamin C, and other additives have their places, but be careful dosing those. They aren't necessary and work more as remedies.

Greatest problem today in regards to lighting a reeftank IMO is truly with the use of LEDs as the primary (and many times the only) source of light. LEDs won't offer everything cnidarians, including zoanthids, need to utilize to reach it's full potential in a close system. I don't care how people would love to make it work with their LEDs and how much they focus their visions in their own results to be satisfied. I and others tried that already. They survive and grow, yes. Problem is they don't get to their best no matter what. Again, if you see it as a matter of taste (if you like LEDs for looks) or even "necessity" (using electricity consumption and heat as excuses to use your LEDs) you will keep your LEDs and be happy with your results. You should be fine with that and say: "they grow just fine". If you actually compare to other artificial sources of light (T5 and metal halide) you will understand and see the truth. Unless we compare and experience results we can't judge, right? So when we have everything else "working really good" and the light is somehow compromised we won't be able to get it to it's optimal. I strongly believe that lighting is more than 60% of your success in having your zoas (and all the other cnidarians and giant clams) "nice and fat", colorful, healthy and reproducing.
Be aware of false propaganda from any company selling those LEDs by comparing their products to other artificial sources of light, showing off their "amazing results" and basically condemning T5s and halides. Application and efficacy are critical using any fixture over your system. Using each light accordingly to what they were designed for is a must.


Dipping the colonies or frags: know what the problem is for sure and search to see what type of dipping you need to apply for that specific problem. If you don't know what's going on don't use anything to dip. Too often we see in forums people just dipping their frags or colonies without knowing what they are doing.

So to end my thoughts... and to avoid writing a book, it is also very relative when you think of "fat zoas" too, cause everyone could have a different vision of the subject.
Search and you will find out more...
Take care.

 

[A. grandis]

Apart from good light, I am also using Sodium ascorbate that is Vitamin C two times a week.
It helps.

This is a great example of a person that truly believes to be offering "good light" to the system. The polyps are reaching towards the heavens for light and the colony is showing abnormal structure formation due to the lack of proper spectrum and intensity. I'm sorry to use this as an example. My intention isn't to fire nor put you down, but help. We see this more than often. It's so sad that posts like this has been the norm in regards to light.

 

[A. grandis]

High blue coloration, feed reef Roids and coral frenzy moderate water flow and no pests = happy zoas

Not a rule. Best fat, healthy, reproductive, colorful, growing zoas I've ever kept in my live were under 6500K bulbs, not blue. So that is not what makes them fat and healthy, necessarily.

 

[A. grandis]

Utilizing nutrients and low par blue light (they really prefer it and they look their best)

One more myth! Again, best conditions I've ever had were using high PAR bulbs with the right bulb and the correct photoperiod, with proper fixture application, one can have "huge" PAR, like happens in the ocean, and still get the very best out of their zoas. So, low PAR is not an absolute rule per say.

 

[A. grandis]

Just raised my light a bit because I had it a bit too close off the water surface and they seem to love it. I’ve got 6 bulb T5 fixture and I’m running 1 actinic blue, 2 blue plus, 2 coral plus, and 1 purple plus all ATI. Zoas look great and grow great. I just want that nice big polyp look so I’ll start feeding and take a look at the results within a few months. Thanks for the input

You could have that fixture very close to the water surface if you want and still have amazing results. ATI fixtures are designed to be from 1" up to ~12" from water surface. I'm not a fan of Purple bulbs. They won't add anything important to your combo besides the visual appearance. I would get another Blue Plus instead. ATI doesn't make any "actinic blue" bulb. I think you made a mistake writing that and you probably meant the ATI True Actinic, wich is a great bulb for your combo. Enjoy the T5 magic!!!! You have one of the best fixtures we can get in America!

 

[chrisgun]

So, low PAR is not an absolute rule per say.

What do you consider low PAR?

 

[Lorenzo Angotti]

Apart from good light, I am also using Sodium ascorbate that is Vitamin C two times a week.
It helps.

Hi, What do you call these zoa’s I have identical ones, started with 2 heads and I have about 28 now

 

[A. grandis]

What do you consider low PAR?

Would be better to ask what he considered low PAR.
I know for sure that what I used (2 X 250W bulbs) over a 55gallon tank isn't considered low PAR among many.

 

[blasterman]

Greatest problem today in regards to lighting a reeftank IMO is truly with the use of LEDs as the primary (and many times the only) source of light.

More luddite anti LED clap-trap that needs to be ignored / banned. I've grown all my zoa gardens under LED for years, and all the high end Zoa/paly vendors I buy from use LEDs, etc. Would you like more pictures of my tanks? Pretty sure this is the same guy in a couple other forums giving the same bad advice.

Metal halide / fluorescent tubes have narrower spectrums than LED systems at daylight values, and none of our artificial light sources, other than plasma sulfur have full spectrums. This is why the entire commercial lighting industry is dumping those old tech light sources. The out-put of artificial light sources is not an opinion either but a measured quanta and based on industrial standards. I have a spectrometer if you would actually like to see the energy band of a T5 vs any LED you wish.

Zooxanthellae algae don't care about light sources - they only care about photons and energy values. Ask a marine biologist.

_Pablo - my best advice is to ignore the advice from somebody telling you not to use LEDs for paly/zoa and attend some large frag swaps and talk to the big vendors selling fat and healthy colonies. They are all running LEDs. Attached is a pic from one of my old grow out tanks with a pile of scrap LEDs I quickly cobbled together on a spare power supply

. Within 6 months the tank was so over grown I had to get rid of it.