Zoa growth

[Hillerd86]

Anyone got any tips to help encourage zoa growth? I've got acans, montis, euphylia and a bunch of other all happy growing. However my 4 zoa frags (ranging 4-10 polyps each) never really seem to grow more polyps.
I've have had frags for about 6 months and they appear happy and open but they have maybe grown one new head each in that time.
Salinity = 1.025
Temp = 77
Nitrite/ammonia = 0
Nitrates = 10ppm

It's a 20gal nano tank so keeping the nitrates below 10 is tough. Do about 10% water change weekly.

 

[Olefreebe]

Weekly water change is life in 20g, I feel your pain. Best of luck with the zoa growth I will follow for suggestions myself.

 

[Lizdoesreef]

All zoa's have different growth rates. They are probably the easiest coral to care for. They can thrive in almost any Condition. Some of the high end ones grow super slow, hence their price tag.

 

[Jvalle]

hi an improtant factor for zoa growth is iodine. I noticed this make a difference thx

 

[JustDewwit]

What specific type or names if zoas do you have?

 

[Hillerd86]

What specific type or names if zoas do you have?

Pink zippers, citrus cooler and a few random ones that I'm not sure of the name. Pics attached.

 

[jkap]

I have a 40 gal tank with 3 different zoa types (GB Packers, Fire and Ice, Blowpop). They are all right next to each other so they see the same light, flow and parameters but they all act differently. The GB is always open. It is the first to open in the mornings and last to close at night. However, all of the heads are relatively small and I haven't noticed any growth. The Fire and Ice seems to be very sensitive. I rarely see all of its heads open at once and it will close up as soon as there is any change in light or water conditions. The Blowpop is typically always open. It has the largest heads by far and I have seen growth even though I haven't even had it for a month.

I just recently started using Reef Roids on them once a week so we will see if anything changes.

 

[Hillerd86]

I have a 40 gal tank with 3 different zoa types (GB Packers, Fire and Ice, Blowpop). They are all right next to each other so they see the same light, flow and parameters but they all act differently. The GB is always open. It is the first to open in the mornings and last to close at night. However, all of the heads are relatively small and I haven't noticed any growth. The Fire and Ice seems to be very sensitive. I rarely see all of its heads open at once and it will close up as soon as there is any change in light or water conditions. The Blowpop is typically always open. It has the largest heads by far and I have seen growth even though I haven't even had it for a month.

I just recently started using Reef Roids on them once a week so we will see if anything changes.

Yeah I would be curious to see how they respond to the roids. I was always hesistant since I was afraid of adding too much nutrients to my small 20gal tank.

 

[JustPoprocks]

My nightmares have grown 5 heads this week alone I don’t do anything fancy, I keep Acans 50-60 types of Zoas, Euphyllia and even a clam. May not sound the best but my nitrates are like 50ppm. I dose iodine daily and strontium 2 weekly. I also feed a mix of reef roids and reef chili, coral vitalizer, and LRS Almost daily.

 

[Hillerd86]

My nightmares have grown 5 heads this week alone I don’t do anything fancy, I keep Acans 50-60 types of Zoas, Euphyllia and even a clam. May not sound the best but my nitrates are like 50ppm. I dose iodine daily and strontium 2 weekly. I also feed a mix of reef roids and reef chili, coral vitalizer, and LRS Almost daily.

5 heads in a week is crazy! I was imagining since I was doing the weekly water changes that I would be replacing all the minerals/iodine/etc just from that. Is there a way to determine if I need to dose?

 

[JustPoprocks]

Iodine I would just follow the bottle. Zoas love the stuff. Another thing I do A lot of people Don’t is direct feed one a week, I turn off all the pumps and just dust them with the reef roids

 

[Nanorock1970]

Iodine, reef roids, amino acids...I have a softie tank and I feed my corals every other day. Using Kent Marine iodine with the daily dose. .04 Ml for 50 gal daily. Your nano tank might be hard to dose daily but it does have the weekly dose rate on the bottle as well.

 

[Everything Aquatics]

some of my zoas grow faster than others feeding helps

 

[PicassoClown04]

I have a 20 gallon tank. Reefroids dosed 4 inches or so very gently above the zoas with the pumps off for 10-15 minutes so they have time to eat has made all the difference. Make sure to remove hermits from the area before you do reefroids because they just crawl on the zoas and make em mad. Almost all of my zoas started at 1-4 polyps, it’s only been 2 months and all of them (with the exception of a particularly stubborn blue hornet) are now well over 7 polyps. Medium flow is key as well, and they don’t like too much light (why I moved mine to the bottom, they’ve been doing much better since) hope this helps!

first FTS is the day I got almost all the frags on the right side, second is from 1-2 weeks ago

 

[Henryb9]

They actually grow faster with less water changes..

 

[JustPoprocks]

I have a 20 gallon tank. Reefroids dosed 4 inches or so very gently above the zoas with the pumps off for 10-15 minutes so they have time to eat has made all the difference. Make sure to remove hermits from the area before you do reefroids because they just crawl on the zoas and make em mad. Almost all of my zoas started at 1-4 polyps, it’s only been 2 months and all of them (with the exception of a particularly stubborn blue hornet) are now well over 7 polyps. Medium flow is key as well, and they don’t like too much light (why I moved mine to the bottom, they’ve been doing much better since) hope this helps!

first FTS is the day I got almost all the frags on the right side, second is from 1-2 weeks ago

The light thing depends much more on the type of Zoas. I have some that prefer much higher light. I’ve found for me at least the smaller polyp Zoas seem to like more light.

 

[Hillerd86]

Thanks for all the responses everyone! Really great info. I'm going to start trying some of them and see how it goes. I'll keep everyone posted!

 

[littlebigreef]

I'm seeing some good info all around. In my experience regular dosing of iodine (lugol's specifically) does indeed help growth. I regularly broadcast feed reefroids and phyto. Zoas do benefit from being in environments with slightly elevated nutrient levels. I'd noticed after I added an achilles all the zoas went nuts due to the extra feedings I was doing. After he acclimated I dialed back and the zoa's reaction was pretty obvious. Now I just keep my tangs fat all the time. Being in a 20 gal you'll just have to be careful about dialing in the nutrient input. Additionally, you didn't include a number for phosphates but you'll wanna take a look at those as well. Like nitrates, slightly reading levels of phosphates are a good thing. Also a factor is the age of the aquarium. "Cycled" and "matured" aquariums are two different things. It's my opinion that it takes at least a year for most aquariums to fully mature and support all the micofauna ie pods, worms, starfish etc. These little guys factor into the system not only because they are breaking down waste but they're also putting their eggs and stuff into the water. Your corals, in turn, feed on that organic material as well. Zoas and lps, specifically, benefit from being in a mature aquarium. So that's another factor to consider. Finally, the lighting. Depending on the specific strain of zoa some actually do better in very low par 80-110. Ones like mohicans, as$kraks, wolverines struggle in higher par. None of the ones in your collection are temperamental but, it is something to consider as you build out your collection. At the end of the day I think it's just a matter of time and finding that 'nutrient sweet spot.'

 

[Hillerd86]

I'm seeing some good info all around. In my experience regular dosing of iodine (lugol's specifically) does indeed help growth. I regularly broadcast feed reefroids and phyto. Zoas do benefit from being in environments with slightly elevated nutrient levels. I'd noticed after I added an achilles all the zoas went nuts due to the extra feedings I was doing. After he acclimated I dialed back and the zoa's reaction was pretty obvious. Now I just keep my tangs fat all the time. Being in a 20 gal you'll just have to be careful about dialing in the nutrient input. Additionally, you didn't include a number for phosphates but you'll wanna take a look at those as well. Like nitrates, slightly reading levels of phosphates are a good thing. Also a factor is the age of the aquarium. "Cycled" and "matured" aquariums are two different things. It's my opinion that it takes at least a year for most aquariums to fully mature and support all the micofauna ie pods, worms, starfish etc. These little guys factor into the system not only because they are breaking down waste but they're also putting their eggs and stuff into the water. Your corals, in turn, feed on that organic material as well. Zoas and lps, specifically, benefit from being in a mature aquarium. So that's another factor to consider. Finally, the lighting. Depending on the specific strain of zoa some actually do better in very low par 80-110. Ones like mohicans, as$kraks, wolverines struggle in higher par. None of the ones in your collection are temperamental but, it is something to consider as you build out your collection. At the end of the day I think it's just a matter of time and finding that 'nutrient sweet spot.'

Thanks! Awesome reply and a lot of good info. Yeah the tank has bee running in my care for about 9 months. I got it from a friend who was running it for over a year so it is quasi mature. I picked up some reef roids so we will see if that makes a difference. I ran out of phosphate tests so that was the reason for the lack of a number.

 

[Hillerd86]

So update for everyone. Been feeding them some reef roids for about two weeks at two times per week. Slowed down a little as the phosphate levels were creeping. None the less some zoas seemed to be happy and wide open and event sprouting new heads.
Would like to get an opinion on these two in particular.
With the shot you can see where the power head is and return from filter also how close to the waterline/lights. Does it look like they are reaching? Or are they getting baked under the lights?
This is how they sort of always look. One on the left mostly open but not open to full extents and one on right sort of mostly closed.
You can see my older one down low that always looks happy.