How do I get zoas to grow and create a garden

[Mike1995]

I'm in the process of selling all my corals to do more research and tend more to my fish. I will keep one of my small corals. Thats it.
I was wondering how do I get zoas to grow into a garden in my tank? Is it lighting? Parameters? Mine never grew and its frustrating.

This isn't my picture. I don't own it etc. But this is what I want to happen. What do I have to do to get to this? (Other than patience).

 

[James M]

You place frags near on another and let them grow. Need more info on your tank though

 

[John3]

Start different ones with some space between to get them like the pic. If you place them close they will intertwine, which can be cool too.

Like all corals, water, lighting, food(nitrates) are important for growth and health. Zoas are less picky than most corals though. See below for intertwined look.

 

[tupes]

What the others have suggested and i know you don't want to hear it patients is the biggest key, especially for a photo like you posted. That might have taken 1-2 years.

 

[John3]

The only suggestion I have is to start with mini colonies of at least 8 polyps. Once you get 8 they spread fast. If you start with 1-2 it could take more than a year to get to 8.

 

[FishyDP]

This is what I would love in my tank as well!..working on it. I have been keeping zoos/palys for about 8 months under pretty low par. Some examples of growth: bought a 2-3 polyp "purple monster" paly frag which has about 12-13 good sized heads on it now. Same thing with a "sunny d" paly frag. My rastas have grown a little slower maybe around 8-9 heads. I have found the more I leave the frags alone the better they grow..easier said than done though, always want to place them in a different location to entice them to grow. I feel that they respond best to moderate flow.

 

[Mike1995]

Some of my frags started off at 4 or so. And grew a few more polyps and then have stalled since. Ive had them 6 months or so.

 

[John3]

Zoas and palys seem to grow really well in my tank. All of mine started from 1-3 polyp frags. I’m now trimming and fragging colonies because I’m out of room. I just cut up my armor of gods palys.

Sunny D- 1.5 years
Armor of gods- 1 year
Cats eyes- 1 year

All of those went from 1-3 polyps to 100-150 and there would prob be a lot more of they had room to keep spreading.

 

[FishyDP]

Nice, John. I see those green grandis(?) in your second pic, how has growth been with those?..thinking about getting some.

 

[FishyDP]

Mike, to answer your question, can u tell us a little about your tank? Lighting, parameters, size, flow, filtration etc. Do you have other corals that have done well in your tank?

 

[John3]

I started with 1 grandis about 10 months ago. I think there are about 9-10 polyps now.

 

[Mike1995]

Mike, to answer your question, can u tell us a little about your tank? Lighting, parameters, size, flow, filtration etc. Do you have other corals that have done well in your tank?

Sorry been at work

I'll have to retest again but last I tested
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10ppm
Phosphate .40 ppm
Mag 1260
Calcium 480
Alkalinity 8.5
Salinity 1.025
Ph 8.2
Temp 79

75 gallon
Bashsea 25~ sump
Flow two wave pumps at 800 mph each and return at 900 gph

Now my lighting is what I'm having lots of problems with. Its a finnex marine light. On timer for 8 hours a day. Its horrible. I can't even seem to keep zoas growing.

Just zoas. Thats it.

I posted elsewhere already but does anyone maybe have any better lighting they'd be willing to part with? My fish could care less. They're active with or without light. My corals are struggling though

 

[Mike1995]

Zoas and palys seem to grow really well in my tank. All of mine started from 1-3 polyp frags. I’m now trimming and fragging colonies because I’m out of room. I just cut up my armor of gods palys.

Sunny D- 1.5 years
Armor of gods- 1 year
Cats eyes- 1 year

All of those went from 1-3 polyps to 100-150 and there would prob be a lot more of they had room to keep spreading.

100 polyps??
Do you have high light or what are you doing to get that?

 

[John3]

100 polyps??
Do you have high light or what are you doing to get that?

I run a Radion G4 and I run the AB+ schedule which is a very blue spectrum but low on white light intensity.

My water is:

CA 450-500
ALK 11-12
MAG 1300-1350
Salinity 1.026
Temp 76
Nitrates 10-20

I run a ATO to keep my water level and I manually dose CA and ALK everyday.

 

[Mike1995]

I run a Radion G4 and I run the AB+ schedule which is a very blue spectrum but low on white light intensity.

My water is:

CA 450-500
ALK 11-12
MAG 1300-1350
Salinity 1.026
Temp 76
Nitrates 10-20

I run a ATO to keep my water level and I manually dose CA and ALK everyday.

Is dosing something I should do?
I can't afford anything ecotech lol. Would something like a few ai primes or something work ok?

 

[FishyDP]

I am fairly new to reef keeping, but have had decent success with my corals..you have a decent sized tank and parameters look to be in range. I do see that you have about 35x flow, I run about 20x in my 125g. Everyone has a different opinion on flow but if you are blasting your zoas directly with 35x flow it may be bothering them..as for the lighting I do not know much about the finnex but they look similar to the orbit marine, which I started with and didn't have much luck keeping my corals happy with. For budget solution lights can take a look at the hipargero/aqua knights on Amazon. You could probably light a 4 foot tank with 2 of them, $60 a piece. They are meant to be mounted on a rimless tank so u have to get creative with mounting. I had good results with 3 of these on my 6 foot 125g, softies and lps. I am moving to a 150 and adding some t5s as well, but u should have no problems keeping zoos happy w these lights. I have read a fair amount of reviews comparing these lights to the AI primes, minus the controllabilty

 

[Kellie in CA]

This is the first tank I have ever had where they did well. They are tricky little buggers. One thing I have noticed is that adding Lugol's Solution 2x a month really brought out the colors.

 

[OriginalUserName]

Also keep in mind that different varieties of zoa/pallys have different growth rates. The more common ones seem to grow far faster (which is probably why they are common). In my current tank I'd say the average growth has been about 100% in the 6 months I've had it really running. After I'm done feeding my SPS I hit the zoas with the leftovers. It doesn't seem like most zoas really eat, but they are likely absorbing something from the feedings. Some of my palys definitely eat though.

 

[rogersb]

Zoas and palys seem to grow really well in my tank. All of mine started from 1-3 polyp frags. I’m now trimming and fragging colonies because I’m out of room. I just cut up my armor of gods palys.

Sunny D- 1.5 years
Armor of gods- 1 year
Cats eyes- 1 year

All of those went from 1-3 polyps to 100-150 and there would prob be a lot more of they had room to keep spreading.

I have Sunny D, Devils Armor, and midas that did the same thing. I got the midas from a friend who came over this weekend. He can't believe that I have 100-150 polyps from the couple polyps he gave me less than a year ago. He feeds only pellets and I feed only frozen. I have been doing reef tanks for 10 years and I think feeding frozen adds a little extra food to the water that zoas can feed on other than strictly fish poop.

 

[Mike1995]

I am fairly new to reef keeping, but have had decent success with my corals..you have a decent sized tank and parameters look to be in range. I do see that you have about 35x flow, I run about 20x in my 125g. Everyone has a different opinion on flow but if you are blasting your zoas directly with 35x flow it may be bothering them..as for the lighting I do not know much about the finnex but they look similar to the orbit marine, which I started with and didn't have much luck keeping my corals happy with. For budget solution lights can take a look at the hipargero/aqua knights on Amazon. You could probably light a 4 foot tank with 2 of them, $60 a piece. They are meant to be mounted on a rimless tank so u have to get creative with mounting. I had good results with 3 of these on my 6 foot 125g, softies and lps. I am moving to a 150 and adding some t5s as well, but u should have no problems keeping zoos happy w these lights. I have read a fair amount of reviews comparing these lights to the AI primes, minus the controllabilty

This is the first tank I have ever had where they did well. They are tricky little buggers. One thing I have noticed is that adding Lugol's Solution 2x a month really brought out the colors.

Also keep in mind that different varieties of zoa/pallys have different growth rates. The more common ones seem to grow far faster (which is probably why they are common). In my current tank I'd say the average growth has been about 100% in the 6 months I've had it really running. After I'm done feeding my SPS I hit the zoas with the leftovers. It doesn't seem like most zoas really eat, but they are likely absorbing something from the feedings. Some of my palys definitely eat though.

I have Sunny D, Devils Armor, and midas that did the same thing. I got the midas from a friend who came over this weekend. He can't believe that I have 100-150 polyps from the couple polyps he gave me less than a year ago. He feeds only pellets and I feed only frozen. I have been doing reef tanks for 10 years and I think feeding frozen adds a little extra food to the water that zoas can feed on other than strictly fish poop.

I decided to keep all my corals. And keep trying with them.

I was looking at two of my bigger zoas today and underneath theres lots of tiny little polyps growing. They never open though. Is it because they don't get enough light? The other polyos are much bigger.