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08/10/2010, 03:43 PM | #1 |
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Foods that make your Zoas flurish?
I'm currently using Kent Marine PytoPlex, Zooplex, and Coral-Vite for my corals (Frogspawn, Gorgonian, Kenya Tree, Mushrooms, Zoas) and some of my corals are very visually growing while some corals such as my yellow polyps look happy but arent growing out their colony.
What products do you use? Do you run into the same issues of some corals doing extremely well, others not so much? |
08/10/2010, 04:02 PM | #2 |
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lets get this out of the way first,all corals are different some grow like weeds some grow terribly slow.
There are over 100 differnt products to feed your tank with and some work some don't. I personally don't buy a lot of that stuff since my tank waste feeds the corals very well. The only products ive been using is Reefplus (cheap vit C) and oysterfeast with and on occasion some phytoplex |
08/10/2010, 04:11 PM | #3 |
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Second the fact that corals grow at different rates. Nevertheless, I use aquavitro's Fuel along with dts, reef chili and frozen cyclopees. I've seens pretty decent growth once I started to use fuel.
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08/10/2010, 04:28 PM | #4 |
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+3 on the different growth rates. When I do feed my pals I give them finely chopped myself and krill. Thats only when I feed the lps and rics though. Other than that they get just light and fish poo haha.
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08/10/2010, 04:58 PM | #5 |
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I think this topic is brought up once a month or so. Zoanthids are Photosynthetic coral and being as such as they need is stable tank conditions and good lighting. Zoanthids are to small to really take in any kind of food. Now palythoas while also being photosynthetic will take food if fed. Well most larger ones will. I spot feed my Purple Deaths and Nuclear Greens.
Like the others above be started growth rates depends on many many things. We can take a frag of polyps from the same mother colony and place them in 3 different tanks and get three different growth patterns. |
08/10/2010, 11:51 PM | #6 |
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I realize that all corals grow at different rates, but I'm sure not all suppliments/food are made equal. I was inquiring to what products seem to provide more nourishment for corals?
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08/11/2010, 02:34 PM | #7 |
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A lot of products are just made for increased sales of a large company. Beware of claims.
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08/11/2010, 10:23 PM | #8 |
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When your livestock/fish make a donation...
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08/12/2010, 10:43 AM | #9 | |
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Quote:
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Dave Current Tank Info: 40B Display, 40B sump/fuge |
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08/12/2010, 10:49 AM | #10 |
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when they are reffering to a stable tank I am asuming that it is a sterotypical reef tank that has at least a fish and some inverts "making donations" lol (good way to say it friday). Thats why a lot of people will add a fish to their frag tanks, so they can poop in there and some for pest control. Everyone knows that sterile tanks just don't have the growing power
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08/12/2010, 10:58 AM | #11 |
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yea i mean im not knocking anyone else methods of feeding if it works for you go right ahead.. I just have always used the "free" food from my fish
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08/12/2010, 12:07 PM | #12 |
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I understad the whole stable tank thing thats just common sense for growing any coral. This is that statment I was reffering to and i Quote CrazyZoa: Zoanthids are to small to really take in any kind of food.
Edit: Oh and friday I do plan on adding a fish. We have had this discussion in another thread and i totally agree with ya. Just haven't got one yet lol
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08/12/2010, 12:35 PM | #13 |
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I'm not a guru on Palys and Zoas, but I have had the time to experiment with different nutrient conditions with them in my frag tanks.
I have noticed that Palys seem to like the addition of meaty micro foods such as oyster feast, etc. Their skirts grow longer and they multiply a bit faster. I have not seen zoas respond at all to coral foods. I can't rule out phyto-plankton, but I'd be skeptical if it did much. Other LPS; acans, candy canes etc do respond to meaty micro foods being added. In my frag tanks with no fish and hence no nitrate or added nutrients zoa and paly growth was almost 'zero', even with strong lighting over a period of six months. When I added a single small fish growth exploded. White light LEDs caused Zoas to stretch towards the light. Turning on royal blue LEDs caused them to flatten out like they do under halides, which tells me they need far blue light. Which is rather obvious given they typically grow at deeper depths than many corals. I've recently began experimenting with adding ammonia directly to one of my frag tanks with no fish for a couple reasons. First, to keep a nitrate cycle going, and second because I've seen some evidence that zoas thrive on ammonia given their affection for growing aroung sewer over-flows, etc. So far, they are growing just as fast with the artifical addition of ammonia as heavy stocked tanks, but I need a bit more time to confirm this. I also need to work out how much ammonia to use, etc. So far though, I might be on to something. To sum up my own experience, paly and especially zoa growth respond far better to basic water nutrients like ammonia and nitrate (and fish poop which is a precursor to both) far more than adding micro foods. The later might likely decay into the former at some point, but it costs more. |
08/12/2010, 04:54 PM | #14 |
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Nice Blaster thanks for sharing that info alot of fuel for thought
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08/12/2010, 08:50 PM | #15 | |
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08/13/2010, 05:00 AM | #16 |
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I will list here first before I buy for sure friday. To much to lose as my tank will be zoa and poly dominate. Now back to the OP subject sorry if i got off track a little here.
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08/13/2010, 05:17 AM | #17 |
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Thanx blasterman for the good advice
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08/13/2010, 08:20 AM | #18 |
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I'm experimenting as well all the time on the growth of corals. So far I think the best thing I can link growth to is lots of fish(High bioload good skimmer) and high indirect flow. Unfortunately I have a Blue Anthelia bloom right now that covers all the rock spaces making growth very difficult for anything else. Anyone know how to kill these smurfs?
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08/13/2010, 09:07 AM | #19 | |
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Patience is a reefer's best tool. Secret Xenia lover. M.S. Marine Biology Staff - Marine Discovery Center, St. Petersburg FL Tampa Bay Reef Club BOD 2018 Current Tank Info: 34g modded Solana |
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08/13/2010, 09:15 AM | #20 | |
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08/13/2010, 06:46 PM | #21 |
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I can now firmly say with total conviction that elevated nitrate (in my case via ammonia dosing) cranks up Zoa growth in a very short time, although this might be preaching to the choir. Previously I'd been running my softie tank at low nutrients to try and coax better growth on some stubborn acro frags, but gave up a couple weeks ago. Tossed the acros in another tank.......just too small a tank with bouncy parameters.
This is the tank I've been adding some ammonia to, and hence this has caused nitrate to go from zero to 20ppm in a very short time. Since I don't have any fish in this tank it's easy to control this way. There is no question that the zoos and palys in this tank are far happier than my main low nutrient tank, or just a couple weeks ago when nitrate was ziltch. I mean, it's not even a constest. Not only has growth accelerated, but polyps are more vivid and fatter, and the difference occured in a week. Acans have increased in polyp size as well and colored up. Oddly, when I experimented with adding nitrate rich water from my fresh water tank for top offs I did not get the same result. So, there's more to this ammonia / nitrate thing than just fertilizer. Obviously though there's a potential down side to this. As per a couple comments above, you need to be careful about running high nutrients because of all the potential bad things, like nuisance algaes. Hair algae will kill zoo colonies if it gets embedded between polyp clusters; been there done that. However, knock on wood, I'm not seeing any of this. Will be interesting to see what happens to growth as nitrate levels recede. |
08/14/2010, 10:11 AM | #22 |
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Good information, I have been using chopped krill. I will be trying someof the above. Thanks guys
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08/16/2010, 04:06 PM | #23 |
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Good topic and discussion.
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Anyone can build a reef.....the greater challenge......is to grow one. Current Tank Info: 70 gallon zoanthid, Palythoa and Mushroom Reef. |
02/19/2018, 11:15 PM | #24 | |
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02/22/2018, 01:39 PM | #25 |
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I also noticed such a feature of good growth. Provided just flow and light. In the tank, a minimal bio-loading in the form of a pair of snails.
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