New to Coral Keeping - Id love to kee Zoas

[dalilgriffith]

Ok, So i just setup my new nano tank, a 20 Long. I have been FOWLR in the past with an anemone, a condy, as well. (previous tanks) I was wondering. My Nitrites are minimal, 0.0125. My PH is 7.8. I'd like to get that up to 8.0 with buffer.

Is there anything chemistry wise I need to keep an eye on with Zoas?

What do i feed them? Do they eat phyto? zooplankton?

I shop at thatfishplace's local store. What food product should I get. They have reef-nutrition products.

Do I need any extra equipment. I have a protein skimmer for obvious reasons.

What is a good starter zoa or polyp?


Thanks In Advance,


Coral Newb.

[adam82]

20 longs are great. here is mine.
lighting- 130w powercompact on for 10 hours a day
filtration- aquaclear 110
i feed Rod's food every other day and phytoplankton every between day.

its been up and run 6 months. sorry not the clearest of pics.
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb236/bigdawg489/S5002578.jpg
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb236/bigdawg489/S5002581.jpg
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb236/bigdawg489/S5002577.jpg
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb236/bigdawg489/S5002583.jpg
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/bb236/bigdawg489/S5002579.jpg

[Skeptic_07]

I would continue to wait until your nitrites are 0 and the some snails and hermits. continue to monitor levels until you see no nitrites for afew weeks.

What is your lighting like? Are you useing RO/DI water as your base?

Its important to try to keep phosphates down from the start. Not having phosphates is important for zoas in a few ways. It seems to negatively affect thier health and also bryopsis will grow which can smother them. Top off you tank will fresh kalkwasser (limewater) to bring up your Ph but be careful not to add too much at once. Its best to add it a little bit at a time. Kalk will also help to reduce phosphates. I have an ATO on my tank which adds kalkwasser as the topoff water. During these summer months, when the tank is going through water faster than normal, i do not have it adding kalk all the time.

I would invest in a phosban reactor with media and minijet, some kalk mix and an ATO. Is there a sump on this tank?

[dalilgriffith]

Refugium/Sump - Rubble - etc

[Skeptic_07]

this is good. Hook the phosban reactor and ATO up to the sump. That will keep some equipment out of the tank so that you wont be dumping kalkwasser directly into the display tank.

how about that lighting setup?

[dalilgriffith]

Current 150w Sunpod... What is ato?

[Skeptic_07]

Those lights should be good. I'm using that and having good growth and coloration.

ATO = auto top off

It can be done cheaply with a 5 gallon bucket, toms aqualifter pump, some airline tubeing and a float switch with relay. It will maintain the water level and keep the salinity relatively constant in your system which is very valuable IMO

[dalilgriffith]

Can you provide me with informations on how these phos reactors work. Id like to build my own or atleast understand what the hell they do.

[Skeptic_07]

its basically a column of water running through media which needs to be changed periodically. The media is called grandular ferric oxide or GFO for short. It will strip the water of phosphates. you can also use this device to run carbon.

a small pump pushes water through a small tube down the center of the reactor and slowly forcing the water up through the media. A ball valve should be installed on the intake to limit the flow because it should be very, very slow. Use a small pump like a minijet to run it. they have it at your local store so you may want to take a look at it before attempting to build it.

http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/207695/product.web

I like DIY projects just as much as the next guy but IMO trying to make your own is a waste of time because these things are really cheap. I'm not telling you not to do it. its just that these are around $40 so for all your effort you might save $20? doesnt seem worth it to me unless it can be built in an hour or two.

I recently did a little experiment to see if this thing was in fact helping anything. I removed it for a while (almost 2 months) and watched as the health of all my zoas declined. I put it on last week and saw dramatic improvements almost immediatley. IMO this is a vital part of any marine aquarium with corals.

[dalilgriffith]

Thanks again. Just another question. How do these get plumbed?

In sump? Hang-on-side?

Pump attached directly..

soft tubing to pump
sc40 to pump

What kind of pump?

Pumps included ever?

[Reefer07]

If you are going to start keeping corals you will most likely need to dose calcium and alkalinity daily. When you dose alkalinity this may raise your PH too.

[Skeptic_07]

actually the plumbing is very very simple on these. they hang on the side of the sump, and usually do not include a pump. I know he two little fishies one i recommended to you does not include a pump (thats the one i use). the plumbing is very simple: no PVC or anything like that needed. vinyl tubeing dry fitted to the pump, valve and fittings on the top of the reactor. thats it. no glue, clamps etc needed because there is almost no pressure because all you need is a minijet 404 to run it.

reefer07 is right about doseing calcium and alk daily. kalkwasser will give you both of these at once. Its not a cure all dose for stony corals by any means but for us zoa keepers its more than enough.

[dalilgriffith]

I would like to just take this time to thank everyone for your help. I get a lot of bad answers about coral keeping and my mishaps are expensive hehe. Thanks again.

[dalilgriffith]

Skeptic, I called ThatFishPlash, they said it was a hob style. How tall is that unit. I believe you said you had it. I want to know if itll sit on my 20 L

[Skeptic_07]

You'd be alot better off with it hanging on your sump but it will fit on a 20L. its fits on my 10 that i'm useing as a sump, just barely but it fits there.

[allauction]

Hopefully I am not hijacking the thread with a question of my own. I am in the process of setting up a 40h for zoos, I have searched but really can't find a good answerto the best lighting. I have a coralife hood with 2 96w pc ( one 10k day and one actinic) or I have a 250w MH with a XM 14k bulb. Which lighting is better for zoos? If I am out of place mods please remove. Thanks to all that have posted, there is some great info in here.