Idea's for totally Z's and P's Dominated tank

[shock_therapy]

Hello Z and P's lovers,
So here's the deal. I'm hoping to setup a totally Z&P tank and am looking of ideaas and suggestions on equipment, lighting, flow, feeding, aquascape, and pretty much everything. The tank will be a 40L (48x13x16). Other then that its all up to you folks. All ideas and suggestions welcome.

thx in advance

[MikeandNicole]

Equipment generally comes down to your preference. I have seen great z and p tanks with compacts, T5, and MH (have not seen a LED one though I am sure they are out there). Personally, especially with a shallower tank, I would go with a good T5 fixture. Just make sure there is coverage front to back.

Flow: Zoos don't need a ton of flow but good flow is always nice in any fish tank. I would probably go with a vortech, but again just my opinion.

Skimmer: Are you drilling a sump? If not find a good HOB skimmer. I have used Remoras and have had great success with them.

Aquascape: Totally up to you, just leave room for the corals to grow.

Feeding: Comes down to what fish you are going to put in there. Supplements are up to you but popular ones include cyclopeez and other smaller particle food. Most palys will eat bigger meatier food if you feed them directly.

Hope this helps.

[shock_therapy]

thx for the reply MikeandNicole

couple questions:
-i plan on going with a sump and i was just going to use live rock with a skimmer in it. do you think it would be wise to run a filter sock (heard zoas like it dirty) and maybe theyd be able to catch more particulates out of the water.

-would you run carbon as ive heard this pulls out things as well. same questions for GFO

- i was planning on using a super reef octo w/ Bubble bluster 150gal in the sump. do you think this would pull out to much organic matter and they would starve. if so what would you reccomend?

- would a 4 bulb tek light be sufficent for spread?

thx in advance.

[shock_therapy]

anyone else?

[CLINTOS]

diffidently run carbon preferably in a phosban reactor imo

about 1 cup a month and change monthly imo

4 t5 will do 5-6 even better imo

no filter sock imo

[shock_therapy]

cool. thx clintos

[MikeandNicole]

I agree with clintos, carbon and GFO are nice to run. 4 bulbs may be sufficient but I think you will be happier with 5 or 6 as well. Better to spend the money on the bigger fixutre now than have to upgrade and you are buying 2 fixtures. Filter socks are optional as well, as it is a personal choice. I know some people who love them, I know some who hate them. The trick seems to be cleaning them regularly and having multiple ones to change out as you clean them. I know people who swap them out several times a week. I don't know a ton about skimmers so i can't help you there.

[CLINTOS]

I don't have these pump's yet but soon

as a unqualified guesstimate 2 x mp 10's would be good for flow along with your return pump

[Scopus Tang]

I haven't seen one personally, but I assume that the 40L is 13" wide and 16" tall? Part of what you need to consider on the light is the dimmensions of the light itself - some fixtures are built big enough that they would overhang the tank. Additionally consider the overall lighting effect you want - the more bulbs the more light you are blasting the zoas with. Some zoas like lots of light, some not so much.

[shock_therapy]

hmmm, well it seems like carbon and gfo are the way to go. i would love some mp10's on there but they're so pricey lol. my lfs has a mp10 on display and ill admit it does seems to help alot with picking up crap off the rocks. i think i might go with a 4 bulb t5. i didn't think about the width of the fixture itself. would this be a good bulb combo?

1: ati blue+
2: ati bluespecial
3: uvl superactinic
4: ati blue +

thx

[Scopus Tang]

Looks pretty good to start, you may find later that you need to swap one of the bulbs out for a daylight bulb in order to promote growth (if that is one of your goals), as some zoas like higher light.

[drainbamage101]

THIS (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1905140) is my 20 gallon Zoa garden--yea it has a few chalices in there too, but the care is similar enough.

my equipment is minimal, and as you won't be feeding the Zoa's too heavily (typically at least) your filtration is going to be more dependant on what fish you choose to put in there (if any.) remember, Zs and Ps actually like a little dirty water, not the super clean that SPS's need, so again, depending on what you're doing with your fish load, I wouldn't recommend an intense skimmer, or even having one at all.
Teklights are nice, but you might have a problem with them being too intense. My frag tank is shallow with a teklight above it, and I either have to give the Z's shade, or move them into the 20L to get the best size and coloration out of them. The tek's just a little too brilliant.

[drainbamage101]

hmmm, well it seems like carbon and gfo are the way to go. i would love some mp10's on there but they're so pricey lol. my lfs has a mp10 on display and ill admit it does seems to help alot with picking up crap off the rocks. i think i might go with a 4 bulb t5. i didn't think about the width of the fixture itself. would this be a good bulb combo?

1: ati blue+
2: ati bluespecial
3: uvl superactinic
4: ati blue +

thx

I'd have at least one daylight-keep in mind a lot of Zoa's species are actually exposed at high tide-so quite a bit of the Z's world is a higher light (and therefor warmer spectrum) coral. But then again there's the deepwater Zoas out there as well. if the bluespecial is a 12k (sorry, not familiar with it) then that'd suffice, and that'd be identical to what I run in my main tank (well, I like geisemann, but similar enough)

[CLINTOS]

I would drop the atinic and add another 20 000k

[CLINTOS]

hydor koralia 2's will work fine too


after adding a mp10 to my 29G and getting a feel for them and if I had the same tank as you I would go with 2 x mp10 and 2 x hydor #1 for behind the rock work for max flow.

[shock_therapy]

drainbamage: yea the bluespecial is a 12kish. i really like your zoa garden, its so simplistic.
makes me feel like i can do it without breaking the bank. i think you may be right about the light.

Clintos: id like to get mp10's and i guy in my local club is selling a used gen 2 for $100, is this a good deal? otherwie i was thinking of a squid.... and what 20k would you recommend?

thx