If you could start from scratch...

[Triple_B]

I have been without a reef for a year and can't stand it any longer. I'm getting back into the hobby. My previous tank was a mixed reef, with a little of everything. This time around I plan to concentrate on Z's and P's. In my first aquarium they were always my favorite, but they were also the favorite dish of my fish... so I was never able to keep them successfully. This time my entire tank will be planned around Zoa's... equipment, aquascaping, and other inhabitants.

So I'm reaching out to you, the Zoanthid community... if you had any advice for a Zoa dominant tank, what would it be? What fish/invertebrate/coral/supplement/equipment/etc is a must have for you? What common or popular "xxx" would you never put in your tank? I'm a firm believer in water changes and solid water chemistry, I was always able to keep SPS successfully, but Zoa's were never happy.

I won't be setting up for a couple of months, but here's what I know so far:
Tank: 70 or 100g CAD Lights Artisan II
Lighting: Maxspect Razor 16K
2 part dosing (if needed)
Apex controller
2X MP40 or MP10 (depends on 70g or 100g)
Bare bottom.

Thank you for any input!

[650-IS350]

I run a mixed tank, I tried doing all Z's and P's but since Im still a reefer I ended up acquiring other LPS/SPS to add to my tank to make it look realistic.

I also tried doing barebottom but couldnt stand the un-natural look with no sand.

I dont use calcium reactors or sumps btw. I manually dose and top off.

[A. Grandis]

I have been without a reef for a year and can't stand it any longer. I'm getting back into the hobby. My previous tank was a mixed reef, with a little of everything. This time around I plan to concentrate on Z's and P's. In my first aquarium they were always my favorite, but they were also the favorite dish of my fish... so I was never able to keep them successfully. This time my entire tank will be planned around Zoa's... equipment, aquascaping, and other inhabitants.

So I'm reaching out to you, the Zoanthid community... if you had any advice for a Zoa dominant tank, what would it be? What fish/invertebrate/coral/supplement/equipment/etc is a must have for you? What common or popular "xxx" would you never put in your tank? I'm a firm believer in water changes and solid water chemistry, I was always able to keep SPS successfully, but Zoa's were never happy.

I won't be setting up for a couple of months, but here's what I know so far:
Tank: 70 or 100g CAD Lights Artisan II
Lighting: Maxspect Razor 16K
2 part dosing (if needed)
Apex controller
2X MP40 or MP10 (depends on 70g or 100g)
Bare bottom.

Thank you for any input!

That tank looks good!!! Very nice!!

I wouldn't go for the LEDs nor the MP40s.
That fixture looks amazing and it's probably a good LED for what's in the market out there today, but... Is that better than a T5 and/or MH system? What's the point in having LEDs besides electricity savings and less heat? Is it worthy? If you think so, just go ahead. There are many people today that will tell you it will work really good, but there are others that will tell you they went back to their MH/T5 fixtures after 6 months of LEDs. I still didn't hear anyone saying they went back to their LEDs after trying a new T5 and/or MH system. I would go for a dimmable ATI fixture instead. Just me!! No flames please. :D

Make sure you find a good skimmer for the tank!!

Possibly a chiller to have a temp stability.

Change the MP40s or MP10s for Tunzes!!! Much, much, much better!!!

Apex must be very good!!! I've got Reefkeeper elite in one of my systems and have nothing to complain!! Go for the Apex! I've heard they've got excelent customer service. The ReefKeeper CS is great nowadays too.

Keep in mind after a while you'll probably get bored with the bare bottom.
Then get some aragonite sand, if so.

I just can't tell you what to get in regards to fish, zoas, etc... That's personal taste, availability, and lots of research!

WELCOME BACK TO TE HOBBY!!!!
:bounce3::bounce2::dance::bounce1:

Let's see what other will suggest to you...
Good luck!

:thumbsup:
Grandis.

[Whiterabbitrage]

A Zoo tank, hmm? Great idea!
I would go with very bright colors, Bam Bam florescent orange, Lemonheads florescent yellow, for sure. I'd use T5's but also an LED moonlight ( deep blue) to really enjoy the colors. The fluorescents will glow like radioactive lamps! And the regular colors will also glow. I have some zoos that look brown, but under LED they look pink with florescent yellow centers.
I wouldn't use a skimmer at all. IME zoos seems to enjoy a high nutrient tank. They also seem to grow faster with target feeding.
I'd have some macroalgae to add some movement and take care of any extra nutrients to keep GHA at bay.
For fish, if you add any, I'd go with zoo friendly ones obviously. Firefish or chromis or anthias. For personality I'd add a flasher wrasse.
For inverts, I'd stick to snails, algae eating small ones that will go under and between the zoos without disturbing them.

How's the planning going? Can't wait for pictures!

[terrypercula]

I say go LED's. T5's and MH's are proven yes but LED's are the future, longer life span, more efficient, no heat better coral coloration IMO. Don't go T5 then want to do LED in the future anyway. Definitely agree get a good skimmer and pass on the vortech pumps. Nothing against the eco tech pump but it's provably just unnecessary, put that $400+ towards corals :thumbsup:

[eg8r210]

Go to the other forum and take a look at joshporksandwich's set up as of late. Here is his thread on this site before he got bumped, Crazy 125 (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2256147). That is what I would like if I just wanted z/p. :)

[Epicreefer]

I would do a long shallow narrow tank, like a 30g extra long, 12x12x48. Then throw a cheap wave point dual t5 light(~$130) on it as your main lighting and a diy 12 led supplement strip or current I think makes one for $75 or so, to make colors pop. This way you get the best of both worlds, t5 for growth and real color formation, LEDs will then make them pop. I find the LEDs make corals grown under t5 or mh look really cool but after a while they loose some intensity or colors. High tech LEDs may work but cost a lot more and I've yet to see one that has a real lifespan for a decent cost. I like the long thin tank for useable area and the zoas will never be more than 12" from you. For filtration it's mostly up to you. Zoas don't need the best so a simple hob rated for 50-100g would work and a few small koralias, tunze or mp10s. Short zoas like watermellons, eagle eyes, ppe such like the high flow righ in front of the power heads, but can deal with less, while long stalked palys like purple death and nuclear greens like less flow otherwise end up scrunched looking. Carbon and gfo as needed for water clarity and keep algae at bay. I'm planning a zoa/lps tank similar to this but 6-8' long(maybe 18-24 tall) for a behind the couch/bed/bar or wall feature but with a closed loop to help with reducing in tank footprint, overflow and sump filtration. Probably going to be a year before I get it all up and running though.

[k_red_raider]

My 14 month old son has a 30 gallon zoa dominate tank in his room. It has 2-MP10's, skimmer, TLF 150 media reactor with carbon, JBJ auto top off and a single halide with LED lights. The Halide/LED combo light is new it was a T-5/Halide combo but I replaced the T-5's with LEDs and the zoas have never looked better. They have more "pop" now and are growing faster than I have ever seen. Im not saying that the growth is from the new light but the "pop" is. I would say whatever you do when you buy frags let the grow for a little bit and then cut a frag from it and let that be your fragging coral and keep the other in your tank as the original so that it is constantly growing and not getting fragged. That way you will have a full tank and always something on your frag rack.

[LouisianaReefer]

Anthony Calfo in his book on coral propogation wrote that zoas /palys do best in a "monoculture." There are beautiful z/p only tanks out there. I think it is a great idea. I do not have Calfo's book to check it; however, what is eveyone's take on the absolute best water parameters for a zoa/paly only tank?

[A. Grandis]

Please let us know what page he stated that and why.
Thanks in advance,

Grandis.

[RKLion]

That tank looks good!!! Very nice!!

I wouldn't go for the LEDs nor the MP40s.
That fixture looks amazing and it's probably a good LED for what's in the market out there today, but... Is that better than a T5 and/or MH system? What's the point in having LEDs besides electricity savings and less heat? Is it worthy? If you think so, just go ahead. There are many people today that will tell you it will work really good, but there are others that will tell you they went back to their MH/T5 fixtures after 6 months of LEDs. I still didn't hear anyone saying they went back to their LEDs after trying a new T5 and/or MH system. I would go for a dimmable ATI fixture instead. Just me!! No flames please. :D

Make sure you find a good skimmer for the tank!!

Possibly a chiller to have a temp stability.

Change the MP40s or MP10s for Tunzes!!! Much, much, much better!!!

Apex must be very good!!! I've got Reefkeeper elite in one of my systems and have nothing to complain!! Go for the Apex! I've heard they've got excelent customer service. The ReefKeeper CS is great nowadays too.

Keep in mind after a while you'll probably get bored with the bare bottom.
Then get some aragonite sand, if so.

I just can't tell you what to get in regards to fish, zoas, etc... That's personal taste, availability, and lots of research!

WELCOME BACK TO TE HOBBY!!!!
:bounce3::bounce2::dance::bounce1:

Let's see what other will suggest to you...
Good luck!

:thumbsup:
Grandis.
I got to agree with everything Grandis said.

[AcanQueen]

I also agree mostly with what Gradis says. Not sure about LEDs but I grow a lot of zoas, including the so called melters like Mauls, under both T5s and Halides and have found both to be good.
Colour temp is tricky as the best growth is under white light but there's no doubt that to view most zoas the bluer the better.

Stable parameters with low nutrients is a must for the more delicate types as higher nutrients can lead to hair algae and cyno, both of which zoas hate.
Regular feeding with appropriate size food will speed up growth and keep them fat and happy.

I would go for a bare bottom tank- sand is a pain when it gets amongst the polyps and allowing the zoas to grow onto the bottom gives a really nice effect.

Fish really depends on the size of tank- you must consider their needs first. As for inverts stay away from creatures like hermit crabs and shrimp as they can really irritate zoas.

Last bit of advice and most important is be very careful not to introduce any pests as zoas seem to come loaded with them.
And have fun :)