Help with Zoas

[hdang]

So I am new to the Reefing Community I was planning to buy my mom a bigger tank, about a 120 gallon tank, reef tank, so I figured before I go crazy with buying corals that I have no clue about, I am going to start my trial and error in a 30 gallon tank. So so far, I learned that Zoas are pretty hearty creatures, so I bought a hammer, duncan and lemonade frag so far they are all opened up, but not in the way that I saw them first at my LFS.

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In your opinion how do you guys think that they are doing? Is their positioning good enough? How can I improve on it? Also one last question while buying the frags, I also bought the Reef Foundation liquid supplement pack, has anyone else bought or used it? If so can you help me on how to properly use it? The one I got is pretty confusing and I don't understand it at all.

[hdang]

Also, how can I know if my "live rocks" are actually live? I know that its the organisms on the rock that makes it "Live" but so far, I don't see a whole lot, if any..

[syngraves]

what are your tank parameters?

the Hammer coral looks good, the zoa frag is hard to tell. as for the duncan i have never kept one of them. I always position new frags in the very bottom of my tank when i first get them until the become acclimated to the light and water flow. i check on the daily and after about a week to 2 weeks ill slowly move them up higher toward where i want them to go.

sometimes a coral might not want to be all the way on the very top of a rock or on the bottom in the sand. so its pretty much finding the sweet spot where they are happy with flow and lighting.

Zoas are very hardy and i have them all over my tank in all sorts of depths. I have a hammer and frogspawn corals and they are happy and growing fast were i have them in the sand bed. for the hammer make sure its in an area where flow makes the tenticales have a nice sway like a gentle breeze in the tank.

finally the key to happy corals is stable water chemistry and and making sure they have enough light and flow but not too much if that makes sense. just gotta be vigilant of how they react.

as for the live rock, its called "live" rock because its either taken directly from the ocean or has been in a well established aquarium where the rock hosts beneficial bacteria that effective turns the rock into a natural filter. it could also host hitchhikers such as crabs, pods, snails and worms as well as corals if you get lucky.