Zoas

[bluedeuce02]

Hi, I have 100g tank and can't get zoo's to grow. I have a mixture of hard and soft corals, everything is doing well except for the zoo's. I have tried numerous types of zoo's and tried putting them higher and lower in the tank and still not luck. Please help.

 

[Pwny]

zoas grow like weeds in my tank but they seam to do best in direct light (low med high dosent matter as long as its well lit) also they dont do well in strong flow they need low to med. have you tryed placeing them away from you outher corals also maby a rock to themself on the sand to make sure a coral isent stinging them?

 

[Piratefish]

What are your water params?

 

[parrotchute]

Actually, zoas are one of the more widespread corals, with different types thriving in a variety of conditions. Some are deep water, some lagoon. Often times it will take experimentation with placement to get the best results. A picture might help us figure it out..
Are they extending? Or closed up? What kind of lighting do you have?
Are they melting away or just not growing?

 

[little_fish]

Do by chance have a zoa eating nudi in your tank?

 

[PRC]

I had the exact same problem. I could not get zoos to grow in my tank...I would buy a frag of any type of zoos and they would live, but not grow, I have some zoos that look exactly the same in my tank more than a year later.

In a nutshell, zoos and other soft corals like a little bit dirtier water. IME my SPS was growing rapidly, but zoos weren't. I started dosing zooplankton and phytoplankton and have noticed significant growth in a couple of weeks.

However, zooplankton and phytoplankton can also muck up your parameters...I spot feed the corals, and I use a smaller amount than the recommendation on the bottle.

I've also heard great things about CoralFrenzy, although I haven't used it myself.

 

[bluedeuce02]

I have a 250w MH bulb with two 25w florestants. I have tried low flow, lots of flow, all differant lighting. When I first get them they open just fine, but they then seem to just slowly close up and dwindle away. They are not near any other corals in the tank. I have a large bubble, a duncan, open brain, colt, blue, red, green, and hairy mushrooms, and some star polyps. Nothing that is very aggressive. Everything else is growing and multiplying. None of the fish bother any of the corals. I do not have any shrimp. Not sure what else to do...

 

[parrotchute]

+1 PRC - feeding has caused my zoas to grow rapidly.
Many palythoas will display a reaction when food lands on them, zoas can be a little trickier. Some zoas will only respond to eating very specific foods, like oyster eggs. Experiment and see if you can get them to "eat" the food you're trying. If they aren't really reacting, they probably aren't eating it and you're just polluting the tank.
OysterFeast and cyclopeeze are good starting points.