Whats everyone feeding their Zoas? and hello!

[spongebob]

Heya Everyone!

Very cool forum, very specific and nice people from what I've read so far. Very picture reach and good info!

Little bit about myself:

Live in upstate NY. My main display is a 30G cube, 30Lb LR, few acros, caps, zoas, rics and other stuff. Only fish I have is twin spot yellow wrasse. I've been in the hobby for about 2+ years now and recently talked my dad into setting up a prop system in his bassment since I live in an appartment myself ^^
The prop tank:

100G rubbermaid tub with 1 1/2" overflow pipe
meg 7 return with custom made jets for better flow
Euroreef skimmer.
440W PFO 4X110 VHO lighting (1 super Actinic, 1 Actinic white, 1 sunlight, 1 50/50)
The frags are on a eggcrate about 4" under surface.
enough about myself.

I've seen people feed zoas ground up shrimp mixed with Kent essential.

I want to see people post what they have fed and had a successful growth increase. I've searched this board and found someone feeding mysis. Please share your experiance.

- Spongy

 

[Chris2222000]

You are probably going to get mixed responses here. Anyway I for one dont feed my zoas period, they may get some of the food passing by when I feed my fish ~ 2 times a week. I find I get great growth; however, it all depends on the zoa species. Some are naturally slower growers than others. Some people say that species in the genus palythoa grow better if fed. I have never directly fed them so cant comment on that, I know a few on this board do feed and have good results.
Hope any of that helps you

 

[Azurel]

Welcome and glad to have you here.....The only things I feed are my Purple Deaths,PPE,RPEs. I have tried to feed my normal zoanthids oyster eggs and never really got a deffiant response to the eggs. So insteda of spending $25 on DTs oyster eggs I just make sure my water quality is up to snuff......Again welcome to Club-zoa.com

James

 

[MarvinsReef]

welcome to club zoa..

I feed my corals twice a week.. once with Coral Frenzy and once with Golden Pearls... the reason why.. I have them and it takes forever to finish them.. :lol:

the only ones I see grab food are the PD's, Nuclear Greens, Mohawks, PPE, and a few others.. basically the bigger zoas.. they also grab mysis & enriched brine when I feed my fishes approx 1x/day..

so I don't really know if this is helping their growth or not.. I do 10%-15% waterchange approx every 10 days so that might account for the health and growth of my zoas..

Marvin

 

[maroonytunes]

Welocme to Club-Zoa. I don't feed my zoas at all either. They catch mysis when I'm feeding my seahorse, 2 times a day, and the only thing that eats the mysis is my GPE.

 

[jessiesgrrl]

Welcome!

My rule of thumb is I feed anything that is willing to grab it- mostly palythoa, gigantus, and grandis. I also do frequent water changes so I don't shoot myself in the foot...


Laurie

 

[kappaknight]

So what's been your experience in the difference in growth of feeing vs. not feeding? Take PPE's for instance, is it 3-4 polyps a month for non-feeding vs. 14-15 new polyps a month w/ feeding?

I'm just curious if it's worth all the extra trouble.

 

[Chris2222000]

So what's been your experience in the difference in growth of feeing vs. not feeding? Take PPE's for instance, is it 3-4 polyps a month for non-feeding vs. 14-15 new polyps a month w/ feeding?

I'm just curious if it's worth all the extra trouble.

Hehe when were talking about ppe's I get 1-2 polyps a month usually. I dont feed them so we will see if others that have and feed them get better growth.

 

[MarvinsReef]

just like any other higher end zoas, normally they will need to settle.. some take longer than other but for me, it's been from 2-4 weeks until they settle in my tank.. then normally they start popping 1-2 polyps/month, some 3-4 polyps..

maybe I'll experiment later and not feed... one of the toughest thing to do is not to watch them everyday... I think they get pressured... :lol: too much looking... anyway, I think feeding is only next to having stable water parameters, good flow, and decent lighting.. just IMO...

Marvin

 

[kpax]

I feed cyclopeez to my fish and the zoas.

 

[spongebob]

I am starting a blend of kent essential elements and shrimp ground up in a blender for a second. we'll see what happens. According to Garf, they had great response to this method, i'll update in a few weeks to let you all know.

 

[Stixbaraca]

I spot feed my Armegeddons DT's Oyster Eggs...I don't feed any of the others though!

 

[vetteman]

Special K with red berries..... helps them keep their figures..........

 

[Azurel]

I can tell you this, if you hand feed your Purple Deaths(thoughs that have them) you will get a serious out break of polyps.

 

[spongebob]

I tried feeding today. My rics just love it, they open their mouth right up. My green polys grab it like crazy too. Zoas have no reaction tho, no idea what garf ppl are talking about cause none of the zoas even retract to the food. I do think that the Kent essential is probly what did the trick for them not really the food itself. I am gonna try rotifers and oyster eggs and see if its any better.

Whats amazing tho is that most zoas looks 100% happier in the new water and VHO lights VS MH i have on my main that they came from. One polyp spawned 5 new buds around it in just 3 days! its insane!

I'll grab pics as soon as I find my memory card lol

-Spongebob

 

[Stixbaraca]

Azurel...send me a polyp or 2 of the Purple Deaths...I want to make sure your not making this up!!!!

 

[jessiesgrrl]

I can tell you this, if you hand feed your Purple Deaths(thoughs that have them) you will get a serious out break of polyps.

Wooohooo, grow em out for us, baby!!!!

Laurie

 

[Pazazz]

My purple deaths I feed 1 to 2 times a week and in 3 months went from 6 polyps to 14... COOL!!!

 

[jonbar1]

I feed anything that shows a response and grabs food. I get frozen mysis and frozen cyclopeeze and mix in some oyster eggs and zoe and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator. The next day everything is spot fed after my shrimps and Royal Gramma get fed their fill. I do this once a week, typically the day before a waterchange and turn the pump off before I do it so it is much easier to spot feed each polyp. I also add a squirt or two of DTs Phyto once a week for the montis and acros. Growth rate on everything in my tank has been really good, especially the LPS.

Good thing my skimmer is a bit of overkill on my tank I guess.

Jon