Hey Jex.....I was in the same boat as you about 10 months ago when I got into the hobby and I just went for it and started buying $10 frags of various Zoa's. I've got about 20-30 different kinds now and its pretty much hit and miss. I've had some colonies melt away while sitting right beside another colony that is thriving and showing no signs of stress. I have noticed that most prefer a bit of shade and I've had better success with polyps that are more vertical on the rock and not horizontal (but who knows).....my advice is to try a couple frags and see how they do.

Zoanthids are the easiest coral other then duncans that I have ever kept. They grow like weeds for me and will take just about any conditions. I do not feed them and feel that they like dissolved organics and most of all they need to be left alone. It also helps if they are on a very nice piece of flat rock and are touching other pieces of flat rock with no algae growth on it so they can spread like lava. That being said every now and then a colony will cause a virus or something and cause them to melt while all other zoanthids and plays are unaffected.


All zoanthids were grown form frags in about a year’s time:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...ishenz/111.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...ishenz/109.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...ishenz/041.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...une21st029.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...henz/061-1.jpg
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...ishenz/127.jpg


Grown from a single polyp cut from the other colony in the tank:

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...ishenz/068.jpg

unbelievable chris ^^ i dont think my plug has grown a single polyp in 8 months lol.

I have since moved one of the plugs into deeper and darker water and the polyps appear to be opening alittle wider so i think its happier down there. Ive also started dosing iodine in hopes that will play a positive role. Im wondering if im "overskimming" the water column and stripping it of most dissolved organics. I guess time will tell, ive got years of trial and error to see what works and what doesnt :razz:. Thanks for all the helpful comments :smile:

I have had about the same growth rate when i ran a carbon source (vinegar)to get nutrients really low and when i let me tank get a little bit dirty. I dont know what i could be doing differently. i also notice no difference in tap or ro water. The only thing i can think of is that i do not do water changes. i dont know if that is whats causing them to grow but its something to think about.

lol, I can't Duncans going if my life depended on it :)

lol really, when i moved this tank a year ago it crashed and i lost everything excpet some zoanthids and a large duncan colony. the duncans grew like a weed to the point that i had to get rid of them. the slowest growing coral i have is gsp. they litterally dont grow, which is the opposite for other people.

Doug practically stole the words right from my mouth:
-Very diverse group of species collected all over.
-What works for some might not work for others.
-Zoas should not be classified as a beginner coral.
-Move them around until you find a happy zone then glue them in and sit back and enjoy.

Chris I swear there's something special in that fort mac tap water your using, the growth on those red palys baffles me a bit. Mowhawks have to be the fastest growing piece in my tank and even then its **** in a bucket compared to those beauties!

I have to agree with you. maybe its the bitumen lol. take a look at the full tank shot. in the bottom left where the major red paly colony is. the far left of that colony is now starting to spread and cover the rock beside it. That has happend in a month or so. i wouldnt be suprised if it covers that whole rock in another month or two. I can't take credit for anything, i really do nothing special to brag about. like you said it could vary well be something in that water.

whats the chances you could send me 500ml of tap water and ill start using it as an additive chris :lol:

I figured id update this thread.

I tried moving some of the blue coloured zoas to the bottom of the tank under some of the shade of the LR. WOW what a tremendous difference in the last couple weeks. Such a minor position change in the tank and these guys appear to be thriving and growing unlike anything ive seen in the last 6 months. Im surprised how far a small change like that goes. As mentioned before, a low flow lower light area does seem to be the ticket for some of these guys anyway.