Newby questions

[pepetj]

I am a newby in SW. My first ever Nano was cycled after 32 days by September 27th, 2009. A custom built 20gal in a standard 10gal frame: 20"L x 10"W x 24"H, drilled with a DIY 6 gal sump with six F20T8 and four F24T5HO.

I had a wild caught green-blue Zoanthid species fragment that I had to remove since two Perculas ended up dead shortly after nibbling on it.

No LFS have available corals for sale so my only option is to collect them from intertidal spots I have found within 22 to 25 miles (35 to 40 Km) east of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Hispaniola Island, where I live.

So far I have limited myself to collect already naturally detached fragments but I figure I could carefully remove small fragments as I snorkel around.

In my last snorkel dive (last Sunday, November 15th), I found beautiful colonies of yellow, orange, almost blue, and blue-green Zoanthids established quite close to water surface (0.5m or 2') at low tide.

I am considering setting a Nano themed on Zoanthids and will like to know information of responsible caring guidelines so I can decide if this project is within my reach.

What should they be fed with? I am working in a 10gal farm for wild caught copepods, amphipods and alike at the moment.

The only commercial invert food product I have access to in LFS is Kent Marine's ZooPlex.

Thank you

Pepetj
Santo Domingo

 

[moto826]

would love to see pics

 

[Bosco83]

I'm so jealous! If I lived somewhere like that I would want to make one of those coral growing racks and grow some frags in the ocean.

I'm not sure what you should feed them I don't feed mine anything and they are growing pretty nice. I do use Seachems fuel once in a while.

Brian

 

[rick8335]

Agreed on the feeding, whatever fish and other live critters should produce enough food for zoa to thrive. I do sometime spot feed wile I am feeding other coral that require it. Since you have ocean to harvest out of maybe go to rods reef food's website and look at what the contents are and see if you can come close to mimicing it. Just a thought.
Rich

Oh post some pics, sounds so cool.

 

[pepetj]

Thanks for answering the feeding question.

I went back snorkel diving today. I saw a small blue Zoanthid species colony encrusted in a Fire Coral. I wonder if they co-exist or I witnessed competition. That scene looked awesome!

The orange/yellowish Zoanthid species, I noticed today, are the most wide-spread in that area.

I am collecting small crustaceans (copepods, amphipods) at least weekly (at an intertidal reef spot) by bringing home small but dense carpets of green algae to feed my Mandarin Dragonet. I dumped some in the fuge, hoping their population becomes sustainable.

I saw a neat 15gal tank today (built in a standard 10gal frame) at the LFS. I think this might be my choice to go with a deep sand bed and still hold at least 10 gals of water for the Zoanthids. As you can see I'm on the exploring/planning stage.

I also saw a 6gal cube (frameless) that might be a challenge to keep stable but kept me thinking how nice a single colony of Zoanthid species might look as center piece there.

I still need to figure out how to get a proper protein skimmer. If going with a HOB with/without a fuge or if it would be best to drill that 15gal tank and use a modified 6gal as sump and place the skimmer there (which is what I did in my custom built 20gal).

I consider this a Xmas project but I'm in no rush. I usually go in this hobby (more like a way of life for me) with the idea that any project should be done when its time has come for me to be able to do it.

Please answer my question on lighting: Would six T8 Normal Output be adequate for Zoanthids in a 20"L x 10"W tank? (There's an incredible shortage of aquarium lamps in Santo Domingo).

Pepetj
Santo Domingo

 

[Workaholic]

pepetj,
As for your first question about feeding. zoa dont need any outside food. they are totally photosynthetic. As for a protein skimmer I would check out nuoceon they carry bubble magus skimmers which make a very nice hang on the back skimmer thats great for nano tanks. Unfortunatly with the size of your tank I dont think you will be able to get a sustainable colony of copepods/amphipods to keep your mandarin happy. there simply just wont be enough area for them to grow fast enough to stay ahead of the mandarin's feeding.

As for your lighting, I cant say I know what the wattage or the PAR output of that size t8 bulbs would be but given that I imagine its better than VHO and far better than NO florescent I would think 6 should be doing pretty good. especially with a tank with that kind of a footprint. If you can I would try and get yourself a good mix of color spectrums given that you are limited do to lack of availability where you are at. Try to shoot for a mix of half 10k and half actinic or AKA 20k. This should give you great color and good growth as well.

Tom

 

[pepetj]

If I can't farm enough copepods/amphipods it's not a big problem for me. I have some nice intertidal spots around one hour drive from home where I go at least once a week but usually twice (I visit those places as stress-relief tool).

So fortunately for me and my dear Mandarin Dragonet we have a constant source of healthy live food (when a hard rains falls I need to wait at least two days for ease of collection).

Thanks for the info on lights. I have 10K, 18K and actinic lamps already in stock (for replacement of the main tank) so I'll get a few more units. If possible (and by this I mean if available, I spent three months hunting five actinic T5HOs, using four in my 20gal custom built Nano Reef) I will use two 24W T5HO actinics mixed with four 20W T8NO (two 10K and two 18K) for the Zoanthids Nano.

Which model of the Nuocean Bubble Magnus would be a nice fit for a 15gal Nano?

Pepetj
Santo Domingo

Pepetj
Santo Domingo

 

[Lakota]

would love to see some dive pics pepe