Zoanthid acclimation & how to place them?

[Driller31]

I have order a couple different colors of zoanthid, and 10 crab. It will be here this morning. I was wondering if you guys know the acclimation times for the Zoas, and the crabs? And will the Zoas come on lil live rock, or U just place them on my live rock in the aquarium??I have also heard some people say they superglue them to the rocks??Please help!!

 

[austinsdad]

IMO, acclimation time isn't a hard and fast rule. Gotta take into consideration the water the livestock is currently in and the water that they're going into. If the Ph, salt level, or other readings are way apart between the two, that tells me the acclimation period should be longer so as not to shock with more sudden changes. Both sources of water having similar readings won't take as long to acclimate.

I've never got mail order zoas, so dunno if they come on rock or not. If not, take a dry rock frag and use the super glue to affix it. Put it in the water after 10 seconds or so is the way I'd do it.

Didja know zoas are "colonial anenomes" (Eric Borneman)? But they won't walk around on ya like regular anenomes.

They will grow rapidly with bright light and need moderate to strong water flow.

 

[Driller31]

Sounds good, what about the crabs?? Same thing I am guessing???

 

[Driller31]

Will 10 crabs be good enough??I don't really want snails,as I want the algea to grow on the back of my tank..What would be a great cleaner crew, or is it even needed???

 

[Zer0]

Mail order zoas usually do come attached to small pieces of live rock. When i ordered mine that's what they were attached to. And as austinsdad said, acclimation time all varies on the chemistry of both waters. When i got my mail order coral, the water between the bags and my tank wasn't all that different because the temp, sg, and ph were around the same level, so i acclimated for about a half hour. Your best bet instead of just introducing them to new water is definitely to test both waters and check out the differences.

Also, what kind of crabs did you buy? Hermit crabs? Hermit crabs won't do nearly as much cleaning as snails, but they are still pretty cool to look at and they do still clean the tank. Snails are the guys that really clean the tank glass, but if you don't want that.. then it's up to you. However, if you don't have some sort of help from a "clean-up-crew" then you'll be the only one cleaning the glass and the only one cleaning up waste and detritus, and it could get pretty crazy without some help. I guess you'll just need to stay on top of it more often if you want it to look nice.

 

[Driller31]

So how do alot of aquariums have the algea just on the back glass?? Are they cleaning everything but the back??Cause the snails would not let algea grow I am guessing?What about shrimp?? Are those considered cleaners as well? Yes Hermit crabs are what I ordered...

 

[Zer0]

Usually that's after a long time of algae growth, because it won't happen like that overnight. Also, i've seen a lot of tanks that have GSP's covering the entire back glass since those corals spread like wildfire once they get accustomed to the tank, which usually takes very little time.

Also, the snails won't be able to eradicate ALL of the algae.. For something like that you would need a hefty amount of snails. They will "contribute" to the cleaning of your tank, whether it be algae, detritus, fish waste, etc.. But they won't do everything for you.

Snails, Hermit crabs, Shrimp, other crabs, are mostly all considered a CUC since their diet consists mainly of algae, waste, and detritus. Most of the inverts we can put in our aquariums mainly graze or rocks, and the sandbeds looking for detritus and algae. So yeah.. i would consider almost all the inverts we can keep in our tanks to be a CUC. Except for things like anemones, but they may be.. i'm not sure because i don't know much about those creatures.

 

[austinsdad]

How old is your tank and how much live rock is in it? Too much of any cleaning crew to early in the tank might starve if not enuf to eat on. In time, you will get algae on the back of the tank. Shrimp, snaills, crabs, starfish and other inverts are considered cleaneing crew.