From ReefPedia

[edit] Zoanthus Difficulty: Easy (usually) Light: All levels Aggression: May overgrow neighboring corals Hardiness: Captive-propagated specimens extremely hardy; Wild-caught can be fragile. Growth Rate: Fast under proper lighting, flow Availability: Very common, but many rare color morphs.

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Introduction

These are a good starter coral for many beginners, as they are hardy and easy to keep. There are many brightly colored Zoanthids, often in exciting color combinations. Zoanthids can also spread on to substrate and colonize it quickly.

Common Names

Button polyps, Zo's, "Zoos," Zoas, colony polyps, colonial polyps, and sea mats.

Scientific Names

Zoanthidae There are three comonly available genera in the aquarium trade: Zoanthus, Palythoa, and Protopalythoa.

Hardiness

Most are considered easy. Certain varieties prove more difficult, especially blue color morphs.

Flow

Varied tolerance. Wild-caught specimens often need high flow.

Lighting

Varied tolerances. Most will grow under low light, but higher light if acclimatized will effect faster growth. Brighter varieties tend to need more light. Also, brighter varieties that are moved from intense lighting to less intense lighting have a tendency to brown out.

Placement

Varies. Zoanthids will usually grow wherever you put them. A good strategy to keep them from covering your tank in time is put them on a small rock isolated in the sand, as they will not spread over the sand.

Feeding

Usually do not need to be spot fed, but will accept small meaty foods such as mysis/frozen

Propagation

Easy. Under the right conditions these can grow very fast. Rule number one when fragging Zoanthus is to WEAR GLOVES and GOGGLES. The potential for poisoning from their palytoxin is high if not careful. A little "juice" on a cut, or on your fingers that you wipe your eye or mouth with, and you will feel sick. Also is easy to get squirted in the eye, hence the goggles. The best method is to use a wood chisel to scrape a small amount of rock under the attached polyps and use a razor to seperate them at their stolon. The separate pieces can then be glued to another rock or propagation plug with super glue.

Aggression

Low, but will over-grow other corals if not careful. Note potentially toxic if handled. Zoanthids can sting and significantly damage many SPS corals such as Acropora. If allowed, they can eventually sting and damage Acropora to the point where they can overgrow the base of the hard coral.

Availability

Readily available, although certain varieties can be hard to find.

Other Issues

Palytoxin

As noted earlier, this coral contains a potent neurotoxin called Palytoxin. Always handle Zoanthids with gloves and googgles, especially if cutting the coral or handling it in a stressed state. There have been recorded cases of Palytoxin poisonings of aquarists and in some instances, pets.

Predators

Heliacus Snails

Wild zoanthid colonies are commonly collected with a predatory snail called "Heliacus." These snails specialize in eating zoanthids, and should be removed immediately.

Zoanthid-Eating Nudibranchs

Zoanthid colonies can also be afflicted by parasitic nudibranchs (sea slugs). These nudibranchs also contain the palytoxin from the zoanthids, so should be considered poisonous and handled with care.

"Fungus"

Whether or not it truly is a fungus is unclear, but certain Zoanthids, particularly pink Palythoa can get a fungus-like infection. One treatment that works well is to dip the infected colony in a solution of 80% tank water, 20% Hydrogen Peroxide for UP TO 5 minutes. This dip is strong and irritates the colony along with killing the infection, so do not dip the colony too long.

   Some content provided by Barry Katz of Kahuna Corals

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