Are you after a unique, easy to care for, mesmerizing coral to add to your home aquarium? If so, you need to learn more about White Zombie Zoas!
White Zombie Zoas are colonial corals that belong to the Zoanthid group, found in the Indo-Pacific region.
White Zombie Zoanthids (Zoas), are an easy coral to care for, making them great for both beginner and experienced hobbyists. They come in a variety of vibrant colors, which is why most hobbyists track down uncommon color and pattern morphs.
Their super affordable price along with their ease of care, their choice of colors, and the display they will create in your aquarium at home make this one of my favorite Zoanthids.
Let’s just say, when you do manage to get your hands on a unique White Zombie Zoa, many people will be envious of your new addition.
With any coral, creating the perfect environment is important for your coral to survive and feel comfortable. Life in the oceans is very different from home reef aquariums. A lot of what goes on in the wild cannot translate to what we can replicate in saltwater tanks. However, this guide will give you the best advice to create the perfect conditions for your zoa coral in captivity.
Summary
- Common Name: White Zombie Zoa
- Family: Zoanthidae
- Origin: Indo-Pacific
- Care Level: Easy
- Temperament: Semi-aggressive
- Lighting: Low to moderate (PAR 100 – 250)
- Water Flow: Moderate
- Placement: Lower region
White Zombie Zoa Care Guide
White Zombie Zoas are perfect for both newbies and experienced reef tank hobbyists. Why? Well, not only are they relatively inexpensive, but they are also easy to care for.
However, before you grab your jacket and head to your local reef store or start searching the internet, there are a few things you need to learn to keep your zoa happy and healthy at home.
Most importantly, keeping the lighting, water flow, and the following water parameters in range helps your coral stay healthy and maintains its mesmerizing coloration. The key to keeping any coral is always tank stability – these are the parameters you’re going to want to maintain:
- Temperature: 75° – 80 °F
- pH: 8.1 – 8.4
- Salinity: 1.024 – 1.026
- Alkalinity: 8 – 9.5 dKH
- Nitrates: <10 ppm
- Phosphates: <10 ppm
- Calcium: 420 – 440 ppm
- Magnesium: 1260 – 1350
Regular testing and the use of a dosing pump can help you maintain perfect conditions, which as aquarium hobbyists, doesn’t always go our way, especially if you have a busy work schedule!
Using a dosing pump keeps your water parameters more constant, and saves us the trouble of having to manually dose the aquarium. These are also a great investment if you are going on vacation, making it much easier for your friendly neighbor to look after your beloved corals.
When keeping zoanthids like the White Zombie, you need to take extra care as they contain a powerful neurotoxin that can be harmful to humans when it comes into contact with our bloodstream. Therefore, you need to be careful when handling their polyps, especially if you have any open wounds.
If you want to add some fish into your aquarium to create the ultimate mini-ocean, be mindful of which ones you select. Some fish such as angelfish are known to nip on zoa polyps, so always check compatibility before purchasing any aquarium additions.
White Zombie Zoa Water Flow Requirements
Water flow provides corals with the minerals they need to grow, flourish, and helps the coral expel any nasty toxins that can make them sick. This particular zoanthid coral requires moderate water flow; this allows the water to flow over their polyps without them closing up.
White Zombie Zoa Lighting & PAR Requirements
White Zombie Zoas are considered low maintenance as they only require low to moderate lighting with a PAR between 100 and 250, which keeps their bright coloration without becoming bleached.
You are probably thinking, what light should you have in your aquarium? White Zombie Zoas are not fussy, they are happy with T5’s, Metal Halides, or LEDs, as long as the proper PAR levels are provided.
Although I always recommend investing in a high-quality LED setup as they provide the best distribution of PAR into your tank.
White Zombie Zoa Feeding
Although they get most of their nutritional requirements from the symbiotic algae that live within the coral’s tissues called zooxanthellae, White Zombie Zoas also benefit from supplemental feedings.
So, what is the perfect snack for this particular zoanthid?
Like most reef corals, they enjoy munching on brine shrimp and mysis for that “meaty-fix”. A perfect feeding regime also includes adding iodine and other trace elements such as phosphate and magnesium to keep your coral happy and most importantly healthy.
White Zombie Zoas can sometimes be reluctant feeders, and it can also be difficult to see if they are actually eating due to their small mouths. Therefore, it is recommended to directly feed them with a pipette to maximize the chances of them catching food.
With any coral, you want to avoid overfeeding, a couple of times a week will be enough to satisfy their needs. Overfeeding can create water quality issues such as elevated phosphate and nitrate levels and in severe cases algal blooms, which are the bane of every hobbyists’ life!
White Zombie Zoa Growth Rate
These corals are fast to reproduce, however, do not worry, they will not dominate your aquarium. They are in fact quite the show-off, creating a visually rich environment, turning reef tanks into mini-oceans in no time.
If they get overly excited and your Zombie Zoa starts reproducing too fast, you can carefully cut them off using a sharp blade such as scissors or a scalpel to separate the polyps. You can either move them to another reef tank, or you can share them with a friend. When cutting polyps, reefers have been most successful when removing 10 polyps or so. While you can cut off one polyp, zoanthids grow best from small colonies – so make sure you cut off a good chunk when fragmenting them.
White Zombie Zoa Placement
Because of their lighting and water flow needs, White Zombie Zoas will be most comfortable near the lower part of your aquarium, placed on an exposed rock or on the sand bed.
Now, you do not want your White Zombie Zoa floating around like a leaf in the wind… That’s why we recommend using IC gel glue or coral-safe putty to keep them anchored down.
Closing Thoughts
White Zombie Zoas are highly colorful, easy to care for, can live in lower light conditions than many other corals, and can easily reproduce, making them every aquarium hobbyist’s dream coral.
White Zombie Zoas are affordable compared to other corals, but if you are after a rare color and pattern combination, you may need to fork out a little more money. Finding rare color and pattern morphs is like a Pokémon hunt, leaving you with a rainbow of White Zombie Zoas to showcase off to anyone passing by your aquarium.
Whether you are an experienced coral collector, or you are just starting to dip your toes into the coral-keeping world, the White Zombie Zoa is the perfect coral to grow a mystical underwater collection in any saltwater reef aquarium!
