QUICK STATS

Care Level: Easy
Coral Type: Soft Coral / Zoanthid
Temperament: Peaceful to Semi-Aggressive by Growth
Photosynthetic: Yes
Placement: Lower to Middle / Rockwork or Frag Island
Lighting: Low to Moderate
Water Flow: Low to Moderate, Indirect
Approximate Purchase Size: Varies by Frag Size and Polyp Count
Approximate Max Size: Colony Growth Depends on Stability, Nutrients, Lighting, Flow, and Space

MAGICIAN ZOANTHIDS CORAL

The Magician Zoanthids Coral, also called Magician Zoas, is a colorful zoanthid variety known for its bold patterning, bright centers, and contrasting skirts. Depending on the specimen and lighting, Magician Zoanthids may show shades of pink, orange, purple, blue, red, peach, lavender, gold, or dark outer contrast across the face and skirt.

Zoanthids are colonial soft corals that grow as individual polyps connected by tissue along rock, frag plugs, or other hard surfaces. Magician Zoanthids are popular because they provide strong color, visible growth, and good reef-tank texture without needing intense SPS-style care. In plain English, they are colorful little reef buttons that multiply when happy, because apparently even coral discovered real estate expansion.

Magician Zoanthids are generally hardy once settled and can adapt to a range of reef conditions. They work well in mixed reefs, soft coral gardens, zoa gardens, frag racks, and isolated rock islands. They are a strong choice for reef keepers who want bright color and movement without signing a long-term emotional contract with Acropora.

This coral is photosynthetic and receives much of its energy from reef lighting. It may also benefit from dissolved nutrients, broadcast feeding, amino acids, and fine particulate foods in established reef systems. Zoanthids often do better with some available nutrients rather than ultra-sterile water.

Magician Zoanthids are generally considered peaceful, but they can become semi-aggressive by growth. They may spread across nearby rockwork and crowd neighboring corals if given the chance. They do not need long sweepers to become a problem. They simply multiply into the neighborhood like tiny decorative squatters.

Important Handling Note: Zoanthids and palythoas may contain palytoxin or other irritating compounds. Avoid touching them with bare hands, do not handle them near cuts, do not scrub or cut them carelessly, and never boil or expose zoanthid-covered rock to steam. Use gloves, eye protection, and basic adult survival instincts, a tragic requirement for keeping tiny pretty buttons.

Note: Image is a representation of what to expect. The coral you receive may vary slightly in size, polyp count, color intensity, skirt length, patterning, and overall appearance.

AQUARIUM REQUIREMENTS

AQUARIUM SIZE

A minimum aquarium size of 10 gallons or larger is recommended for Magician Zoanthids, though larger mature reef systems are preferred. Larger aquariums provide better water stability, more placement options, and more room for the colony to grow.

Zoanthids are adaptable, but stability still matters. Smaller tanks can work well, but swings in salinity, temperature, nutrients, and alkalinity happen faster. “Easy coral” does not mean “immune to chaos,” despite humanity’s recurring desire to test that theory.

PLACEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

Magician Zoanthids are best placed in the lower to middle areas of the aquarium where they receive low to moderate lighting and low to moderate indirect flow. They can often adapt to brighter areas, but new frags should be started lower and moved gradually if needed.

Rock Placement: Place on stable rockwork, a frag plug, or a dedicated zoa garden area where the polyps have room to spread.

Frag Island Placement: A separate rock island can help control growth and prevent the colony from spreading onto main rockwork.

Sandbed Placement: Temporary sandbed placement can work during acclimation if lighting is intense, but long-term placement is usually better on rockwork, rubble, or a secured frag plug.

Growth Space: Leave room around the frag for future polyp growth. Zoanthids can spread quickly once settled.

Spacing: Avoid placing directly against slower-growing corals. Magician Zoanthids may crowd neighboring coral tissue over time.

Avoid Aggressive Neighbors: Keep away from corals with strong sweepers or stings, such as torches, hammers, frogspawn, galaxea, chalices, favias, and some mushrooms.

WATER PARAMETERS

Magician Zoanthids are hardy, but they still need stable reef conditions. Stable parameters are more important than chasing exact numbers. Sudden swings can cause closed polyps, melting, poor growth, fading, or algae problems.

Temperature: 75-79°F
pH Level: 8.1-8.4
Salinity: 1.024-1.026 specific gravity
Alkalinity: 8-10 dKH
Calcium: 400-450 ppm
Magnesium: 1250-1350 ppm
Nitrate: 5-15 ppm
Phosphate: 0.03-0.10 ppm

Zoanthids often appreciate detectable nutrients. Ultra-low nutrient systems may cause dull coloration, slow growth, or poor polyp extension. The goal is clean but fed reef water, not sterile blue glass soup with a protein skimmer superiority complex.

LIGHTING

Magician Zoanthids prefer low to moderate lighting, though they can adapt to a wide range of reef lighting if acclimated slowly. A general target range of 75-150 PAR works well for many zoanthid varieties.

LIGHTING RECOMMENDATIONS

Low to Moderate PAR: Start around 50-100 PAR if newly added, especially if the coral is freshly shipped or coming from lower light.

Target Range: Once settled, many Magician Zoanthids do well around 75-150 PAR.

Gradual Acclimation: If moving into stronger light, increase exposure slowly over 2-3 weeks.

Color Display: Magician Zoanthids often show their best pink, orange, purple, blue, and contrasting skirt coloration under moderate reef lighting with a blue-heavy spectrum.

Polyp Shape: Lower light may cause zoanthids to stretch upward, while stronger light may make polyps stay shorter and flatter.

Too Much Light: Signs may include closed polyps, shrinking, bleaching, fading, tight skirts, or reduced extension.

Too Little Light: Signs may include stretching, dull color, slow growth, or reaching toward the light.

Do not blast fresh Magician Zoanthids with maximum light because the colors looked fun. That is not reef keeping. That is photon-based button abuse.

WATER FLOW

Magician Zoanthids prefer low to moderate indirect flow. Flow should keep detritus from settling between polyps without blasting the colony closed.

FLOW RECOMMENDATIONS

Ideal Flow: Low to moderate, indirect, gently varied flow.

Avoid Direct Flow: Strong direct flow can cause polyps to stay closed, shrink, or fail to extend fully.

Avoid Dead Spots: Too little flow can allow detritus, algae, or bacterial buildup between polyps.

Watch Polyp Extension: Healthy zoanthids should open regularly once settled. If they stay closed, check flow, light, pests, and irritation.

Colony Growth: As the colony spreads, flow may need adjustment so detritus does not collect in dense areas.

The goal is enough flow to keep them clean, not enough to make the polyps look like they are being interrogated by a wavemaker.

DIET

Magician Zoanthids are photosynthetic, but they can benefit from dissolved nutrients and occasional feeding. They do not require heavy target feeding, but fine particulate foods may help growth in stable systems.

PRIMARY DIET

Photosynthesis: Reef lighting provides much of the coral’s energy through symbiotic zooxanthellae.

Broadcast Feeding: Zoanthids may capture fine particles from the water column during regular reef feeding.

Fine Coral Foods: Powdered coral foods, phytoplankton-style blends, rotifers, reef roids-type foods, amino acids, and very fine suspended foods may be used carefully.

Dissolved Nutrients: Low but detectable nitrate and phosphate can help support color and growth.

Fish Feeding Benefit: Regular fish feeding often provides enough dissolved and particulate nutrition for zoanthids.

FEEDING FREQUENCY

Broadcast feeding 1-2 times per week may be beneficial if nutrients are not already high. Direct target feeding is usually not necessary.

Avoid dumping powdered food into the tank like you are seasoning a soup. The zoas are not asking for a snowstorm. They are asking for stability, because apparently even tiny polyps have standards.

COMPATIBILITY

Magician Zoanthids work well in mixed reef, soft coral, and zoa garden aquariums when placed with proper spacing and moderate flow.

COMMON TANK MATES

Fish: Reef-safe fish such as clownfish, gobies, blennies, wrasses, cardinalfish, firefish, tangs, anthias, and other peaceful to semi-peaceful community fish.

Avoid: Fish known to nip soft corals or polyps, such as some angelfish, butterflyfish, filefish, puffers, and certain triggers.

Invertebrates: Generally safe with cleaner shrimp, snails, hermit crabs, and common reef invertebrates. Some crabs or large snails may irritate polyps by crawling across them.

Coral: Keep away from aggressive corals such as torches, hammers, frogspawn, galaxea, favias, chalices, hydnophora, and other stinging LPS.

Zoa Gardens: Magician Zoanthids can be grown near other zoanthids, but different varieties may grow at different speeds and crowd each other.

Growth Control: Use isolated rocks or frag islands if you want to prevent them from spreading across the main aquascape. Tiny button empire management, basically.

BEHAVIORAL NOTES

Temperament: Peaceful by sting, but semi-aggressive by growth. They can crowd or overgrow nearby corals.

Growth Pattern: Colonial polyps spread across hard surfaces through connected tissue.

Coloration: May show pink, orange, purple, blue, red, peach, lavender, gold, or dark outer contrast depending on lighting, nutrients, stability, and photography conditions.

Polyp Extension: Healthy zoanthids should open consistently once settled. Some may close temporarily after shipping, handling, dipping, or placement changes.

Skirt Length: Skirt length and polyp shape can vary depending on flow and lighting.

Growth Rate: Magician Zoanthids may grow steadily once settled. Growth rate depends on nutrients, lighting, flow, pests, and overall stability.

Closed Polyps: Temporary closure is normal after stress. Persistent closure may indicate pests, algae, detritus, too much light, too much flow, unstable parameters, or irritation.

Pest Awareness: Inspect carefully for zoanthid-eating nudibranchs, sundial snails, spiders, flatworms, algae, vermetid snails, aiptasia, and eggs before placing into the display.

Dipping: Coral dipping before introduction is strongly recommended. Use coral-safe dips according to product directions and inspect closely after dipping.

Palytoxin Caution: Use gloves and eye protection when cutting, fragging, scrubbing, or handling zoanthids. Do not boil rock with zoanthids or palythoas on it. Do not touch your eyes, mouth, or open cuts after handling.

Frag Handling: Handle by the plug, base, or rock whenever possible. Avoid crushing or scraping the polyps.

Algae Risk: Algae can grow between polyps and cause irritation. Maintain flow, stable nutrients, and a suitable cleanup crew.

Placement Reality: This coral can become a colorful zoa garden highlight, but it needs space and basic caution. Magician Zoanthids look like harmless little reef buttons, then spread across the rockwork like they found a loophole in the lease.

ACCLIMATION PROCESS

This acclimation method helps reduce stress by gradually introducing the coral to your aquarium’s temperature, lighting, and water chemistry.

1. DIM THE LIGHTS

Turn down aquarium lights or place the coral in a shaded lower area at first. This helps reduce stress while the polyps adjust.

2. FLOAT THE BAG

Float the sealed bag in the aquarium for 15-20 minutes to allow the temperature in the bag to equalize with the tank.

3. OPEN BAG, ADD CORAL TO CONTAINER

Carefully open the bag and transfer the coral and shipping water into a clean container. Handle the coral by the plug, rock, or base rather than crushing or scraping the polyps.

4. ACCLIMATE USING TANK WATER

Add small amounts of tank water to the container every few minutes for 20-30 minutes. Avoid exposing the polyps to air longer than necessary.

5. CORAL DIP

Use a coral-safe dip according to the product instructions. Inspect carefully for zoanthid pests, eggs, algae, aiptasia, vermetid snails, and hitchhikers before the coral enters your aquarium.

6. TRANSFER CORAL TO AQUARIUM

Place the coral in a lower-to-moderate light area with low to moderate indirect flow at first. Discard the shipping and dip water. Do not pour shipping water or dip water into your aquarium.

7. LIGHT ACCLIMATE

Allow the coral to adjust gradually over several days to weeks before moving it into brighter light. Watch for polyp extension, color, skirt movement, pest signs, and new polyp growth before making major placement changes.