2 month old tank, Zoa's not opening

JulianHuntToronto · Apr 24, 2020

Hey Zoa gang. A quick question re: Zoa's and GSP's I have had my new 30 gallon tank up and running now for about 2 months. Initially I put in a Xenia colony, growing really well, as are the rainbow star polyps. A week ago I added a few Zoas and a daisy polyp frag as well as a gsp - none of them have opened though I have left them alone for a week, I tried them in higher flow/light a few days ago but they still will not open. The GSP has basically made itself into a little ball and the daisy polyps as well. The only other occupants of the tank are my 2 juvenile clownfish, a few Nerite snails a few Nassarius snails and some Trochus snails. . My parameters seem fine with the exception of ALK being low the week when I just tested it. Would this affect the Zoas etc? I spoke to the owner at the LFS and he was surprised as he said that Xenia are less forgiving than Zoas. IDK as they started with 1 stalk and now have 5. Here is an overview of the parameters.

There was a spike in Nitrate/ammonia a while ago as the LFS sold me aster snails instead of Trochus and they all ended up dying as they could not get up after they fell on the sand bed.

I do a 10% RODI water change once a week, There is significant coralline algae growth happening, so I presume that this is likely causing the ALK to drop?? Any help appreciated. I have read that Zoas can take a while to open, but ??? They were all fully open and happy at the LFS, as were the Daisy and GSP.

Kremis · Apr 25, 2020

Hmm, your levels all look good for zoas. I would consider trying to switch up the flow or lighting they are getting. What lights do you have and how much flow are they in currently?

vetteguy53081 · Apr 25, 2020

Blow them off gently with a turkey baster and see if they respond. Sometimes a light coating of dust can irritate them.
Lower white light intensity a little and add lugols iodine to tank water. Good (not strong flow) also required. Anything in tank possibly nipping at them ?
Last thing . .. lifting up the plugs theyre on, any black bugs or signs of eggs?

danschoenherr · Apr 25, 2020

Your tank needs to mature. There is still the ugly phase coming, diatoms, hair algae and possibly, but hopefully not, dinos. The nitrate and phosphate will need to balance out and find it's "happy place". Look into using Microbactr7, it helped me out on my tanks.
As for the zoas, they are not alwyas the easiest "beginner" coral. They do like more flow than you think. The flow helps to keep detritus from collecting between the polyps. Get yourself a soft artist paint brush to brush the polyps off if they look like there is a brown film on them. That may be a sign of bacterial infection. I suspect the problem lies in it being a new tank and the biodiversity is not well established yet......it's just gonna take some time.

David Calzada · Apr 25, 2020

First thing check your parameters, and try to avoid moving the zoa continuously. Be patient and also make sure to check if your light are to strong and also check your flow.

JulianHuntToronto · Apr 26, 2020

Hey gang - thanks for the messages. I retested today after doing a 10% water change 2 days ago. I had misread the Red Sea ALK measurements it is actually 9, not 5, flow is moderate, I have 2 Hydor KPS wave makers set on the LPS 501 (LPS and soft coral) setting and would say there is moderate flow in the tank, enough to keep the Xenia and Cloves waving. the light par readings are 75 on the bottom of the tank and 135 in the middle. I borrowed the par meter from the LFS down the street. (dang Covid as long in person chats at the store are not easy.) This morning the black Zoa frag was all white on top. Checked all the plugs no sign of pests, I did dip them all b4 adding to tank. Livestock again are 2 clowns, 3 Nassarius snails, 5 dwarf hermits, 5 Nerite snails, 2 scarlet hermits and 5 Trochus snails. Yes, there are some diatoms, which come and go, some algae as well, I was thinking about a hydrogen peroxide dip tomorrow. the temp is 27 (80.6F) I did read somewhere that this might be too warm? The Xenia is growing like the weed it is

. It has split 3 times now and is just about to move off the frag plug. Though I am not fussed as I actually like the Xenia and may go with blue clove polyps as well. I was thinking over the weekend that I might wait a few months, get the algae/diatoms down and then go with a species only with Rock Flower anemones, though here in Toronto they are a lot more expensive than in the USA, here they run around $60-$100 per. I have been dosing 1.5 ml of Seachem Iodide every 4 days. Your thoughts as always are appreciated. The Daisy polyps are also not opening, nor the GSP...

danschoenherr · Apr 26, 2020

i wouldnt worry about dosing Iodide yet. Your water changes should be enough to keep up with the trace elements as you don't have that many corals yet. And I would hold off on the peroxide dip for the zoas also. The clove polyps could use a little help. I would just use a small syringe or dropper and just apply the peroxide to just the frag plug and let it sit for a few minutes. Avoid getting any on the polyps. Zoas can handle the hydrogen peroxide, but not sure about the clove polyps.
As for temp, most people target around 78 degress F.

JulianHuntToronto · Apr 27, 2020

danschoenherr said:
i wouldnt worry about dosing Iodide yet. Your water changes should be enough to keep up with the trace elements as you don't have that many corals yet. And I would hold off on the peroxide dip for the zoas also. The clove polyps could use a little help. I would just use a small syringe or dropper and just apply the peroxide to just the frag plug and let it sit for a few minutes. Avoid getting any on the polyps. Zoas can handle the hydrogen peroxide, but not sure about the clove polyps.
As for temp, most people target around 78 degress F.

Thanks - I used a soft brush on the clove polyps and just teased around the base, seemed to help, picking up a bottle of microbacter this week. The white coating on the Zoa was really odd, I used the same brush in an external cup of tank water and it sloughed off with an appalling smell, like something rotting. Slime? The polyps underneath seem fine though still closed, changed the powerhead 1 to give it a bit more flow to see if this helps. Temp is gradually being lowered and will see, other than that, guess I shall remain with the 2 clowns as it is unlikely that there will be a lot of stores getting fish in during the ongoing quarantine. Here in Toronto as of today it is likely going to last until end of May, though Air Canada and the rest of the CDN airlines are cancelling all flights through end of June.

Kremis · May 1, 2020

Whats your filtration

JulianHuntToronto · May 4, 2020

Right now I have a Tunze protein skimmer, a 10 gallon sump/refugium, porcelain bio-balls and have been trying to dose Vibrant. Right now since I guess it is new, and I remember going through this years ago with my 90 gallon that we are in the algae stage, now most of the frags have been covered by hair algae and died. Thee is one colony of zoos that are doing well, the cloves and Xenia are fine, the snails keep the Porites clean so the Christmas Tree worms are doing well.