Are my Zoas dead?

[Ocean’s Piece]

These Zoas have been closed for 2 months after I increased my lighting too quickly and a Dino outbreak shortly after. Ever since, these Zoas have never really fully opened until recently, I noticed a few polyps had little fluorescent tips coming out of them like they were starting to open (other Zoas are half open and extending for light it seems) You can see this on a few of the polyps where it’s pink. I’m unsure if this is melting or a surprising comeback to my Zoas. What do you think it is?

 

[eraser2001]

I don't think your zoas are dead, but something in your system is bothering them. How are your parameters ?

 

[Miami Reef]

These Zoas have been closed for 2 months after I increased my lighting too quickly and a Dino outbreak shortly after. Ever since, these Zoas have never really fully opened until recently, I noticed a few polyps had little fluorescent tips coming out of them like they were starting to open (other Zoas are half open and extending for light it seems) You can see this on a few of the polyps where it’s pink. I’m unsure if this is melting or a surprising comeback to my Zoas. What do you think it is?

I think it’s making a comeback!

 

[Miami Reef]

I don't think your zoas are dead, but something in your system is bothering them. How are your parameters ?

Yes, I agree with this too! It won’t hurt to do a coral rx dip to see if any zoa eating spiders come off.

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

I don't think your zoas are dead, but something in your system is bothering them. How are your parameters ?

Parameters are stable. All other Zoas look fine except that they’re half open. Now that I think about it, those have been closed for 3 months. A month and a half ago, all my Zoas were closed and now they’re slowly starting to open back up. Those are a matter of time before they open regularly. All other corals look fine.

Yes, I agree with this too! It won’t hurt to do a coral rx dip to see if any zoa eating spiders come off.

I dipped in hydrogen peroxide about a month ago and the polyps shrunk real close to the frag plug. It didn’t fix anything because I realized that the algae that was growing on it was leftover Dino’s. Now Dino’s is pretty much all gone and doesn’t grow on plug. I’m gonna see what these Zoas do in the next few weeks and see if a dip is needed. Don’t want to stress it out more during recovery

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

Bump

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

bump

 

[ZoWhat]

I have a 6ft tank full of zoas

Zoas do this when irritated, if the irritation continues they'll slowly die off.

You need to be Sherlock Holmes to discover what things are irritating them:

* Phosphates too high?

* are you starving them? Having "0" nitrates and phosphates is unacceptable. They starve without a little of both. Perfect range is NO3 at 5-10. PO4 at 0.01-0.05

* Are you dosing anything? Elements like too much Iodine, potassium can have an effect

* too much flow? Direct flow on them will irritate them

* too much light? Too much white over 150 PAR could irritate them

* pest? Crabs, asterina stars, different reef bugs love to nipple on their tissue

Sooooo I don't have a clear answer for you. You have to investigate.


.

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

I have a 6ft tank full of zoas

Zoas do this when irritated, if the irritation continues they'll slowly die off.

You need to be Sherlock Holmes to discover what things are irritating them:

* Phosphates too high?

* are you starving them? Having "0" nitrates and phosphates is unacceptable. They starve without a little of both. Perfect range is NO3 at 5-10. PO4 at 0.01-0.05

* Are you dosing anything? Elements like too much Iodine, potassium can have an effect

* too much flow? Direct flow on them will irritate them

* too much light? Too much white over 150 PAR could irritate them

* pest? Crabs, asterina stars, different reef bugs love to nipple on their tissue

Sooooo I don't have a clear answer for you. You have to investigate.


.

I'll keep doing some research on my part but to answer some of those questions, here are my responses:

Phosphates are fine. When they get high, they don't bother the zoas.

Had a ostreopsis dino outbreak. It lasted for about a month and a half. Eliminated the root of the cause a month in (bottomed out nitrates). Nitrates and Phosphates are in that range.

Dosing two part and Red Sea trace colors with no water changes (go ahead and kill me lol. All my other corals are healthy and growing). May be something with the trace.

Flow is indirect and is fine

I added new supplemental lighting and ramped it up too quickly and that's what caused these zoas to close originally. Then dinos came later. Lighting has been ramped down and everything is fine except for the zoas.

Only thing I have noticed are asterinas and I kill them everytime I see them. I notice them on my other zoas that are starting to open but they seem unaffected when they are on them.

I'll do some research myself, but those are some things that's going on.

 

[AlexKintner]

Not sure what's wrong with your zoas, but I can attest to their resilience.

I had a Gatorade frag plug with 5-7 polyps go missing, and discovered a month later that they had been dragged into a pistol shrimp lair and buried. When I dug them out they looked worse than yours. Within a week of being reattached to the rockwork they had completely recovered.

Hope you find what ails them. If so, my money is on a good recovery.

 

[melonheadorion]

a couple things to add to this, that might help, and maybe a little bit of constructive criticism.

assuming things are "fine" would mean that the issue is already solved, but its not. so, things are not "fine". something is causing the issue, and unless you can test for the different variables, i wouldnt make the assumption on that. ive had many polyps close on me, and i didnt have the slightest idea why, and assumed things were "fine", but upon changing up the flow and/or lighting, things changed for the zoas.

fact of the matter is that something is causing them to close. this is 100% fact, and cant be refuted. so, the question is to why. lighting is a common one, as is water flow and nutrients. if your levels are within the range that zoa what said, then you can rule them out, assuming that your other nutrients are good (no ammonia or other contaminants).

i have found myself that different types of zoas like different things. i have some that like 80 ish par, while i have 2 colonies loving 10 or less. in fact, the ones in 10 or less are bigger than any of the others i have. ive bought some that were in a tank that had 125ish, and when i got it home under equivelent par, they didnt like it, and wanted less lighting.

another one that ive always been told to look for is pests. not just bad pests, but things like shrimp, or even pods (even though probably not likely here).
ive also had some that went from very low flow, but liked it more in a spot of even less.

with what you are experiencing, and with my own trials and tribulations, i would first try something with the lighting.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

Phosphates are fine. When they get high, they don't bother the zoas.

Parameters are stable.

You're not going to get good help if you don't tell us your parameters. Saying things like they are stable and PO4 is fine, but when it gets high, it doesn't bother things doesn't provide good information to those of us who want to help.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

For mine it's the cleaner shrimp constantly walking over them and keeping them closed. If you have a cleaner or peppermints in there they can/will irritate zoas and pallys to no end in their hunt for food.

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

a couple things to add to this, that might help, and maybe a little bit of constructive criticism.

assuming things are "fine" would mean that the issue is already solved, but its not. so, things are not "fine". something is causing the issue, and unless you can test for the different variables, i wouldnt make the assumption on that. ive had many polyps close on me, and i didnt have the slightest idea why, and assumed things were "fine", but upon changing up the flow and/or lighting, things changed for the zoas.

fact of the matter is that something is causing them to close. this is 100% fact, and cant be refuted. so, the question is to why. lighting is a common one, as is water flow and nutrients. if your levels are within the range that zoa what said, then you can rule them out, assuming that your other nutrients are good (no ammonia or other contaminants).

i have found myself that different types of zoas like different things. i have some that like 80 ish par, while i have 2 colonies loving 10 or less. in fact, the ones in 10 or less are bigger than any of the others i have. ive bought some that were in a tank that had 125ish, and when i got it home under equivelent par, they didnt like it, and wanted less lighting.

another one that ive always been told to look for is pests. not just bad pests, but things like shrimp, or even pods (even though probably not likely here).
ive also had some that went from very low flow, but liked it more in a spot of even less.

with what you are experiencing, and with my own trials and tribulations, i would first try something with the lighting.

That's what I was thinking. Should I go down or up? I'll try to post pics later, but my other zoas seem like they're reaching up a lot more so it makes me wonder if these zoas are getting enough light and/or just recovering.

You're not going to get good help if you don't tell us your parameters. Saying things like they are stable and PO4 is fine, but when it gets high, it doesn't bother things doesn't provide good information to those of us who want to help.

This is as of last Wednesday:
Alk: 9.0 dKH
Ca: 450 ppm
Mg: 1350 ppm
PO4: 0.05 ppm
Nitrate: 9.8 ppm

For mine it's the cleaner shrimp constantly walking over them and keeping them closed. If you have a cleaner or peppermints in there they can/will irritate zoas and pallys to no end in their hunt for food.

I have a cleaner shrimp. He's always walking over mine too. The ones that are starting to open close up and then open back up within a few minutes. I wonder if this could be a factor that is keeping them closed. i think it's mainly a lighting issue though.

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

something I should have said earlier. I got some new zoas after dinos went away and they opened fine originally and now they open like the other ones that aren't fully opened. I wonder if it's not light-related. So many factors, I'll just have to start tinkering

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

something I should have said earlier. I got some new zoas after dinos went away and they opened fine originally and now they open like the other ones that aren't fully opened. I wonder if it's not light-related. So many factors, I'll just have to start tinkering

If thats the only set of zoas not opening, toss them and don't worry about it, I've burnt some b4 and they act funky for a while, but if everything else is "fine" toss them or don't worry about it, zoas are finicky in some tanks...

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

If thats the only set of zoas not opening, toss them and don't worry about it, I've burnt some b4 and they act funky for a while, but if everything else is "fine" toss them or don't worry about it, zoas are finicky in some tanks...

I'm gonna give them a chance. And if they die, I'll put them somewhere in my tank. I glued my torch coral that died from a series of unfortunate beginner mistakes to my rock work

 

[Koh23]

Iodine dip..... easy to do, can't harm anything, and often saves things from dying....

Also, pure speculation, but, seems that zoas dont mind few drops of iodine now and then in water....

 

[IslandLifeReef]

This is as of last Wednesday:
Alk: 9.0 dKH
Ca: 450 ppm
Mg: 1350 ppm
PO4: 0.05 ppm
Nitrate: 9.8 ppm

Ok, what about temp and salinity?

How do you check salinity?

This was a snapshot on Wednesday, what about a few other days?

Have you ever measured PAR in the tank?

What other types of corals do you have?

Can you post a full tank shot?

 

[melonheadorion]

That's what I was thinking. Should I go down or up? I'll try to post pics later, but my other zoas seem like they're reaching up a lot more so it makes me wonder if these zoas are getting enough light and/or just recovering.

This is as of last Wednesday:
Alk: 9.0 dKH
Ca: 450 ppm
Mg: 1350 ppm
PO4: 0.05 ppm
Nitrate: 9.8 ppm

I have a cleaner shrimp. He's always walking over mine too. The ones that are starting to open close up and then open back up within a few minutes. I wonder if this could be a factor that is keeping them closed. i think it's mainly a lighting issue though.

i would try a week in a couple different spots. i have an NSA type of scape, so its easier for me to do this, and im not sure if its the same for you. the par levels are drastically different in shaded areas versus unshaded. for example, on the very bottom, on the substrate, i get about 120 par. on the substrate underneat something that is creating a shadow (not dark, just a shadow) par significantly changes to 10. on the top of my scape, its 150+. luckily, i have the ability to have a wide range. if you have the ability, or at least the ability to create something in the tank where you can generate huge differences in lighting, it would be worth a try to put it in an area where par would be less than what it is already. zoas, without enough light wont stay closed. if anything, they will stretch for it. so this might be a good way to see if it is the light keeping them closed.