Are these Zoas?

[Chris Wells]

Forgive the rookie here, these may be nothing. They were in my Garf "bug bags".

ID would be great if they are not corals. They are soft on the ends and look stressed and were expelling brown at first. I put the bug bags in the sump and noticed them glowing with the light.

Thanks,

Chris

 

[DSC reef]

Looks like zoas and palys. They look unhappy. Make sure there getting some flow, looks like algae is growing on them.

 

[Chris Wells]

Looks like zoas and palys. They look unhappy. Make sure there getting some flow, looks like algae is growing on them.

I will move for flow. I would imagine they are not happy being in yucky chaeto/bug bag for a few days. You think they will recover? My tank is only 11 weeks old.

Thanks

 

[DSC reef]

Always a chance my friend

 

[ilan84]

The look like they want to get open, so if they are in good quality water bow, there is a big chance that they gonna make it!

 

[Fudsey]

It took 3 days for a single zoa polyp to open that I received in a shipment. They do look like zoas but you will have to really wait till they open to be sure. Give it a couple days and then you'll know

 

[Chris Wells]

The look like they want to get open, so if they are in good quality water bow, there is a big chance that they gonna make it!

Just did a water change this Thursday and added my Garf package last night. I am going thru testing everything today. I am still in brown algae stage, turning into green. Also spotted coralline algae growing on powerheads. So, we will see.

Should I target feed them with Reef Chili or something? Or leave them be and let them get broadcast fed when I feed the Frogspawn and Hammer I have.

Thanks

 

[garethwood]

youve got more chance of keeping the stowaways alive than the hammer or frogswapn im afraid to say.. on a 11 week old tank ide say you werent established enough 4 anything other than zoas and mushrooms yet. but i hope you prove me wrong : ) and congratulations on your freebie! always good when youve got a new tank to fill.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

You'll be fine.
You'll probably notice a rise in the no3 after adding the Grunge.
NOT a big deal.

 

[Chris Wells]

youve got more chance of keeping the stowaways alive than the hammer or frogswapn im afraid to say.. on a 11 week old tank ide say you werent established enough 4 anything other than zoas and mushrooms yet. but i hope you prove me wrong : ) and congratulations on your freebie! always good when youve got a new tank to fill.

Thanks, I hope I prove you wrong too.

Frogspawn has been happy from beginning and growing. Hammer makes me nervous, but looks like it is splitting to 2 heads. They have been in tank for month.

Parameters as of today
90gDT/145Total (75g Sump)

Temp: 77.9-78.6
ORP: 330
PH: 7.86
dKH: 8.4
Salinity:34.3 Apex / 34 Refractometer ( Bringing it up with evaporation to 35)
Mag: 1440
Ca: 425
NO3: 1 @saltyfilmfolks (It did bring it up, still auto-feeding. Doesn't seem like a lot tho.)
PO4: .03

Pics of stowaways in DT for today with fed broadcast with reef chili. As well as 2- LPS 1 month ago and then today. All light colors on.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Dang that little mini colony of zoas is gunna be pretty!

 

[ilan84]

Your tank and substrate doesnt look that good to be honoust. If there is a little film of brown kind of algae/silicate, it can create a small layer on the zoas, it can irritante them and keep them staying closed. Lets give it a little time and keep nitrates around 5 amd po4 between 0,04 and 0,1 with zoas. If parameters are good and you feed your fish everyday, feeding the zoas isnt that important.

 

[Chris Wells]

Your tank and substrate doesnt look that good to be honoust. If there is a little film of brown kind of algae/silicate, it can create a small layer on the zoas, it can irritante them and keep them staying closed. Lets give it a little time and keep nitrates around 5 amd po4 between 0,04 and 0,1 with zoas. If parameters are good and you feed your fish everyday, feeding the zoas isnt that important.

Tank is only 11 weeks old as mentioned above. Not sure there is anything to do about the ugly phase, right now, mainly Diatoms, no blooms tho. I am not the type who will use chemicals to speed this process up other than trace elements. It is actually fun to go through this ugliness. My Conch is working as hard as he can on the substrate, Nassarius also. Ceriths look like they need to get to work IMO. Turbos and Nerites are doing ok on rocks.
My bigger concern is that I can't keep NO3 up, PO4 has been .03 from the beginning and never waivered. Also, there are no fish yet. So, less bio-load and huge de-nitrifying filtration is not helping me. I am waiting to build up microfauna and let the tank look some-what like a reef and then I will put fish in a couple of months. (ie. 76 days after CUC/Corals) My stowaways reset that clock unfortunately. So, I will keep on a feeding regime to maintain NO3, otherwise, remove some media or dose. Ultimately, adding fish is going to help.

I hope my stowaways make it, but at the end of the day. They are allowing me to learn something about zoas.

As always, I appreciate learning from the folks on this forum.

Thank You for your comments.

Chris

 

[Andrew S.]

Great to learn something and figure out if your tank is ok for zoas, then go buy more. Ha. Good luck!

 

[DSC reef]

Tank is only 11 weeks old as mentioned above. Not sure there is anything to do about the ugly phase, right now, mainly Diatoms, no blooms tho. I am not the type who will use chemicals to speed this process up other than trace elements. It is actually fun to go through this ugliness. My Conch is working as hard as he can on the substrate, Nassarius also. Ceriths look like they need to get to work IMO. Turbos and Nerites are doing ok on rocks.
My bigger concern is that I can't keep NO3 up, PO4 has been .03 from the beginning and never waivered. Also, there are no fish yet. So, less bio-load and huge de-nitrifying filtration is not helping me. I am waiting to build up microfauna and let the tank look some-what like a reef and then I will put fish in a couple of months. (ie. 76 days after CUC/Corals) My stowaways reset that clock unfortunately. So, I will keep on a feeding regime to maintain NO3, otherwise, remove some media or dose. Ultimately, adding fish is going to help.

I hope my stowaways make it, but at the end of the day. They are allowing me to learn something about zoas.

As always, I appreciate learning from the folks on this forum.

Thank You for your comments.

Chris

Your tank looks fine and I think your corals will be fine. Your off to a great start and no matter how old your tank is or how long you've been reefing it's always a learning process. Personally, I think your tank looks great.

 

[ilan84]

Dont get me wrong, his tank looks great and the thing that happen now is something that happens to (almost) everybody.
But it can make it a little harder for zoas to be happy. If you have your nutrients in check, all this problems wil go away, if you have problems getting your no3 higher, try to dose calciumnitrate to raise it. Feeding is also an option, But costs more, is hard to find the right dosage and can give you unnessesary elements and unwanted organic material.
You can also add Some more fishes.

 

[Chris Wells]

Update:
These guys are looking happier!
If I am correct with the research, the first one is Paly, you can see the sand it is bringing into its structure. Although it is not opening up fully, looks like it wants to.
The second one is hard to tell yet, leaning toward Zoa.

What do you guys think?


All light colors on again.

 

[Chris Wells]

Update:

I had to work out of town for a week and looks like these little stowaways are much happier.

Happy Holidays!

 

[Chris Wells]

Update! Everyone is still hanging in there.
Noticed some Coralline growing and Alkalinity dropping, so I chose Kalk to learn, bought a Avast Kalk Stirrer and started today.
In two weeks, I am getting some Indo Pacific Sand and Mud to continue the diversity. @saltyfilmfolks will like this.

Still 0 Nitrates, but feeding twice a day coral and broadcast. Adding Aquavitro fuel and Marine Snow.