CAR fading need advice.

[ladyreefer1983]

I see a lot of people give this advice when it comes to zoas. Is there any scientific data to back this up? The high nutrient theory is what I'm asking about. I have kept a saltwater/reef set up for 20 years now in some form or another and while I will agree that some PO4 and Nitrate is acceptable in the tank (.03-.04ppm PO4 and around 5ppm nitrate is where I try to keep my numbers) I do not think anything higher is good for color or growth of ANY corals except maybe Xenia and Shrooms . The reds in my corals is how I knew to change the GFO during the summer while my interests were other places besides my tank. They would start to fade then turn to pink and if I let it go too far they would look bleached almost translucent. Yes, I do know that everyone's tanks are different and what works for some doesn't work for others, but I have to stick by my experience in keeping just about every kind of coral imaginable and say that "dirty" or "nutrient rich" water is counter productive to what most aquarists are trying to achieve with their systems. This is just my 2 cents and please don't be offended as that is not my desire.

not offended at all..

 

[robsreefs]

Wow man crazy long polyp extension

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[GeoHawk]

So I may have found part or all of my problem. This evening I noticed some zoas closing and missing parts of their skirts. I took a closr look and found a tiny nudibranch. Not sure how I got them because I havent added anything for a while and I dip everything religously. How do I rid my self of them? All my zoas can be easily removed except for to paly colonies. Help please..... No idea what to do..... will do google search aslo.

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[GeoHawk]

I dont think I have a ton of them because I have growth still with most my colonies. Eagle eyes and Blue Hornets have about 4 polyps each missing parts of their skirts and looking sad. Red Hornets and CARs are faded. I would prefer not adding anything that will kill my inverts I have a blue linkia starfish that has lived for a long time and some acro crabs that I am attached to.

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[BillyC]

Sounds like you found em pretty early so that you can save your zoas. What I did when I had nudibranchs a couple years ago was to dip my zoas in fresh water for 5 minutes. Use a baster to blow the water around. You will see more nudibranchs than you thought you had because they hide so well. After dipping my zoas every few days for a couple weeks the problem went away.

Also, do yourself a favor and get a yellow coris wrasse or two. They hunt nudibranchs and since buying one, I've never had a nudi problem. This is just what worked for me. Good luck man.