Closed zoa day after feeding.

[LadyMac]

I was told by a fellow reef keeper that zoanthids really enjoy mysis shrimp and it would help them grow. I have a super tiny colony ( 4 heads lol) and thought I would help them grow. So when I fed the clowns, I took a pippette and gathered a little of the thawed juice. I turned off the powerhead and squirted them with it. They closed up, and have yet to reopen. It’s been about 18 hours since. Should I be concerned or is this normal? I’ve given them “the juice” before (lol) but with the powerhead on. Powerhead is directed straight at them, they seem to like it and it keeps the hair algae at bay.

 

[Evan West]

I was told by a fellow reef keeper that zoanthids really enjoy mysis shrimp and it would help them grow. I have a super tiny colony ( 4 heads lol) and thought I would help them grow. So when I fed the clowns, I took a pippette and gathered a little of the thawed juice. I turned off the powerhead and squirted them with it. They closed up, and have yet to reopen. It’s been about 18 hours since. Should I be concerned or is this normal? I’ve given them “the juice” before (lol) but with the powerhead on. Powerhead is directed straight at them, they seem to like it and it keeps the hair algae at bay.

Give it a day or so still imo zoas are temperamental at times.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

My zoas are the most temperamental corals in my tank. If I clean anything, they'll close up and stay that way for a day. Just make sure your water is in check and they'll open back up.

 

[LadyMac]

Awesome thanks! Yeah ammo/trite/trate are zero. Sg is 1.024, ca is 440, mg 1080, Kh is 10 and ph is 8.2. should be good right?

 

[SashimiTurtle]

KH is a little high, but yea that sounds good. Try and get a few more nitrates. Ideally 2-5ppm, unless you feed your fish like crazy and they are still 0.

 

[LadyMac]

Nah I don’t feed a lot, but will surely increase. Clowns won’t mind lol.

 

[wattson]

raise Mag up to low 1300-1350..

 

[LadyMac]

How do you raise magnesium? I’ve meant to ask that.

 

[LadyMac]

Also I think I wrote that down wrong. Last week it was 1400 so I think it’s 1380 not 1080. Would have to look at the paper once more. I try to keep up with the numbers

 

[rosshamsandwich]

epsom salts to raise magnesium

baking soda to raise alkalinity

mrs. wages pickling lime if you want kalkwasser

calcium chloride I don't know if it's possible to get at walmart?

 

[LadyMac]

Thank you! Very handy to know.

 

[LadyMac]

Bumping this up with another couple questions. So I moved this guy over to the other side of the tank, away from the powerheads. Still gets good flow but it’s not blasting it like it was. He is now fully open. However one of the polyps seems to be losing the color when fully opened, and none of them show red in the center. They are supposed to be eagle eyes. Is there a way to brighten the color up? Does this mean there’s a possibility it’s not happy or it’s dying? It’s my first zoanthid, and it has yet to spread. Had it several months. I am slowly raising my salinity some and use reef crystals for salt. Another question. Should I get it off the plug? If so how do I do that and will gel superglue work to glue down? I don’t want to unduly stress it or kill it.

Thanks in advance!

 

[rosshamsandwich]

It doesn't look happy at all.

 

[LadyMac]

My camera washes out the green, it does have color. Just not a vibrant red like I thought. When the actinic come on it glows a lovely green.

So what can I do for it to improve its health? Make it happy? Feed more? Up the lighting schedule? Dose something?

 

[LadyMac]

You can see the green slightly better in this shot. Cell phone pics.

 

[rosshamsandwich]

I've seen this when the lighting is too bright and there's not enough nitrates in the tank...ymmv

 

[rosshamsandwich]

try putting it on the sandbed

 

[LadyMac]

Ok so my last thing before moving it down was to do a very large water change. In freshwater when thighs are unhappy that’s the go to. I was able to procure a large bucket of salt and said what the hey, so 50% I did. I also took some peroxide and RODInwater to the other rock ( I soaked the other one for several days as it was very badly covered in algae) I felt the algae was taking all the nutrients from the water leaving not so many for Mr. zoa. I also scrubbed the back wall to pull more of the brown stringy algae from there. I believe this algae was also my clouding issue, cause since it’s been gone the tank has not smelled “green” and is now crystal clear. And I’m pleased to say the polyps are nicely colored. You can see the red a lot better and the green is very bright. It is fully opened.
First pic is FTS the day after the waterchange and the color Of the zoa. Then the next two is this morning. I think the little guy is happy.