Having Difficulties with Zoas

[Ryan15236]

My tank has had coral in it now for about 3 months. I started with 10+ whammin watermelons, 4 fire and ice zoas, 6 blue hornets, 15+ gold mauls. The blue hornets never would open for me so I traded them. This was after about 4 weeks. My gold mauls exploded and I had about 25+ but then traded them after about a month. I had 10+ healthy watermelon zoas and still have them but I only had like 3-5 remaining healthy polyps and they never fully open. They are like melting away. The fire and ice were never opening and doing awful but then I moved them to a higher flow area and they have been doing a lot better and staying open. I just added 4 polyps of gold maul and 3 polyps of rastas today. All of my other corals are doing very well but I seem to struggle with zoas. Any advice?
Tank Bio
125 gallon Mixed reef (Hammers, trumpet, brain, torch, duncans letpo, Acros, Stylos, Mille, Birdnests, Monti, Hydno, Pocc)
Temp 77F
Nitrate 0ppm
Calcium 420 ppm
Alk 7.7 dKH
Mag 1400
Salinity 1.025
I am thinking it could be a lack of nutrients thing right now but not sure. Only have 2 clowns and a firefish in the tank at the moment and skim hard.

 

[tristanfish]

Your alk seems low

 

[Tegridy Reef]

I am a belive of having nutrients in my system all my corals do well when I have nitrate in the system and phosphate having 0 nitrate could b the answer to your problem look at Adams from battle corals write up I know a lot of people that keep there tank with higher nitrate and phos and corals do really well I do and Ben having good sucess

When there is no bacteria I heard the corals will strip there zooaxle to produce phos

 

[Ryan15236]

Your alk seems low

I run a low nutrient system and wanted close to natural sea water parameters, thus the low alk. My SPS are doing great! Good color and growth. I plan on adding a lot more fish, I have just been getting corals first instead. I plan to have a nice fish load on the tank so then I won't be to worried about a lack of nutrients. What is a good way for me to get some nutrients in the tank how it is now though? Do you guys with zoas keep them in tanks with healthy SPS with no problems or do they both just do best in two separate environments?

 

[Tegridy Reef]

I'm trying to figure that out now the article I am referring to is called acrofuge and also wwc I think one best places around with growing open up and told there tank parameters and they weren't low and there tanks are amazing idk if u ever Ben there

 

[tristanfish]

I run a low nutrient system and wanted close to natural sea water parameters, thus the low alk. My SPS are doing great! Good color and growth. I plan on adding a lot more fish, I have just been getting corals first instead. I plan to have a nice fish load on the tank so then I won't be to worried about a lack of nutrients. What is a good way for me to get some nutrients in the tank how it is now though? Do you guys with zoas keep them in tanks with healthy SPS with no problems or do they both just do best in two separate environments?

I have a mix tank, 80/20, heavy on lps. They are all hapoy

 

[tristanfish]

Happy**

 

[Ryan15236]

I mean everything is doing well in my tank except for a few cases of struggling zoas. I have about 13 sps frags, 6 LPS, 4 types of zoas, and some mushrooms. I just find it odd to have pretty good results with all of them but some zoas. Do all you guys have some zoas that struggle and some that do well? Or do they all do well for the most part? Any supplements I can add to help out. I have been thinking about starting some aquavitro fuel for coloration.

 

[tristanfish]

Yup, happens. Think the simplest thing I can think of is the transition between tank to tank. I can't seem to keep utter chaos for the life of me. So I stay away. Lost a whole colony for no reason that I can find