Having problem with zoanthid frags...

[Kaludar]

So as the title says I have a 65g tank, it’s about 6 months old now. I have a few species of coral (hammer, frogspawn, ricordea, scolymia and an acan). Everything is doing pretty well except my zoa frags. I have 6 frags that I bought from WWC, all on still on plugs on my frag rack.

These are small frags of 5-6 polyps each. When I first got them they looked great but over time they seem to be struggling, the stalks are lengthening and they aren’t opening up as much. All of them have been closed for about a week now. I do have some algae growth on the plugs and in between the polyps could this be causing my issue? I had this problem once before and I did a 50/50 h2o2 dip and it seemed to help for awhile but they have started to go downhill again.

Are small frags more susceptible to being choked out by algae than larger colonies? I don’t get it because I’ve read zoas are supposed to be an easy beginner coral and they have given me the most trouble while I have a scoly that looks amazing and has a great feeding response when they are supposed to be harder to keep..

any insight appreciated

parameters:

Sg: 1.025
Nitrate : 12ppm
Phosphate: 0 ppm
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Temp: 78F

 

[asome_one]

I am not nearly as expierenced as some others on this forum...but...I had the same issue with zoas. After fighting algae prolbems with carbon/phosphate reactors my zoas closed up. I assume It was due to something being on them so I dipped into an idodine solution. Now A month or so later they are recovering as i reintroduce reef roids and more frequent frozen foods....is it possible your tank is too clean for zoas?

 

[Tamberav]

Zoas can be tricky... Some more so than others.

What light? I ask because it sounds like they are stretching.

0 po4 isn't good if it's actually correct.

Gha will irritate them but if they have gha then cuc or maintenance is lacking.

 

[Kaludar]

Zoas can be tricky... Some more so than others.

What light? I ask because it sounds like they are stretching.

0 po4 isn't good if it's actually correct.

Gha will irritate them but if they have gha then cuc or maintenance is lacking.

I have two hydra 26 set to peak at 50% max. I have a pretty decent CUC but they are still on a frag rack half way up my glass so the CUC doesn’t really get to them.

Phosphates are definitely zero I’ve tested with two different kits. I’ve had what I believe to be diatoms for months I’m finally getting it under control but it seems to choke out my frags.

 

[Tamberav]

I have two hydra 26 set to peak at 50% max. I have a pretty decent CUC but they are still on a frag rack half way up my glass so the CUC doesn’t really get to them.

Phosphates are definitely zero I’ve tested with two different kits. I’ve had what I believe to be diatoms for months I’m finally getting it under control but it seems to choke out my frags.

Light seems fine.

I would iodine dip to fight off any infection and try to keep them clean manually.

 

[ScottR]

You say they’re on a frag rack, would it be worth moving them? Too much flow or light? Sometimes things don’t like their placement.