Having some coral trouble (zoas wont open)

[clown and friends]

The last few days my zoas have looked quite unhappy, only partially open. They start the day fully open for about an hour and throughout the day they start to look like this:

In the past I have been very successful with them and these have been grown from a frag starting 6 mos ago. Nothing has changed lighting wise, I just tested the par and they are getting 180-200 par at the moment. Parameters are:
Ca: 440 (Red sea pro)
Alk: 9.8 (Red sea pro)
NO3: 5 (Red sea pro)
PO4: 0.09 (hanna ULR)
Any advice on how to proceed? Large water change? Thanks!

 

[clown and friends]

Just some other pics of the tank to show the rest of the coral, nem and clam are doing well...

 

[Therinx]

Following, i sometimes see the same issue.

 

[Terry Mattson]

Check your iodine level and rule it out. See thread "zoas not opening solved" by Terry Mattson

Iodine should be .05 to .06. My zoas started to open in morning than closed up after months of success. Turned out iodine was slowly decreasing. When I measured my iodine it was .01 or less. Dosed to .06 and they 100% opened.

 

[Lizbeli]

Are those white specks normally there when they close for the night? Reminds me of zoa pox.

 

[45ZoaGarden]

+1 looks like the pox. If it’s not pox, the zoas just developed with sand in the tissue. What is mg? High mg and zoas don’t go well together.

Are those white specks normally there when they close for the night? Reminds me of zoa pox.

 

[clown and friends]

Check your iodine level and rule it out. See thread "zoas not opening solved" by Terry Mattson

Iodine should be .05 to .06. My zoas started to open in morning than closed up after months of success. Turned out iodine was slowly decreasing. When I measured my iodine it was .01 or less. Dosed to .06 and they 100% opened.

I don't have a test for iodine should I get one?

+1 looks like the pox. If it’s not pox, the zoas just developed with sand in the tissue. What is mg? High mg and zoas don’t go well together.

Mg is 1420 so that probably isn't the issue either. I have literally never heard of zoa pox before. A lot of those zoas have developed often under or in sand thanks to the goby/shrimp pair that dump sand on them every once in a while. Is there any way to confirm they have zoa pox or should I just go ahead and treat with furan?

 

[Terry Mattson]

Yes, get a red sea iodine pro test kit. You just want to rule it out. Dose if needed. I have over 150 zoas and paly. Zoas like and need some iodine to be happy. The oceans have about .06 ppm. I use fritz salt, btw. Now once you dial it in then you do not have to test all the time. I test about every 8 weeks. I dose brightwell iodine about 2drops a week to keep iodine at .06. I also do not do big water changes. Instead I draw out .75 to 1 gallon a day. And replace it with new mixed saltwater. My system is about 91 gallon. Maybe 80 with rock displacement.

 

[Brad Waddell Wrath's Reef]

I agree with the Iodine, I use Lugols solution from Kent and dose 6 drops a week. I have a 150 gal. after I started does Lugols, my Zoas/palys took off like crazy. Also helps with blues and purples popping more. I have about 30 different types off zoas/palys and only had issues with my Miami Vice zoas. Turns out they needed more flow so I moved them and now they are opening.

 

[GoTakeANap]

Just curious to see if this fixed your problem? having the same issue myself. some are happy and others arent.

 

[clown and friends]

Just curious to see if this fixed your problem? having the same issue myself. some are happy and others arent.

Never figured out the issue. Tried a series of water changes, tested everything, even did ICP. Nothing worked. I happened to be moving and decided to do a soft restart with new rocks + the one covered in zoas. Magically everything opened up and its been smooth sailing since

 

[45ZoaGarden]

Never figured out the issue. Tried a series of water changes, tested everything, even did ICP. Nothing worked. I happened to be moving and decided to do a soft restart with new rocks + the one covered in zoas. Magically everything opened up and its been smooth sailing since

It was probably the pox. The move could’ve killed it off...