Help corals will not open

[Lukebora]

Hi, my corals are not opening after a recent water change, I am in a ugly stage with GHA and will be getting hermit crabs tomorrow to address that issue; so if you believe that is the issue please let me know.

Parameters below picture:

Salinity: 1.025
Nitrate : 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Ph:8.5-8.7
Kh:240ppm
Gh: 180ppm
Calcium: 320ppm
Phosphate: .1ppm

If anything is off please tell how to fix/adjust, I am relatively new to the hobby.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

You need to manually remove as much algae as you can from the frags... I see at least one frag that's being overgrown by gha. You'll need to manually remove the algae from the rocks, or trim it very short, before most cuc critters will touch it.

How long has the tank been set up?

 

[Lukebora]

You need to manually remove as much algae as you can from the frags... I see at least one frag that's being overgrown by gha. You'll need to manually remove the algae from the rocks, or trim it very short, before most cuc critters will touch it.

How long has the tank been set up?

The tank has been running for a year and a half, but I am stumped on why the Zoas in the front are not opening?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

The tank has been running for a year and a half, but I am stumped on why the Zoas in the front are not opening?

Can you circle the zoas you're asking about?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

The tank has been running for a year and a half, but I am stumped on why the Zoas in the front are not opening?

If the tank is not super new, then you're starving your corals... Nitrate at 0??
What test kits are you using (please don't say strips...)

 

[Lukebora]

Can you circle the zoas you're asking

If the tank is not super new, then you're starving your corals... Nitrate at 0??
What test kits are you using (please don't say strips...)

no I am using API reef master test kit

 

[Lukebora]

Can you circle the zoas you're asking about?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

How closely did your new saltwater match your tank water? Temp swings, alk swings, salinity swings, etc can cause corals to react negatively, but the zoas should recover eventually. Still, you may not be providing enough food for the corals. Algae will certainly take up nutrients but getting to 0 is a bad thing.

 

[Lukebora]

How closely did your new saltwater match your tank water? Temp swings, alk swings, salinity swings, etc can cause corals to react negatively, but the zoas should recover eventually. Still, you may not be providing enough food for the corals. Algae will certainly take up nutrients but getting to 0 is a bad thing.

The salinity was around .001 down, my alk is normally higher after water changes in the past but they have never reacted negatively like they have now, the water change was almost a week ago at this point. How should I go about raising the nitrate safely?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

The salinity was around .001 down, my alk is normally higher after water changes in the past but they have never reacted negatively like they have now, the water change was almost a week ago at this point. How should I go about raising the nitrate safely?

I'd focus on manually removing as much of the algae as possible. Feeding more is the simplest way to increase nutrients.

 

[m3xm3xm3x]

Do you have multiple tanks running? Are you able to move the zoa to a different tank to see if it will open.