I have no idea what to expect anymore

[ItsAName]

Looks like just a bunch of sponges and some diatoms pink stuff is coraline algae good and white stuff looks like snail eggs.

How about the brown whispy stuff with bubbles, are those dinoflagellates?

 

[ItsAName]

You want to be careful, you are running a bit too 'clean'. Gfo can be a great tool but very easy to over do it. I almost crashed my 6 month old tank with too much gfo. With your diligent water change schedule you shouldn't need it.
As stated above, bottoming out nutrients can lead to dino or cyano outbreaks. Nasty simple stuff can go wild when their more complex competition is nutrient starved.

Should I keep the carbon in?

 

[iemsparticus]

How about the brown whispy stuff with bubbles, are those dinoflagellates?

Looks like diatoms to me, as I suspected.

 

[Maacc]

Carbon is fine, just make sure your dosage isn't over the top. Too much carbon can strip the water column too, but not quite as badly as GFO.

 

[Shaddow_wolf169]

That's diatoms

 

[Shaddow_wolf169]

Your tank is just going through the uglies congrats you were only paranoid

 

[jsh mee]

Yeah, your zoas look fine. They're probably just a little bugged by the diatom bloom, but they should shed off anything growing over them. You could dip them in tank water with a bit of peroxide to take it off quickly, but I would suggest just letting them be for now. They're not even fully closed.

 

[ItsAName]

Is the thought that if I remove the gfo and carbon it should benefit the zoas?

Also, if the tank is running too clean why do I still get algae on the glass very often. Or is that something that will never go away?

 

[Shaddow_wolf169]

Is the thought that if I remove the gfo and carbon it should benefit the zoas?

Also, if the tank is running too clean why do I still get algae on the glass very often. Or is that something that will never go away?

Do not take the gfo or carbon offline the diatoms will go away on there own. Once all the silicates are used up. Gfo will help you with the next process gha.

 

[ItsAName]

What's gha?

Then what is causing the zoas to not open. I think two of them (not in the pic) are shrinking and probably dying.

 

[Shaddow_wolf169]

What's gha?

Then what is causing the zoas to not open. I think two of them (not in the pic) are shrinking and probably dying.

Green hair algae
The zoa are not opening due to unstable water parameters or the algae is irritating them. Use a turkey baster to lightly blow them off salinity should always remain stable they don't like change. You do have and ato (auto top off) right? Are you using a refractometer?

 

[ItsAName]

I have an ATO, just havent installed it yet
I put water in it twice a day though to try to minimize fluctuations. Once in the morning, once in the evening.

 

[ItsAName]

I have an ATO, just havent installed it yet
I put water in it twice a day though to try to minimize fluctuations. Once in the morning, once in the evening.

Just for more context, I've been doing this the entire time, so I dont think that would cause my zoas to suddenly close for 2 weeks

 

[Shaddow_wolf169]

Make sure your blowing the diatoms off everything clean the filters everyday. new diatoms will form causing the silicates to deplete quicker. And yes blow off the zoas