paly help

[ReefCAKE]

so my colony of devils armour hasent opened in over two weeks and i dont get why. my params are all in check and i've moved them in to high light, low light, low flow, hight flow and they still wont open. these are the only polyps in my tank that wont open.
thanks!

 

[dtpollard]

Well if they still look ok then I would look for any type of pest very closely. If that it is not it they may just need time to adjust. By keeping moving them it may be stressing them more. I got some awesome eagle eyes once that took over a month to open but now grow pretty fast.

 

[flricordia]

I have read many cases of Arms having trouble. I believe there was a thread going on here a month or two ago about it. I lost a frag of Armageddons not long ago but all the zoas around them, including another frag of Armageddons were fine.
Puzzle. Hope they pull though. Might move them and give them more flow for a few days then reduce the flow.
Iodine dips work well for me. I dip the zoas in straight Kent's iodine and let them sit in the dry for a minute then place them back in good flow.
Luck.

 

[reefpeeper]

make sure that while they are sitting there closed that you clean off any algea that may grow on them or they may not open at all.

 

[Ladipyg]

Just give them time...Arms don't like to be moved a whole lot and zoas don't like being touched by bare hands anyhow IMO. I've cut down on a lot of problems I used to have with my zoas since I only handle them wearing latex gloves now. Sound weird but it's been my experience. As for looking for pests, that's great advice. Zoa eating nudibrances turn the color of the zoa they are eating so you really can't see them. It's easier if you look for them under actinic lighting with at least a 10X magnifying glass...higher if you can get it. Look especially well between the polyps and near the skirts. If you see a "bump" or imperfection of any type on the stem but it looks to be part of the zoa, there's a good chance it's a nudi. Just use a pair of very pointy tweezers to see if it moves or can be peeled off, you can also gently scrape at it wih a exacto knife with a fine blade. Just don't gouge the polyp. Good luck.