Palythoa grandis Not opening

[Boxfish]

any tricks on getting Palythoa grandis to open. Mine has never thrived and I can not get it to open. Cal 400-420. Alk 8.6, 1.25, phos 0 nitrate 25(trying to lower). Weekly 5-10 WC. Red Sea 130 with nanobox at 45-50%. Thanks

 

[CodyRVA]

How long have you had them?
How old is the system?
How much and how direct of flow are they getting?
Light?

 

[Boxfish]

I have had them for 4 months, tank is 2 years old. I have tried them up high with protected flow, low in shaded area. I have not had them in direct flow yet. Rw8, sicce nano power head plus 2 stockish return pumps in rear sump. I have nanobox on 12 hour cycle. 20-45% ramp white to midday then ramp to more blue in evening. They have never really opened since 2-3 week I had them. Have reduced to round ball and slid down frag disk. Other corals , shrooms, frogspawn, gsp, zoa. are stable but not growing fast either.

 

[BenitaSolo]

When you move them around are you giving them time to adjust? Or is it one week here... one week there...

 

[AcroNem]

Can we see a picture of them? Palythoa grandis can remain closed for some time, and will shed an outer layer of skin and mucous layer periodically. Does it have a waxy/shiny look to it or is algae starting to grow on it? Could also be because you are moving it and that's upsetting it. They don't like too high of flow, and can tolerate higher light but prefer to not be cooked.

 

[Fumanchu]

Mine do not like high light wen my lights have ramped to there peak they close up I'm running 2 hydra 52 ab +and 4 t5 lower low medium to low flow

 

[A Toadstool Leather]

I have had them for 4 months, tank is 2 years old. I have tried them up high with protected flow, low in shaded area. I have not had them in direct flow yet. Rw8, sicce nano power head plus 2 stockish return pumps in rear sump. I have nanobox on 12 hour cycle. 20-45% ramp white to midday then ramp to more blue in evening. They have never really opened since 2-3 week I had them. Have reduced to round ball and slid down frag disk. Other corals , shrooms, frogspawn, gsp, zoa. are stable but not growing fast either.

I have palythoa grandis and they prefer lower light but not shaded. Are you sure there is no pest bothering them? Palythoa eating nudis do exist

 

[AcroNem]

I have palythoa grandis and they prefer lower light but not shaded. Are you sure there is no pest bothering them? Palythoa eating nudis do exist

They do, but In my time I've never had pests bother P. grandis. Not sure why but they just don't seem to infect this species. I'm standing by that it's just been upset several times. Or it's dormant and "shedding".

 

[A Toadstool Leather]

They do, but In my time I've never had pests bother P. grandis. Not sure why but they just don't seem to infect this species. I'm standing by that it's just been upset several times. Or it's dormant and "shedding".

Since pests dont seem to be an issue where are they located in your tank? Palythoa tend to stay open unless the lights are off from my experience. I have a colony that has been growing for a few months.

 

[AcroNem]

Since pests dont seem to be an issue where are they located in your tank? Palythoa tend to stay open unless the lights are off from my experience. I have a colony that has been growing for a few months.

I have all of my P. grandis on the sand bed, none are shaded, but no really bright light. I've had my bright green morph for around 8 years and the regular brown (which apparently I don't have a picture of on my phone) for 13 years. I cut them back every few months. The blueish kind I got 2 years ago, I included the pic I have when I got them.

 

[Boxfish]

When I first got it shed a little after touching it but over the last 2 months it has been a tight ball, never opened back up again or shed. Single head glued to a little piece of rock. I have tried 3 spots about 3-4 weeks at each location. I moved it last night near bottom with medium flow. I will not move again I promise. I will try to get a pic posted.

 

[A Toadstool Leather]

I have all of my P. grandis on the sand bed, none are shaded, but no really bright light. I've had my bright green morph for around 8 years and the regular brown (which apparently I don't have a picture of on my phone) for 13 years. I cut them back every few months. The blueish kind I got 2 years ago, I included the pic I have when I got them.

Nice palys, where did you get those blue ones? I keep mine slightly off the sand bed and they color up the best there. They seem to pale under high light like most palys. Mine grow about 1-2 polyps a month, but my colony is way smaller than yours

 

[enveetie]

i havent had much luck with mine either. ive found they prefer lower light (i run leds and t5s) and lower flow. otherwise, they would close up. it has moved around a little on the rock its on, but no signs of growth or poylps. bleh.

 

[AcroNem]

Nice palys, where did you get those blue ones? I keep mine slightly off the sand bed and they color up the best there. They seem to pale under high light like most palys. Mine grow about 1-2 polyps a month, but my colony is way smaller than yours

They definitely don't like high light, I have the same experience where they have the best colors under more subdued lighting. The blue type came from a supplier/wholesaler in Florida, and I think they were a bit of a fluke. Ones I had ordered from them before had come on the same plug, same price and had been the normal brown and mottled color. But never a blue hue. They've been a little more temperamental to keep that color, the other two colors I have never have me trouble as long as I didn't blast them with light.

 

[Boxfish]

Photo of my paly/tank.

Tiny rolled up ball.

 

[AcroNem]

Very upset. Is the frag plug it's on clean? Doesn't look like there's anything growing on it but it's definitely being bothered by something.

 

[Boxfish]

I believe it is "clean". I have not needed to toothbrush off any algae like a few others I have. Are my alk numbers ok. I started to 2 part about a month ago. I have found that both fritz and brightwell salts I have used have had Calc of 350-380 vs the 400-420 stated on bucket. I try to adjust to 400-420. Alk out of bucket is 7, I adjust it to 8-8.6. Is that ok? Ro water used to mix.

 

[Doug B]

I have all of my P. grandis on the sand bed, none are shaded, but no really bright light. I've had my bright green morph for around 8 years and the regular brown (which apparently I don't have a picture of on my phone) for 13 years. I cut them back every few months. The blueish kind I got 2 years ago, I included the pic I have when I got them.

Just so I am clear, placed on the sand do they continue to grow and spread? I have a small colony which has added a few heads over the past several months. They are on the rock, in a slightly shaded area, and have been doing well, A few days ago they closed up completely, and they do have a "glistening" sheen to them. Sounds to me like the shedding that has been described here, so I'm planning to wait it out. But I was wondering if they would keep growing on the sand, or do they need to be on the rock in order to spread?