Pencil erasers

[JayDiver]

I'm a total noob, have had my tank for a few months. have had my first frag for a couple of weeks. 10 or so heads that don't open much, mostly look like a bunch of pencil erasers. :squigglemouth: What does it take to get these things to open up?

 

[reefpeeper]

what type of zoas are they? were are they positioned in tank? flow?light?

 

[JayDiver]

Thanks for the reply. Honestly I have no idea what kind, being a noob ain't easy sometimes! some are red with green skirts, some are bright green with green skirts, all on one frag plug. I said 10 but I just counted and there are better than 30. They are not very big. It started about 8 inches below my twin t5s (daylight & blue) in a decent flow, moved it to 12 inches in lower flow as it seemed to open a little when the lights went off. Pretty much no change. Seems like they take turns opening a little. They were wide open before we bagged them at the LFS.

 

[reefpeeper]

try lower light but slightly more flow. what are your tank parameters?

 

[Wesley42079]

It kight help if youost a picture of your z's & p's.

 

[JayDiver]

Temp 77-79, last time i checked 2 days ago Amm 0, nits 0, phosphates nill. I'll see if I can get a decent pic tomorrow, but there isn't much to see now!

 

[Zoanthkid]

Just guessing but sounds to me like eagle eye and radioactive dragon eye combo frag. They are both pretty hardy and I would do as suggested above and try lower light and just a Tad more flow to keep them clean of any detritus and such.

 

[Zoanthkid]

Oh, and BTW, welcome to the hobby and good luck!

 

[Mr. Microscope]

Just guessing but sounds to me like eagle eye and radioactive dragon eye combo frag. They are both pretty hardy and I would do as suggested above and try lower light and just a Tad more flow to keep them clean of any detritus and such.

+1, you beat me to it on the ID.
Most LFS cheap out on lighting. So, they likely came from a lower light tank than your T5's. They need time to adjust. Lower light, medium flow. Once they open up and are consistently opening up, you can start moving them (slowly..weeks to months, not days) into more intense light. As with most corals (especially zoas), start them on the sand bed and observe daily for changes in behavior, color, pests, disease, beauty, etc.

 

[Knuckles33]

What is our calcium, alkalinity and magnesium at? Also...did you dip these corals in coralrx or another solution priormtomputting them in your tank...could have some pests preventing them from opening fully

 

[JayDiver]

Thanks to all for the info. It did seem to me like the lighting was softer at the LFS, I just thought they needed strong lighting so I hooked them up! :noidea: It was a long day today so i'll move them down on the sand tomorrow morning and see how it goes. I don't have a test for magnesium, when I checked the calcium it was at the top of the chart, not sure of the ph, why don't I have a ph test? Guess I didn't think it was a big issue in SW? I use reef crystals if it matters...

 

[JayDiver]

Woohoo! :whoo: moved it down on the sand last night and this morning it opened up. Thanks for the tips. It is purty if I do say so myself! :smile: yeah, sorry, lots of smiles this morning!

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

They are looking great!!!!

 

[NanaReefer]

Radio Active Dragon Eyes!! My Favorites!! Here's my colony!

 

[JayDiver]

That is freakin' impressive! No wonder they are your favorites! Doubt that I'll ever get there, but what does it take to get these to grow? Would it be reasonable to look for it to double in a year? Oh what a noob I am... :baby:

 

[Mr. Microscope]

Yes,

They're a fun zoa. You can get some pretty intense colors out of them. I slowly worked mine up to the top of my tank under some intense LED's. The skirts are crazy yellow now and the green in the middle is blinding. Good luck!