reef2reef you are my only hope.

[catfishjones]

reef2reef you are my only hope.

First time poster here guys. Started my first reef tank about three months ago. I was hoping to get some advice / help to save my Zoanthids.


My tank and everything in there was doing amazing the first few months. Feeling confident in my skills, I purchased a large zoa colony. I previously had a three zoa head that spread into eight heads by the time this new colony was introduced to my tank. The colony at the store was beautiful with bright colors. It’s been in the tank for over a month, it has yet to open. My original zoas have now been closed for weeks as well. I admit at first, I didn’t dip the new colony, I mistakenly thought they would be okay. After a week of closure, I dipped them in Coral Rx. Both the new and old zoa are still closed after Coral Rx treatment. (I also noticed my mushroom have died off. There were four that never had any issues) Not sure if that was from the prime HD or not.


Over the course of the past month I have moved the colony to several levels of the tank. I never saw much change. Never fully opened.


I have a 30-gallon tank.
Salt level 1.023
Water parameters are perfect. (self-testing and two aquariums stores validate)
Weekly water changes

Beside the zoas everything seems to still be doing okay(besides the mushrooms). I seem to have had better luck with blues , but was trying whites as of now.

BEFORE WITH BLUES

This is current. I think it has to much whites. I saw better results with blues.

 

[Danh Ngo]

Can you give some detail about Water parameter, perfect means different in different tank, could be ulns for sps, or high nutrient for softies and lps,

 

[Danh Ngo]

Water change? Water source?
How many fishes you have? Feeding?

 

[catfishjones]

I have two clowns and a watchmen. twice a day with frozen brine shrimp. Peppermint and cleaner shrimp. I change water depending, but about 20 percent every Sunday. I use water from a aquarium store.

 

[Fragtory]

Can you give some detail about Water parameter, perfect means different in different tank, could be ulns for sps, or high nutrient for softies and lps,

Like danh says . listing your parameters is very important to help us determine what issues you may be running into also how long have you had the ai primes

 

[SashimiTurtle]

First, welcome to R2R!

Second, what is perfect water? Give us every detail you can about water quality. NH3, NO2, NO3, PO4, Ca, Alk, Mg, temp, salinity. If you can't answer all of those then you can't claim to have perfect water.

Third, when dealing with a water issue, which it sounds like you are, water change water change water change. 90% of the time a few water changes will fix your problem.

 

[Gridlock]

You say you get your water from an aquarium store. Do you have specs on what is in this water, such as its salinity, calcium, alk, etc.?

Futhermore, it's very important to be able to test your own water parameters. Do you have any test kits where you can tell us what the parameters are at?

 

[Bill from OZ]

Nice tank. It will look super nice filled and colonized with corals! If your parameters are good my advice is patience. You still have a young tank. What lighting were the zoa under before? They may just need time to adjust to stronger LEDs. If this is the case, moving them around will just stress them more.

Zoa are notoriously difficult to kill. If they're not dieing and are just closed, I would just keep an eye on them. Let them adjust.

Is that diatoms on your sandbed? Don't expect much growth out of your frogspawn or candy cane until you stop battling those and start battling Coraline algae!

 

[catfishjones]

Salinity = 1.020 ( just added top off, a bit to much fresh water it seems)
Ph = 7.8-8.0
Nitrite = 0
Ammonia = 0
Tank temp 79

 

[catfishjones]

You say you get your water from an aquarium store. Do you have specs on what is in this water, such as its salinity, calcium, alk, etc.?

Futhermore, it's very important to be able to test your own water parameters. Do you have any test kits where you can tell us what the parameters are at?

Yes I test myself, but double my testing because of this issue. To ensure I am doing it correctly, I do bring water to the store for a double check.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

I would invest in an ATO. Manually topping off can cause swings in several parameters. Also, you are using RODI for top off correct?

 

[catfishjones]

Like danh says . listing your parameters is very important to help us determine what issues you may be running into also how long have you had the ai primes

Thank you. I just got the prime.. been trying to finding a pleasant light for everyone. I have had it for maybe a month and a half. Not sure how to really set the lights my tanks needs to be healthy I think.

 

[Bill from OZ]

BTW. If you do kill the zoa, then congratulations on only killing zoa! From here on out dip, quarentine, then display. I once killed an entire tank by not QT a coral.

 

[catfishjones]

I would invest in an ATO. Manually topping off can cause swings in several parameters. Also, you are using RODI for top off correct?

Yes regular fresh water from the store when I get my salt water.

 

[catfishjones]

how much water should I be taking out of the tank a week. I have only been doing 5-10 gallons. Mostly 5 lately.

 

[Bill from OZ]

5 is good for a 30 gallon tank

 

[Crabs McJones]

1.020 is pretty low for corals, some might even say that 1.023 is as well. 1.023 is good for fish, but corals perfer a higher salinity. The desired salinity level for corals is somewhere around 1.026 +/- .001
Best way to achieve this is to stop topping off with freshwater and top off with saltwater mixed to 1.026 until your tank level reaches that as well And I agree with @Robin Haselden An Automatic Top Off is a very crucial piece of equipment in this hobby
Hope this helps

 

[Bill from OZ]

+1

 

[IslandLifeReef]

When people are asking about your water parameters, they are asking about nitrate, phosphate, Alk, calcium, and mag. Most assume that ammonia and nitrite would be at zero for a cycled tank. Do you test for the other parameters? If so, can you post the results?

 

[Fragtory]

If you're nitrates and phosphates are at zero that might be your problem but also I have two AI primes over a 55 gallon tank that is 21 in deep and I'm still getting 130 par on the sand using the Zaxby's setting they are a lot more powerful than most people believe how deep is your tank?