what causes shrinking zoas?

[jdubya]

Hello, I have a frag of utter chaos zoas that started off really strong, went from 3p to 11p in a month. then over the last 3 weeks they have started shrinking..they still open but remain super small - see pics below


Any ideas what would cause them to do this? I thought potentially vermetid snails that have grown rampant, there was one in the middle of this frag that I just superglued over to kill but its been a few days and no change.

I have another frag of zoas right next to it that is still open and growing polyps. most other coral seems perfectly healthy - aside from my clove polyps which most are closed except 2-3 are completely wide open..

I run my xr15 about 7 hours a day at 35% - ramping up and down an extra hour or so.

params:
temp - 78
salinity - 1.025
nitrate - 0
pH - 8
phosphates - 0
calcium - 440
alk 6.7

Should I stop doing water changes to get nitrates/phosphates up? I've been feeding what I consider heavy, but doing 15% weekly waterchanges on the tank which is a Nuvo 10, also running carbon - wonder if its just too clean..but I started getting hair algae issues so then again maybe not?

 

[dhuynh]

Hello, I have a frag of utter chaos zoas that started off really strong, went from 3p to 11p in a month. then over the last 3 weeks they have started shrinking..they still open but remain super small - see pics below


Any ideas what would cause them to do this? I thought potentially vermetid snails that have grown rampant, there was one in the middle of this frag that I just superglued over to kill but its been a few days and no change.

I have another frag of zoas right next to it that is still open and growing polyps. most other coral seems perfectly healthy - aside from my clove polyps which most are closed except 2-3 are completely wide open..

I run my xr15 about 7 hours a day at 35% - ramping up and down an extra hour or so.

params:
temp - 78
salinity - 1.025
nitrate - 0
pH - 8
phosphates - 0
calcium - 440
alk 6.7

Should I stop doing water changes to get nitrates/phosphates up? I've been feeding what I consider heavy, but doing 15% weekly waterchanges on the tank which is a Nuvo 10, also running carbon - wonder if its just too clean..but I started getting hair algae issues so then again maybe not?

Your alk might be a little low. Are there any big swings from day to night? Like temperate or pH?

Maybe the bigger polyps are shading the smaller ones. You can try to frag them onto bigger plugs. I had a colony that was stagnant until I fragged it. Looks healthy though.

 

[jdubya]

Your alk might be a little low. Are there any big swings from day to night? Like temperate or pH?

Maybe the bigger polyps are shading the smaller ones. You can try to frag them onto bigger plugs. I had a colony that was stagnant until I fragged it. Looks healthy though.

Shouldn't be any major swings - i have a temp controller to kick on a fan when temp increases 1 degree or heater when decreases 1 degree. pH has been pretty stable when testing but could be on the low end..

I've been adding alk after I test for it with b-ionic but hasn't done much - though maybe I'm not adding enough or testing regularly enough.

I had the same thought about the shading, I was going to frag half to a bigger plug to experiment - but then I figured any zoas I've seen have just grown longer to get light or avoid crowding..

 

[dhuynh]

Zoas spreads from the edge so the more you frag, the more you get.

If you want a huge colony, frag to 1 or 2 polyps and spread them out on the same coral plug or square.

The important thing is your zoas look great. My utter chaos actually like a medium to high lights and medium to high flow. You can try moving them around as well.

 

[jdubya]

Zoas spreads from the edge so the more you frag, the more you get.

If you want a huge colony, frag to 1 or 2 polyps and spread them out on the same coral plug or square.

The important thing is your zoas look great. My utter chaos actually like a medium to high lights and medium to high flow. You can try moving them around as well.

Thanks yeah I'll try fragging..they just use to be huge as in the second pic and now as the first pic shows they are like mini versions of their old selves..also they stopped growing. Went from 3 to 11 in a month then 0 new since

 

[dhuynh]

If they look like the first pic, maybe too much light? Try shading them a little.

 

[jdubya]

If they look like the first pic, maybe too much light? Try shading them a little.

Oh yeah sorry that's after and before pic..I'll try shading but I havent changed lights in last few months so would be surprised that they are reacting the negatively after doing so well

 

[dhuynh]

I had two frags of utter chaos.. one is high light and does well, one is lower light and does well. If I switch their places, they become unhappy.

You'll just have to change 1 thing at a time and give it a week and see if it help. Start with placement.

And how to slowly raise your alk.. I would say get it to 8dKh if you can.

 

[Millimylilly]

They look fine mane

 

[jdubya]

They look fine mane

haha i dunno about fine - they are quite shrunken, not growing new polyps anymore..and dont even look like utter chaos. its the first pic, 2nd is what they use to look like.