Zoa trouble

[Kial]

I can never keep zoas for more than a month or so without them starting to not open. Half of these ones are open and half are shut.

What would cause only some or them to close up?

 

[TheEngineer]

They can be really finicky. Tell is about your tank... how old, size, lighting, parameters, etc.

 

[Kial]

Year and few months old. 4ft 100L
2x hydra 26s,
Last parameters off the top of my head were(not home at the moment)
Alk 7.4
Calc 440
Mag I think was like 1300
Phos 0 or 0.03 couldn't tell from test kit
Nitrate 5
Salinity 1.025

 

[TheEngineer]

Your parameters seem OK if they’re accurate. Have you checked for pests? If you can get the frag out and do a quick dip it can help identify potential pests.

 

[Kial]

I've tried dipping it and didnt see anything fall off it and cant see anything creeping around at night.
My torches, devils hand and button coral seem to be doing fine

 

[TheEngineer]

Have you inspected for zoa nudi eggs? They look like spirals on the side of the polyps.

 

[TheEngineer]

Also, what sort of flow are they in?

The fact some are open fully and some are closed would point towards a pest IMO.

 

[Kial]

I'll have a look when I get home for the eggs. And I would say they are in medium flow.

I may try dipping again tomorrow. How long is it ok to keep them in the dip?

 

[TheEngineer]

Depends on the dip you are using. Most are somewhere around 15 minutes.

Also try looking at the frags at night using a red light. It generally doesn't bother inverts that are only out at night.

 

[Kial]

Depends on the dip you are using. Most are somewhere around 15 minutes.

Also try looking at the frags at night using a red light. It generally doesn't bother inverts that are only out at night.

I have seachem reef dip. I'm probably not dipping long enough then as I'm only doing it for like 5 mins

 

[TheEngineer]

Double check what the package says. If you've dipped them in the last week, I'd hold off so they can recover. Dipping is stressful.

 

[Michael Naegeli]

I would personally keep an eye on the Alk and see if ur swinging. How do you dose?

 

[Michael Naegeli]

Zoa’s can be very intolerant of Alk swings. I have had issues in tanks where I self dosed in the past. I use a Reefdoser for the big 3. Keeps things pretty stable. I got a ridiculous amount of Zoa in all my tanks. They could also just be adjusting even a month or two later I’ve had Beautiful colonies just close up couple months in and most always they come back soon enough. Sometimes move them to different flow or lighting if I see them go down hill. As long as the polyps stay healthy and you blow off any algae or slime that may start growing on the closed polyp you got a chance to get them happy. No high light while they actin this way. Low and slow flow. Keep em clean

 

[Royce White]

I had the same problem about a year ago. They were also melting. I put a 6 line wrasse in and in several weeks they started growing back and now, months later, are taking over some areas of the rocks. May have to start pruning them soon.

 

[Swav8tor]

I have the same issues, but I think my pests are the cuc. The crabs are always crawling all over them [emoji35]. They all seem to open when not being bothered by those stinkers.

 

[Kial]

Zoa’s can be very intolerant of Alk swings. I have had issues in tanks where I self dosed in the past. I use a Reefdoser for the big 3. Keeps things pretty stable. I got a ridiculous amount of Zoa in all my tanks. They could also just be adjusting even a month or two later I’ve had Beautiful colonies just close up couple months in and most always they come back soon enough. Sometimes move them to different flow or lighting if I see them go down hill. As long as the polyps stay healthy and you blow off any algae or slime that may start growing on the closed polyp you got a chance to get them happy. No high light while they actin this way. Low and slow flow. Keep em clean

I'm manually dosing so this could be part of the problem, although my alk does stay around the 7.4 range.
I'm going to move them this weekend during a water change and see how they go.
I'm unable to move them any lower in the tank to the sand as I have a sleeper goby and whenever i put stuff in the sand bed he covers them.

 

[Kial]

I had the same problem about a year ago. They were also melting. I put a 6 line wrasse in and in several weeks they started growing back and now, months later, are taking over some areas of the rocks. May have to start pruning them soon.

Do you reckon your wrasse ended up clearing the zoas of pests?

 

[Kial]

I have the same issues, but I think my pests are the cuc. The crabs are always crawling all over them [emoji35]. They all seem to open when not being bothered by those stinkers.

I've seen snails on them before and they would always come back out once it moved on but now they stay shut. Only random ones on the colony come out

 

[Swav8tor]

Do you reckon your wrasse ended up clearing the zoas of pests?

He does poke around them quite often, not sure what he is pecking at but he is awesome!

 

[Royce White]

I've seen snails on them before and they would always come back out once it moved on but now they stay shut. Only random ones on the colony come out

Do you reckon your wrasse ended up clearing the zoas of pests?

Yes I do. I haven't had a problem since