Zoas not doing well...

CubanPete · Apr 14, 2014

Hi all. I'm having a problem keeping zoas. My salt is .024-5. My alk is 10.0. Calcium 415. Phosphate less than .25 and nitrate 0. Chinese LEDs 14" above the water, zoas about 22-28" away from light. I run blues for 7 hours at 100%. Whites run about 2 hours maybe at 30%. I buy them all nice and pretty, but within 7-10 days, they don't open all the way. My salinity rose to about .027. Thought that was it. About 4 weeks ago. Dropped it slowly back down. Also had the LEDs at about 30% for blues. I heard that was too low, and to crank em back up. I did 60% for 2-3 days, then about 75 for a couple, now up to 100 for the last week or so. I'm at a loss. Run a skimmer and fuge. Water changes every 2 weeks. Been checking water every day for the last 2-3 weeks and it's been pretty stable. I dose if necessary. I also have LPS, a couple sps, anemones, and softies. Everything else is doing fine. I've checked for nudis at night and haven't seen anything. They're not being eaten, just not opening all the way. I have like 50 different kinds and really don't want to lose them. I got the bug and it sucks. Lol. Any thoughts you might have would be great....
As far as fish, I have a Pygmy angel, flasher wrasse, and three pj cardinals. Not much. Any help???

PRomero · Apr 14, 2014

Pics?

Rob&Gab · Apr 14, 2014

what are you keeping your salt level at btw?

Usctom · Apr 14, 2014

Pygmy angel is probably nipping.

Bad Company · Apr 14, 2014

Allelopathic warfare from the other corals? If they are large, and you have a smaller tank volume, and not running much carbon?

CubanPete · Apr 14, 2014

Salinity is at .025. The zoas are all on one side of the tank, Lps on the other. I'll try nag get some pics later. I thought about the Pygmy snacking, but I really don't see any evidence of that specifically. I'm not running any carbon. It's a 72 gallon tank with a 20 gallon refugium.

joshporksandwich · Apr 15, 2014

Pigmy angels nip when you're not looking. Try taking pics. You say all 50 of your zoas are closed or just 1 or 2? I've had alk swings and some of my palys close on loose some color but most of the time they come back.

Reef_a_holiks · Apr 15, 2014

wow sounds exactly like me about 2 weeks ago, i did a chemiclean treatment recommended by PRomero and my zoas are back to thriving.After the third day they completely openned up and looking better than ever. I tried everything lowering light intensity , raising light intensity, dosed less, dosed more, more frequent water changes, less frequent, put them in all types of different flow , nothing help. I was getting desperate to the point of just getting rid of all my zoas and not dealing with them again, they are just so finicky sometimes. weird thing is every other coral in the tank is doing amazing even sps. i was just stuck and confused, until i was recommended to do a chemiclean treatment , i said the hell with it they are doing terrible as it is. well after the third day they were completely different zoas, they looked way happier.

I researched more into the treatment and zoas and ran into a thread of a guy that grows and sells zoanthids and he says he does chemiclean treatment about once every 3 months as a maintenance to his tank to keep his zoas top notch.

I have before and after pics of the chemiclean treatment and my zoas in my thread i made about the issue.
Check it out. last page has before and after pics!

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/zoa-discussion-club-zoa/155151-whats-wrong-my-zoas-pics-inside.html

Reef_a_holiks · Apr 15, 2014

Also check out this thread : https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/zo...ep-healthy-zoas-long-run-wanted-please-3.html

look at post #51 by Ninjapotamus

helpful info

PRomero · Apr 15, 2014

good luck guys

CubanPete · Apr 16, 2014

Josh...it's most of them. Like 80%. And some don't open, some are just way smaller than when I bought them. Does that make sense? I'm trying to catch the angel either way. He's bullying a nice clown I have. I've read reefaholiks' thread and that sounds/looks spot on. I'm picking up some chemiclean and treating today. I'll let you all know if that does anything. After reading some threads, I have high hopes. I moved some power heads around and blew off the rocks. Not much gunk there, so we'll see.
I've been pretty steady at 10-10.4 on all for the last three weeks or so. Testing everyday just to see. Unfortunately, it's time to buy some new tests. Lol. I'll keep you all updated and thanks for the help.