New to this hobby, I have new zoanthids that were fully open for like 3 days. For the past 2 days they only open up a tiny bit.

[SoFloReefer55]

New to this hobby, I have new zoanthids that were fully open for like 3 days. For the past 2 days they only open up a tiny bit. Can anyone give any advice on what to do? Below you'll see the pictures of them open and the pictures of them today. The light I have is the fluval nano marine 3.0. Maybe I don't have my light settings correctly? I have a 10 gallon innovative marine tank.

 

[Doctorgori]

they might just be adjusting…very high odds most new additions s go through multiple states while settling in… I’d wait and see if the remain closed for a few days 1st…tbh mine have gone days when unhappy..
zoas are hard to kill

added, any hope of removing them from the plug or at least have em contact that rock a more?

 

[SoFloReefer55]

they might just be adjusting…very high odds most new additions s go through multiple states while settling in… I’d wait and see if the remain closed for a few days 1st…tbh mine have gone days when unhappy..
zoas are hard to kill

added, any hope of removing them from the plug or at least have em contact that rock a more?

Like I said im new to the hobby so I just followed the directions my local aquarium store gave me. They did not tell me anything regarding removing the zoa from the plug, I have the plug glued to the rock. Again I glued it to the rock because that's what I was told to do. They looked beautiful yesterday, they were fully open all day, but today not at all. I'm thinking it might be my light settings so I turned down the intensity a little bit, but they have not changed.

 

[SoFloReefer55]

they might just be adjusting…very high odds most new additions s go through multiple states while settling in… I’d wait and see if the remain closed for a few days 1st…tbh mine have gone days when unhappy..
zoas are hard to kill

added, any hope of removing them from the plug or at least have em contact that rock a more?

my light settings are 80% cyan, 80% blue, 80% blue, 30% white, and that is for 7-8 hours a day

 

[Doctorgori]

if the lights too low they get kinda long like they are reaching for the light
Just me but I’ve never paid any mind to the quip zoas don’t like high par … mine seem to grow wherever they want,
sorry for the heavy blue

 

[SoFloReefer55]

if the lights too low they get kinda long like they are reaching for the light
Just me but I’ve never paid any mind to the quip zoas don’t like high par … mine seem to grow wherever they want,
sorry for the heavy blue

Would you say based on the picture that they're reaching for more light?

 

[crazyfishmom]

What are your water parameters like?

As most people mentioned it’s likely just an acclimation issue but his looks like a fairly young tank and zoas like somewhat higher nutrients.

 

[SoFloReefer55]

What are your water parameters like?

As most people mentioned it’s likely just an acclimation issue but his looks like a fairly young tank and zoas like somewhat higher nutrients.

I'm not going to lie I have not tested my water because my local store told me that if the zoas opened up when I put them in the tank, that means my parameters are fine and there's no need to test. I did find a thread on here that said the zoas close because they've absorbed enough light for the day. So I lowered down the white levels and left the blues a litte low.

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

New to this hobby, I have new zoanthids that were fully open for like 3 days. For the past 2 days they only open up a tiny bit. Can anyone give any advice on what to do? Below you'll see the pictures of them open and the pictures of them today. The light I have is the fluval nano marine 3.0. Maybe I don't have my light settings correctly? I have a 10 gallon innovative marine tank.

welcome to R2R.
your tank is pretty new.

 

[SoFloReefer55]

welcome to R2R.
your tank is pretty new.

yes it is, its been running with the fish for about 3 weeks.

 

[crazyfishmom]

I'm not going to lie I have not tested my water because my local store told me that if the zoas opened up when I put them in the tank, that means my parameters are fine and there's no need to test. I did find a thread on here that said the zoas close because they've absorbed enough light for the day. So I lowered down the white levels and left the blues a litte low.

Okay… I think your local store is telling you things that are not right. Zoas are a little bit like the canary in the coal mine and they’re great corals that will let you know if there’s something wrong by not opening but this is in established tanks where you have parameters dialed in. Getting your water tested is super important especially early on and may help us help you if anything negative is indeed going on.

 

[SoFloReefer55]

Okay… I think your local store is telling you things that are not right. Zoas are a little bit like the canary in the coal mine and they’re great corals that will let you know if there’s something wrong by not opening but this is in established tanks where you have parameters dialed in. Getting your water tested is super important especially early on and may help us help you if anything negative is indeed going on.

I'm going to get my water tested tomorrow. Just to verify since it seems like my local store isn't giving great advice. They recommended I pour in 2.5 ml's of the seachem aquavitro fuel twice a week for the zoas, they told me that would serve as their source of food and it'll give them nicer purer colors and help them grow. Is that true? I've seen online that zoas don't necessarily need that. Can you please confirm if that is correct?

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

yes it is, its been running with the fish for about 3 weeks.

yeah, you need some nutrients in there. you didn't make it to the ugly stages of algae yet. everything is still adjusting.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

It really takes some googling and reading to have succes in this hobby. No tests and no research unfortunately means you will have a hard time, and so will your live stock. Not trying to discourage you or criticize you, but just let you know that this is not an easy hobby and you really have to do your home work. Not Testing in this hobby is like driving your car with no speedometer and no gas gauge. And sorry but your lfs is not givin you good advise. This forum is a good start, please do more reading before buying any livestock.

 

[PharmrJohn]

It really takes some googling and reading to have succes in this hobby. No tests and no research unfortunately means you will have a hard time, and so will your live stock. Not trying to discourage you or criticize you, but just let you know that this is not an easy hobby and you really have to do your home work. Not Testing in this hobby is like driving your car with no speedometer and no gas gauge. And sorry but your lfs is not givin you good advise. This forum is a good start, please do more reading before buying any livestock.

I would agree. Your LFS should have asked a series of questions and based on your answers not sold you the Zoas. I gotta ask. How many fish do you have in there? I see an O. Clown and one other, but I can't ID it. Myself, I waited for 9 months before I started with the easy corals. Then it was all about managing dKH, Ca, Mg, trace elements, et al. to maintain an environment suitable to maximize growth potential.

 

[BubblesandSqueak]

If you are not testing, what are you doing for water source and how are you topping off to maintain salinity? If you are buying the nutrisea water or other I have found that the levels are high in those and need some dilution.

 

[Dragen Fiend]

I found some zoanthids to be real finicky. They were one of my very first corals. I had bought 3 different ones. All 3 initially open up but then the 1 closed for well over a week. Its been months since then but its happy now lol.

But you should really get tests to conduct water tests. You don't want to be panicking trying to fix your parameters.

 

[SoFloReefer55]

I found some zoanthids to be real finicky. They were one of my very first corals. I had bought 3 different ones. All 3 initially open up but then the 1 closed for well over a week. Its been months since then but its happy now lol.

But you should really get tests to conduct water tests. You don't want to be panicking trying to fix your parameters.

Yes I definitely will be conducting water tests more often.

 

[crazyfishmom]

I'm going to get my water tested tomorrow. Just to verify since it seems like my local store isn't giving great advice. They recommended I pour in 2.5 ml's of the seachem aquavitro fuel twice a week for the zoas, they told me that would serve as their source of food and it'll give them nicer purer colors and help them grow. Is that true? I've seen online that zoas don't necessarily need that. Can you please confirm if that is correct?

Whether you need the aquavitro will largely depend on where your parameters sit right now. Get your water tested and let us know what the results look like and then there’s tons of help and advice we’ll be able to provide. Also, how are you measuring salinity in your tank. This is the first parameter that you should always know to be able to keep your corals healthy.

 

[SoFloReefer55]

Whether you need the aquavitro will largely depend on where your parameters sit right now. Get your water tested and let us know what the results look like and then there’s tons of help and advice we’ll be able to provide. Also, how are you measuring salinity in your tank. This is the first parameter that you should always know to be able to keep your corals healthy.

Turns out my salinity was a bit high and so was my phosphate. Salinity was at 1.027, and phosphate was at 0.8. I was given something called Rowa Phos, and put it one of the chambers in the back and hopefully that brings the levels down.