Dracula zoanthid not growing

Dave Clark · Dec 20, 2023

I have a Dracula zoanthid which has been in my tank for about 3 months. For several weeks its polyps were slightly open, but since then they've been closed. I don't think it has grown any new polyps. I've moved it a couple of times to different levels of the tank, in case the issue was light, without success. Any ideas? My tank parameters are:

Alk 7.7 dKH
Calcium 417 ppm
Nitrate 7.4 ppm
Phoshate 35 ppb
Salinity 35 ppt
Magnesium 1390 ppm (from Hanna checker ... Salifert says 1240)
pH 8.0
Temp 77-78F (depending on what I use to measure it ... it's stable)

Thanks in advance. Picture:

Ron Reefman · Dec 20, 2023

Don't move it so often. Give it time to acclimate.

Dave Clark · Dec 20, 2023

Ron Reefman said:
Don't move it so often. Give it time to acclimate.

Thank you. In your experience, how long does it take to acclimate?

Ron Reefman · Dec 20, 2023

Dave Clark said:
Thank you. In your experience, how long does it take to acclimate?

Tough question.

If conditions are right and the move from one tank, or store, or shipping bag, is close to your tank conditions, it may only take an hour.

But some corals are fussier than others and small variations can cause them to be unhappy for a long time, like weeks.

Some corals are very stable with changes in the tank, like a big swing in alk or salinity. But some take a day or more to big swings.

I find that zoas are far more accepting of low or high PAR levels than lps or sps corals.

How long has your tank been running? How are you dosing Ca and alk (i.e daily, weekly, 24/7 with a dosing pump)?

Dave Clark · Dec 20, 2023

Ron Reefman said:
Tough question.

If conditions are right and the move from one tank, or store, or shipping bag, is close to your tank conditions, it may only take an hour.

But some corals are fussier than others and small variations can cause them to be unhappy for a long time, like weeks.

Some corals are very stable with changes in the tank, like a big swing in alk or salinity. But some take a day or more to big swings.

I find that zoas are far more accepting of low or high PAR levels than lps or sps corals.

How long has your tank been running? How are you dosing Ca and alk (i.e daily, weekly, 24/7 with a dosing pump)?

My tank has been running for nine months now. I haven't had a need to dose calcium, the only other corals in my tank are a Gorgonian and a GSP, which are both doing well. I manually dose a small amount of B-Ionic alkalinity component in the morning. Thanks.