Rasta help

[Just_Pete]

My small Rasta colony is not doing well. See middle of pic.

Got these in on Friday with a bunch of corals, including other zoas. As you can tell others have opened up nicely but from day one, the rastas not so much.

I can see maybe three heads trying to open but nothing.

Salinty: 1026
Alk: 10
Temp: 77.8
Xr15 at 50% and t5 on for 4 hrs.
Medium/low flow

All corals were dipped in coral Rx for 10min. And since Friday I’ve done two water changes.

Any idea of what’s goin on? No signs of pests or infection. All other frags doing well.

 

[Brad Waddell Wrath's Reef]

My small Rasta colony is not doing well. See middle of pic.

Got these in on Friday with a bunch of corals, including other zoas. As you can tell others have opened up nicely but from day one, the rastas not so much.

I can see maybe three heads trying to open but nothing.

Salinty: 1026
Alk: 10
Temp: 77.8
Xr15 at 50% and t5 on for 4 hrs.
Medium/low flow

All corals were dipped in coral Rx for 10min. And since Friday I’ve done two water changes.

Any idea of what’s goin on? No signs of pests or infection. All other frags doing well.

Looks like your tank is young. How much flow do you have on them? What are your parameters? What kits are you using to test?

 

[El_Guapo13]

A) take closer look at them to see if you can see any pests (red bugs, nudis, aiptasia, etc.) or disease (zoa pox).
B) if you don't see anything, test all your parameters
C) if everything is fine, give them time. They are still acclimating. Maybe lower them in the tank.

 

[Brad Waddell Wrath's Reef]

Looks like your tank is young. How much flow do you have on them? What are your parameters? What kits are you using to test?

You should be running your lights longer. Post the rest of your levels.

 

[Brad Waddell Wrath's Reef]

A) take closer look at them to see if you can see any pests (red bugs, nudis, aiptasia, etc.) or disease (zoa pox).
B) if you don't see anything, test all your parameters
C) if everything is fine, give them time. They are still acclimating. Maybe lower them in the tank.

I have mine up high with medium flow.

 

[El_Guapo13]

Should also mention I got 8 zoa frags back in January, and I stil have 1 that is acting like this. They were fine a week after I got them, but two weeks ago my tank sprung a leak that I could not repair, so I moved everything to a new, larger tank. 7 of the 8 zoas are fine and happy, but the one only has 2 to 3 polyps open at the moment. I think previously where it was in the new tank, the shadows caused by the rocks were causing it to not get enough light, so I moved it on Sunday. I am watching it and checking it each day in case there is maybe just something bugging it, but otherwise I am leaving it alone so it can adjust to the new light source.

 

[tnw50cal]

Mine seem to do nothing at all for months on end while other kinds grow and multiply.

 

[Just_Pete]

Flow and coral type are admittedly something I'm still figuring out. For say softies and LPS, is there anything about my current scape that would be non-ideal for them?

Looks like your tank is young. How much flow do you have on them? What are your parameters? What kits are you using to test?

A) take closer look at them to see if you can see any pests (red bugs, nudis, aiptasia, etc.) or disease (zoa pox).
B) if you don't see anything, test all your parameters
C) if everything is fine, give them time. They are still acclimating. Maybe lower them in the tank.

You should be running your lights longer. Post the rest of your levels.

I have mine up high with medium flow.

Medium flow with mid level placement on the rocks.

Using Hannah alk and Red Sea reefer test kits. Ammonia is at 0, PH 8.2, both tested at 10 for alk.

Tank is one month old, cycled with Bio-Spira.

No clear signs of pest on them. When I dipped, I used a magnifying glass and flash light to make sure all was good.

My Eco XR15 G4 Pro light schedule below. Running my T5's for 4hrs in the middle of my Eco schedule.

 

[Hemmdog]

How old is the tank? It looks very young. What is your nitrate and phosphate? Lighting may be too intense as well. I have these on my sandbed and they grow like crazy.

 

[Thespammailaccount]

Brightly colored zoas tend to do better higher up in the tank keeps them bright at least from my experience. I will use a turkey baster and clean off the detritus so they do not develop a film over them that can prevent the polyps from opening. I dose vit c and iodine for my zoas

 

[El_Guapo13]

Yeah, 6 of my 8 zoa frags are on a frag rack only about 3 inches above the sand. Including my rastas, which are doing fine. Ao maybe yours are too high? Especially since you just got them 4 days ago.

 

[Just_Pete]

Mine seem to do nothing at all for months on end while other kinds grow and multiply.

are they opened up at all?

 

[Just_Pete]

It's just weird that other zoas are opened up and seem to be doing fine while these guys are not. I have bowtie zoas placed even higher elsewhere in the tank and they're doing great.

 

[El_Guapo13]

It's just weird that other zoas are opened up and seem to be doing fine while these guys are not. I have bowtie zoas placed even higher elsewhere in the tank and they're doing great.

Well, corals can be funny. Keep in mind, they may look like plants, but they are animals. And not all animals even within the same species will act the same. I have noticed that some corals I have act differently than others of the same kind.

Take my aussie lords. One kills and eats anything that lands on its mouths, and another ignores things that land on it, and the third seems to decide based on what it is that lands on it.

Or heck, look at my Indigo Discosoma. Normally, people say to put all mushrooms towards the bottom in low light. My Indigo Discosoma (and now too its baby) hated that. I had to move it up closer to the light when it was in my 16 gallon Biocube LED at the top of my rockwork. And it got huge and happy. Since moving everything to my 29 gallon, I was worried it would be unhappy now it is further from the top, but it seems to be fine. It is on the move, but it was like that before I switched tanks, so once it disconnects from its remaining part of it foot that is still on the frag, I expect it to be all big and happy again.

 

[tnw50cal]

are they opened up at all?

Oh yea they are open, but you tick them off(bump the frag rack they're on, look at them sideways,etc) and they are the last to open back up. I have other zoas I bought at the same time, Gobstoppers, Fire and Ice, Dragon Eyes that are growing like weeds. At the same time I have the Rastas,Scrambled Eggs, Sunny D's that just live but haven't added a new polyp in months. Meanwhile SPS and LPS grows like no tomorrow--go figure.

 

[Thespammailaccount]

The appear to have a film on them covering the polyps use a turkey baster or syringe or something of the like to remove the film so they can open

 

[Just_Pete]

The appear to have a film on them covering the polyps use a turkey baster or syringe or something of the like to remove the film so they can open

Took a turkey baster to them last night and this morning. Three heads seem to be opening up. Fingers crossed.