Small polyp Zoas struggling, large polyp thriving, Ideas?

[ricketyroll]

Hey Folks,

I have a decent collection of Zoas, many of which i was collecting and keeping on a frag rack ahead of planting in my final garden.

Starting before my planting I started to notice several variety's struggling and ultimately melting. Since planting some have continued their decline.

In general they seem to fall into a general small polyp size and im wondering if im missing something around the interactions in my tank. One thing im running down right now is Par, they are about equal to hammer and torch level rn.

Ones that have had issues.
Exospheres
Stratospheres
Blue lagoons
Pink zippers
Blue hornets
Twizzlers
Rainbow incinerators

Any thoughts on avenues for more success here ? or do i just need to steer clear of these varieties

 

[DIYreefer]

It's either too much light, nutrient levels too low, or pests. Then there’s the fact that sometimes they simply melt for no reason at all.

Zoas are dumb like that.

Nite tank, btw!

 

[ricketyroll]

It's either too much light, nutrient levels too low, or pests. Then there’s the fact that sometimes they simply melt for no reason at all.

Zoas are dumb like that.

Nite tank, btw!

Thank you! I should say that I have a pretty high nutrient system. Large snowflake eel means that with weekly 20% changes I hit 20-30 nitrates and .1-.2 phosphates.

Zoas sometimes makes me feel like a bad reefer lol, oh they are so easy, looks at them funny, slowly start melting

 

[brandondavidson]

Some of the ones you listed are known to be prone to melting but others not so much. Do you know the PAR numbers the zoas are under now compared to when you were growing them on the rack? High PAR could definitely cause stress but so long as it isn’t a really high number/drastic change in a short amount of time it shouldn’t kill the zoa, especially multiple colonies.

Given the other healthy corals and mushrooms (par seems to be good for them, another soft coral) in the pic I would definitely inspect for pests and dip. Zoa-specific pest(s) like zoa spiders or zoa eating nudis may be present. If no pests are found through inspections and dips I would look for a possible water contaminant.

Had to say — beautiful mushroom garden, great color contrast!

 

[Patx]

It doesn't always work, but sometimes I run a tube over the colony and completely siphon out whatever could be on them .

I feel like it removes some of the things that might be bothering them,
Just like vacuuming a carpet.

 

[ricketyroll]

Some of the ones you listed are known to be prone to melting but others not so much. Do you know the PAR numbers the zoas are under now compared to when you were growing them on the rack? High PAR could definitely cause stress but so long as it isn’t a really high number/drastic change in a short amount of time it shouldn’t kill the zoa, especially multiple colonies.

Given the other healthy corals and mushrooms (par seems to be good for them, another soft coral) in the pic I would definitely inspect for pests and dip. Zoa-specific pest(s) like zoa spiders or zoa eating nudis may be present. If no pests are found through inspections and dips I would look for a possible water contaminant.

Had to say — beautiful mushroom garden, great color contrast!

Thank you ! The mushrooms have been growing great and its a real fun part of the scape! i figure once they start taking over ill just keep fragging them away to trade to locals, I love that part of this hobby!

Id say the frag rack location was higher in the tank but in the corner, so out of the direct lights, some of the one on that rack had been stretching pre-planting, so I was surprised that post planting they just didnt seem happy. unfortunately I don't have exact PAR except in reference, of slightly below happy hammers and torches, and slightly above happy mushrooms.

I have 2 noopsyche k7 v3s running about a 40% peak with white heavy mornings and blue heavy evenings.

While i dont think i have spiders, i havent thought about nudis. ill take a deeper look there!

 

[ricketyroll]

It doesn't always work, but sometimes I run a tube over the colony and completely siphon out whatever could be on them .

I feel like it removes some of the things that might be bothering them,
Just like vacuuming a carpet.

Good thought ! let me see if that breaks loose anything

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

Try elevating iodide/potassium/iron. That can be the culprit if everything else seems to be stable.

Sometimes they also just melt out of nowhere.

 

[ricketyroll]

So i was able to ask around some locals and borrow a par meter. got the following results, i think i need to turn down my lights some. But in other good news i think Reginald Reefer was on to something. I added trace elements and some of my zoas that i had moved, as well as some i hadnt have started to show signs of improvement!

Try elevating iodide/potassium/iron. That can be the culprit if everything else seems to be stable.

Sometimes they also just melt out of nowhere.

Some of the ones you listed are known to be prone to melting but others not so much. Do you know the PAR numbers the zoas are under now compared to when you were growing them on the rack? High PAR could definitely cause stress but so long as it isn’t a really high number/drastic change in a short amount of time it shouldn’t kill the zoa, especially multiple colonies.

Given the other healthy corals and mushrooms (par seems to be good for them, another soft coral) in the pic I would definitely inspect for pests and dip. Zoa-specific pest(s) like zoa spiders or zoa eating nudis may be present. If no pests are found through inspections and dips I would look for a possible water contaminant.

Had to say — beautiful mushroom garden, great color contrast!

As for par its not to bad ! anyone see anything else from my par analysis ?