Struggling with new zoa frag

[shocker8786]

Hello everyone,

I have a tank that has been up and running for about 4 months now, and I just got my first coral frags about 6 days ago. The candy cane and 1 of the zoa frags look great, but the smaller zoa frag hasn't opened up since I brought it home from the LFS. I have it on the sand in a lower flow area, not sure if I should try moving it to a shadier spot or adjust the flow, or just leave it be and give it time. I attached a photo of the frag I'm struggling with. It does have something green and hard around some of the polyps. Not sure what that is, but the frag was open and looked ok at the LFS so hoping it's not a concern.

Any advice?

 

[dwair]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Might be still stressed!

 

[Fred2482]

Welcome! Could take some time, I have noticed some of the zoas are particular on the parameters being on point. Most will grow through almost anything.

 

[thatone08]

Welcome! What’s the morph name of this zoa? Also you can post in the club zoa forum. Plenty of knowledgable people in there who are focused on zoas.

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/zoa-discussion-club-zoa.14/

 

[PeterC99]

Welcome to R2R !

Give the frag some time.

 

[G Santana]

Welcome aboard, I've had zoas close for some time, as long as your water parameters are good, you should be fine.

 

[Ryan3313]

Hopefully your zoa's open soon. Probably stressed.

 

[SPR1968]

Check your water parameters are ok firstly

And welcome!

 

[KJ]

Welcome to R2R!!!

 

[Killingtime]

Welcome to R2R!

You've already heard it from others but I think they are right. As long as your water parameters are right, it'll come around and open. Some just take longer to acclimate than others.

 

[SchrutesReefs]

I tried zooming in on the pic and it may have some hair algae on it. Did you, or can you, dip the coral and attempt to remove the algae?

 

[Waters]

Welcome :) :) !!

 

[Poof No Eyebrows]

Welcome

 

[shocker8786]

Thanks everyone for the replies! Not sure what type there are, I know they are red in color. I’ve been monitoring my parameters regularly. Nitrate is undetectable using Red Sea test kit, everything else is within normal ranges. Wasn’t sure if low nitrate could be the issue, but the other larger zoa frag looks great so hopefully just stressed.

I did a hydrogen peroxide dip before adding to the tank, and the hair algae has been going away slowly. The harder green stuff surrounding some of the polyps is still there though, not sure if I should be worried about that or not.

 

[JDnKY]

Hello everyone,

I have a tank that has been up and running for about 4 months now, and I just got my first coral frags about 6 days ago. The candy cane and 1 of the zoa frags look great, but the smaller zoa frag hasn't opened up since I brought it home from the LFS. I have it on the sand in a lower flow area, not sure if I should try moving it to a shadier spot or adjust the flow, or just leave it be and give it time. I attached a photo of the frag I'm struggling with. It does have something green and hard around some of the polyps. Not sure what that is, but the frag was open and looked ok at the LFS so hoping it's not a concern.

Any advice?

Welcome to R2R! Its hard to tell from the photo but the “hair algae“ looks kinda like Aptasia, which would explain why they aren’t opening. Can you take the frag out and see if you can scrape it off with a knife without cutting into the Zoa’s?

 

[Jimbhoy13]

Welcome to R2R and the salty world. Hope the zoa picks up. Lots of knowledgeable and helpful people here who will support and advise you when needed.

 

[MERKEY]

Hello and welcome to R2R!

 

[Jeffcb]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello everyone,

I have a tank that has been up and running for about 4 months now, and I just got my first coral frags about 6 days ago. The candy cane and 1 of the zoa frags look great, but the smaller zoa frag hasn't opened up since I brought it home from the LFS. I have it on the sand in a lower flow area, not sure if I should try moving it to a shadier spot or adjust the flow, or just leave it be and give it time. I attached a photo of the frag I'm struggling with. It does have something green and hard around some of the polyps. Not sure what that is, but the frag was open and looked ok at the LFS so hoping it's not a concern.

Any advice?

 

[Fish Think Pink]

Hello everyone,

I have a tank that has been up and running for about 4 months now, and I just got my first coral frags about 6 days ago. The candy cane and 1 of the zoa frags look great, but the smaller zoa frag hasn't opened up since I brought it home from the LFS. I have it on the sand in a lower flow area, not sure if I should try moving it to a shadier spot or adjust the flow, or just leave it be and give it time. I attached a photo of the frag I'm struggling with. It does have something green and hard around some of the polyps. Not sure what that is, but the frag was open and looked ok at the LFS so hoping it's not a concern.

Any advice?

Welcome!

+1 vote give it time but also make sure your tank water parameters are in its ranges. Zoas tend to be pretty hardy in general