What is wrong with my zoas?
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- Thread starter Mikey0909
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Sebastiancrab
2500 Club Member
Mike, in order for folks to assist, a picture in white light and your water parameters are going to be needed. We don't have orange glasses on. 
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Mikey0909
Community Member
Like I said I’m going to do it by the end of the week, I will make it a better photo and turn the blue light offMike, in order for folks to assist, a picture in white light and your water parameters are going to be needed. We don't have orange glasses on.
Ricksreeefs
Well-Known Member
+1 the sooner the better bc we can’t help you yetMike, in order for folks to assist, a picture in white light and your water parameters are going to be needed. We don't have orange glasses on.
Until then, if they look normal otherwise and there are no water problems, they are probably fine. Zoas just do that sometimes. My fastest growing colony is closed right now. I have no idea why, but they are fine. They just do it occasionally.
ZoWhat
7500 Club Member
Closed zoas is usually one of the following:
* too much PAR, or adjusting to higher intensity if you just changed your lighting. Usually only seen for just a few days as they adjust. If closed up past a few days, move on to other reasons
* too much flow. Despite many sources claiming zoas can take moderate flow, I've found that as little direct flow on them is best practices. Good tank volume turnover but hardly any direct flow
* pests.... from bugs to asternia stars to nipping fish and more. This would take extreme close up pics
* water quality elements way off like cakc, alk, mag, etc. Especially SALINITY being too low or high. Water quality usually not a factor unless parameters are extreme, like SG at 1.032 or 1.019
* LACK.OF NUTRIENTS! the most misunderstood part of zoa keeping. Ultimate parameters is to keep no3 at 10-20ppm so they can consume and turn it into zooxanthellae within their cell tissues. Drive a ULNS with no3 at 2ppm, you're STARVING your zoas..PO4 to be minimized at 0.1-0.3ppm but not totally eliminated. Direct feeding of ReefRoids and the like is spotty at best as many zoas do NOT take direct feedings (palys do, but rarely zoas). You may think they do when they close up thinking they're eat, when in reality they are irritated and closing up bc the food particles is irritating their tissue. Their true feed is when they open and close up during light cycles, THIS IS WHEN THEY SUCK IN SW AND CONSUME THE 10-20ppm NO3 IN THE WATER COLUMN.
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* too much PAR, or adjusting to higher intensity if you just changed your lighting. Usually only seen for just a few days as they adjust. If closed up past a few days, move on to other reasons
* too much flow. Despite many sources claiming zoas can take moderate flow, I've found that as little direct flow on them is best practices. Good tank volume turnover but hardly any direct flow
* pests.... from bugs to asternia stars to nipping fish and more. This would take extreme close up pics
* water quality elements way off like cakc, alk, mag, etc. Especially SALINITY being too low or high. Water quality usually not a factor unless parameters are extreme, like SG at 1.032 or 1.019
* LACK.OF NUTRIENTS! the most misunderstood part of zoa keeping. Ultimate parameters is to keep no3 at 10-20ppm so they can consume and turn it into zooxanthellae within their cell tissues. Drive a ULNS with no3 at 2ppm, you're STARVING your zoas..PO4 to be minimized at 0.1-0.3ppm but not totally eliminated. Direct feeding of ReefRoids and the like is spotty at best as many zoas do NOT take direct feedings (palys do, but rarely zoas). You may think they do when they close up thinking they're eat, when in reality they are irritated and closing up bc the food particles is irritating their tissue. Their true feed is when they open and close up during light cycles, THIS IS WHEN THEY SUCK IN SW AND CONSUME THE 10-20ppm NO3 IN THE WATER COLUMN.
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So you don't have any that just close for no particular reason, ever?
ZoWhat
7500 Club Member
If they are closed during their lighting schedule smthg is wrong.. You take my guide and through the process of elimination, figure out what you need to correct
Lighting, flow, pests, water quality and nutrition
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I hate to disagree on the direct feeding Zoa, but I disagree. I know you have a kabillion zoas and tons of experience, but I have found that 4 out of 5 of my 30-ish zoas take direct feeding. Here is a video I made a while ago. When these zoas open, all of this will be gone. I don't know how much it helps (maybe none at all?) but they eat it.
ZoWhat
7500 Club Member
It's a debatable topic. I feel one tends to think they're eating bc when they open back up, the food particles are gone.... the particles must be in their stem. Well.....
IMO they may have ingested 5% of it but 95% of the particles just dispersed into the water column from flow and gravity.
They're rapid closing IMO is a defensive move on their part bc they're irritated. Much like a baby refusing to eat baby food and they just end up blowing the spoonful all over their Bib.
Ive seen 1000s of times the exact closing up action made when a fish's tail swipe on them accidentally..
The times I do see zoas eating is when they "Umbrella" in the reverse action of closing up.
During this "umbrella'ing" they pucker their lips out to accept nutrients. I only see this if very tiny food particles trickle down so very slowly from above. Never when squirted at.
Even feeding during the trickle down process, very little food is taken in for consumption.
It's my opinion, zoas mainly eat when they open back up after a night of blackout. Out of the blackout they are closed and shrunken.
It's when the light awakes them, they "puff up".... it's at this time they rush SW into their stems and consume NO3 as their main meal to grow zooxanthellae.
Rapid closing up during particles being squirted onto their discs is (IMO) just a defensive move that emulates feeding.
But it's all my opinion and just my conclusions.... and others have the same conclusions that I've read outside of R2R
I willing to be taught a different way to view this... I wish there were scientific studies on it. but I truly feel zoas take in very few particles being laid on them. They truly eat only when the rush of SW is ingested when woken up by light.
It's all good, we all have different outlooks.
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Mikey0909
Community Member
Mike, in order for folks to assist, a picture in white light and your water parameters are going to be needed. We don't have orange glasses on.
Salinity: 1.024
Calcium: 420 ppm
Nitrates: 0ppm
Kh: 140 ppm
Nitrites: 0
Phosphate: 0ppm
Ph: 8.2
Ammonia: 0ppm
there are vermaid snails in my tank (working on getting bumblebee snails)
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Mikey0909
Community Member
My tank Used to have higher nitrates, then I added macroalgae because I assumed my nitrates were too high as they were around 15 ppm. Everywhere online I have heard that being as close to zero as possible is ideal.
I think someone shows me a new way to do something every week, lol. I have learned quite a bit looking through your old posts. If you think of it, some time when you are feeding, dribble some into a trumpet shaped paly (so nothing will fall out) like beauty and the beast. Mine consume more than you think is possible and open again in 5 min. Let me know how it went if you do.
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Mikey0909
Community Member
Salinity: 1.024
Calcium: 420 ppm
Nitrates: 0ppm
Kh: 140 ppm
Nitrites: 0
Phosphate: 0ppm
Ph: 8.2
Ammonia: 0ppm
The red thing in the middle is a vermaide snail, (I am working to get bumblebee snails to get rid of them)
It can definitely be confusing, but palys and zoas like higher nitrates. They would be happy in the 15 ppm you used to have.
GHOSTLY
2500 Club Member
Question, what do you feed zoas? My gold dust tend to eat full lps pellets but unless I direct feed, they don't do much
ZoWhat
7500 Club Member
About to start dosing Sodium Nitrates to achieve 20ppm
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