What might be wrong with my zoa colony?

[jrdemasi]

Hey all!

New to the forum, and semi-new to the hobby. I kept a tank long ago with my Dad and have recently gotten back into it. I'm mostly a freshwater guy, but really wanted a reef again. I've got a 10 gallon nano that was doing well with some brain coral, mushrooms, shrimp, and a solid cleanup crew. I wanted a zoa colony, so I picked out a nice, small one at my LFS. I started the zoas on the sandbed, but they started reaching pretty heavily, so I moved them up (thinking they wanted more light). Now, though, they're starting to lose color and I'm not sure what else they might want. Tank parameters are all pretty solid -- no detectable phosphate, good calcium level, etc. Any help or input would be appreciated! Please see pics below

FWIW -- Light is a current LED bar with ramp up timer. Nothing too fancy -- it's the smallest size.

Edit: I should mention -- they are growing new polyps, which is the strange part to me. I'd think if they were severely unhappy they wouldn't be doing that. I haven't kept zoas before though.

 

[EriksOasis]

The current led bar isn’t enough light for good coral health and coloration.

 

[jrdemasi]

The current led bar isn’t enough light for good coral health and coloration.

Not to doubt, but it seems a lot of people have pretty great success with these lights. The amazon reviews, people on YT, etc. There are people who even specifically cite their paly/zoa growth with the light. To be clear, I'm talking about this https://current-usa.com/aquarium-led-lights/orbit-marine-fixtures/orbit-marine/

 

[EriksOasis]

I’ll let someone else mayb chime in but you may get growth but not thencoloration from when you bought them. Are you running them at 100%?

 

[jrdemasi]

I’ll let someone else mayb chime in but you may get growth but not thencoloration from when you bought them. Are you running them at 100%?

Not quite - have it about 85% at the max. I can definitely up them to 100% though. Now that you mention it and I'm reading more and more, it seems like some people have cited some issues, but others get great results. Is there that much variation in zoas such that some varieties need much more light than others? Seems wild!

 

[EriksOasis]

Not really just the par of that light and the depth of your tank plays a huge role into the corals color and health. Also the wavelenght and spectrum that light produce may not be ideal. For the same price of that light mayb a few bucks more you can get a black box led that’s guaranteed to be what the corals need. Do some more research and read around. Just trying to help.

 

[jrdemasi]

Not really just the par of that light and the depth of your tank plays a huge role into the corals color and health. Also the wavelenght and spectrum that light produce may not be ideal. For the same price of that light mayb a few bucks more you can get a black box led that’s guaranteed to be what the corals need. Do some more research and read around. Just trying to help.

Definitely appreciate it. I got this light for $30 used at my LFS, so there wasn't much that went into it. If it ends up that's truly the issue, not much loss in getting a different one. Thanks!

 

[Steven91]

Not to doubt, but it seems a lot of people have pretty great success with these lights. The amazon reviews, people on YT, etc. There are people who even specifically cite their paly/zoa growth with the light. To be clear, I'm talking about this https://current-usa.com/aquarium-led-lights/orbit-marine-fixtures/orbit-marine/

I was looking at getting into the current led strips, either with my current tank or the tank I'm planning but after doing some research and looking around the low par is a common complaint I'm seeing and trouble with getting light deep into a tank (not that a 10 gal is all the deep)

 

[jrdemasi]

I was looking at getting into the current led strips, either with my current tank or the tank I'm planning but after doing some research and looking around the low par is a common complaint I'm seeing and trouble with getting light deep into a tank (not that a 10 gal is all the deep)

Well, I can report that everything is thriving except this zoa colony. Mushrooms, brain coral, GSP. None of those are all that light intensive though.

 

[Steven91]

Well, I can report that everything is thriving except this zoa colony. Mushrooms, brain coral, GSP. None of those are all that light intensive though.

Correct, everything should be thriving though as I think someone else mention might be the spectrum not being right for them. I'd say move them up in the tank closer to the light and see how they react, just do a slow move (Don't go from bottom straight to the top, move up little by little every few days)

 

[dz6t]

Have you check them for zoas eating nudibranch? Dip the zoas with Flatworm Exit and see what is falling off. Wild zoas carry tons of zoas eating nudibranch.