What's wrong with these zoas?

[ilan84]

I dont understand why you all think Its not nutriënt related? He allready said that his nutrients are 0. Zoas dont survive in 0 nutrients! Maybe Some species are living longer then others in 0 nutrients, But at the end they Will follow him!

 

[DSC reef]

With the kits that's being used, the actual reliability to read at exactly 0 and the fact his other corals are thriving shows it's not nutrient related. The actual problem he's having with only some closing, others experience in the same issue, it's a bit misleading to say zoas don't survive in 0 nutrients.

 

[ilan84]

I have other experiences with low nutrients. Maybe there are other factors like regularly feading of plankton or something, that they can survive in no nutrients? I dont dose plankton and dont feed my corals. Just the fishes and i dose no3 and po4 to keep them from 0, if i dont, they slowly close and melt away!
How long are your nutrients 0?

 

[DSC reef]

These look pretty good with 0 nutrients according to salifert

 

[ilan84]

Yes they look good! 0 no3 en 0 po4 also? Do you feed your corals regularly or something?

 

[FugeTown]

Think I see those little red bugs on the closed polyps anyone else see that too?

 

[DSC reef]

Yes they look good! 0 no3 en 0 po4 also? Do you feed your corals regularly or something?

I do, I don't want to dose nitrate or phosphate so I feed a variety and everything benefits from nutrition.

 

[ilan84]

Then we have a different approach to it and possibly we are both right [emoji12]. But then it depends on his way of reefing About What to do.

 

[FugeTown]

I do, I don't want to dose nitrate or phosphate so I feed a variety and everything benefits from nutrition.

You feed your zoas? What kind do you feed them?

 

[Sharvey103]

Mine love hot dirty water. Temp at 82, nitrate at 50 and PO4 at 0.5

 

[pacificdiver]

I concur...one of the biggest issues is our impatience in the hobby. the constant dipping may irritate it further in my opinion...i would wait itnout..mayne do some extra water changes..dont think it's nutrients at all....

Ok, thanks again for the help. Luca asked about fish. Until today, it's been an invert-only tank, but I added an ocellaris this morning, after coming out of quarantine. I'll just keep an eye on the zoas for now. I can't see any obvious signs of disease yet, just localized closures that seem to be spreading.

Could lighting be the issue? It's positioned under a Kessil A160wE at 50% intensity, 50% actinic. If it is, would it be better to dial up or dial down on the intensity, blue settings, move it to a corner, etc?

Thanks again to all for the input.

 

[pacificdiver]

You feed your zoas? What kind do you feed them?

I've been target feeding Reef Snow mixed with Reef Roids 3 x per week, about 1/2 ml per feeding spread to 4 colonies (cauliflower, zoas, candy cane, and mushroom). Everyone else in the tank is doing great, and the cauliflower has increased about 50% in size over the past 2 months.

 

[gashunk]

Check for sea spiders I doubt it's them but they could be a player in this.this is a macro shot they move super slow and are either in the mouth of the zoa or at the base and Bauer usually won't kill them unless it's a highly concentrated amount for a absurd amount of time like I said I highly doubt it but it's a slight possibility

 

[DSC reef]

You feed your zoas? What kind do you feed them?

Reef nutrition oyster feast and roe, reef roids. Acropora love it too.

 

[FugeTown]

Reef nutrition oyster feast and roe, reef roids. Acropora love it too.

Thanks gonna give it a try, my zoas look nice but wow your zoas look really fat and healthy

 

[DSC reef]

Thanks gonna give it a try, my zoas look nice but wow your zoas look really fat and healthy

Thank you

 

[pacificdiver]

Fugetown, I missed your comment about the red bugs. I've seen those things, but they never move. I'll try to get a good macro shot of the area tomorrow. I had looked at them a few days ago, and they actually looked like really small, red polyps of a different color variety.

Maybe I'll just fill the tank with cauliflowers and candy canes - these zoas are definitely not bullet proof :) All things considered, I do believe this could be supplier related. About half the livestock from that shipment was diseased, with several DOA, including 2 damsels. In 20 years of keeping fish only tanks, I've never lost a damsel. They were in horrible shape, and I got about 2/3 of the fish through with chloroquine and prazipro. I cannot understand how some of these well-known, online suppliers stay in business, with the horrific livestock they send out these days. When I started in the late 90s, online livestock was infinitely better than it is today.

 

[Deniss]

Thank you

Do you target feed, or just "throw" it in the system? Also how many times do you feed a week?
I have been feeding once a week, and my N and P are 0..so i have been dosing them. But maybe i have to try your way
and start to feed heavier.

 

[DSC reef]

I turn the return pump off but leave the power head on. I throw in a little reef roids to get a feeding response. 10 minutes later I feed LRS reef frenzy and about 5 minutes it's gone. Then I turn off the power head and use a baster too target oyster feast and reef roids, no certain order then in about 10 minutes the power head comes back on and I let it run for another 30 minutes before the return comes back on. At night when the LPS are wide open I'll throw a little reef nutrition roe in the tank in front of the power head. Becareful doing this and start small. The filtration system Can handle the high Bio load this tank produces. I feed LRS every day. The rest I do 3 times a week alternating days.

 

[Deniss]

I turn the return pump off but leave the power head on. I throw in a little reef roids to get a feeding response. 10 minutes later I feed LRS reef frenzy and about 5 minutes it's gone. Then I turn off the power head and use a baster too target oyster feast and reef roids, no certain order then in about 10 minutes the power head comes back on and I let it run for another 30 minutes before the return comes back on. At night when the LPS are wide open I'll throw a little reef nutrition roe in the tank in front of the power head. Becareful doing this and start small. The filtration system Can handle the high Bio load this tank produces. I feed LRS every day. The rest I do 3 times a week alternating days.

I like your idea of getting them used to a feeding "alarm" by throwing a little roids in there. Right now i make a mix of reef roids, fauna marin ricordia and zoanthus, reefpearls, seachem fuel and aquaforest phytomix. Then spot feed them. It's either the fuel or phyto that makes them go Nuts, like on the rasta's i can see the mouth opening ( i didn't have this effect on just the foods mixed). But I'm going to use your trick to get them into feeding modus.