Zoa hasn't opened in weeks and has started to disappear! Need Help!

[Darthanakin3334]

Hello, I've been having trouble with my zoas. They've been closed for about 2 weeks, and a couple days ago I noticed it's been disappearing. I've tried to keep the Nitrates low and have been performing a 25% water change every week to keep the water quality clean. By changing the water, the pH has been low, unfortunately and even raising it back to 8.4 doesn't seem to help.

Water Parameters are:

Salinity: 1.0275

pH: 8.0

Ammonia: 0 ppm

Nitrite: 0ppm

Nitrate: 10 ppm

Calcium: 440 ppm

Action taken: -Added fresh water to decrease salinity and nitrates

-Added 2 doses of 8.4



I have a Pom-pom Xenia, Duncan, And GSP in the reef tank and they seem to be doing great, GSP has been growing very quickly, and Xenia is pulsing away happily.

I also have 2 Ocellaris Clownfish, and 1 Bi-color Dottyback who appear to be healthy.

Please let me know what it could be or what I can try to keep them from dying on me,

Thanks!

 

[Oscar47f]

So for starters your salinity is too high.. salinity should be 1.026 or it can be lower... but for corals I personally aim for 1.026... whatever you want to set it at make sure it doesn’t fluctuate much... now your zoanthids look pale I would suspect something is bothering them bacterial wise so a dip in iodine or furan-2 or chemiclean will take care of any bacteria that may have settled on the colonies I would try iodine first, move then to a lower light zone of the tank... while you dip make sure to turkey baste water on them to help get rid of parasites or anything that would be bothering them... what is your lighting like ? And phosphate levels ?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Sounds like they’re melting.
Salinity and nitrate slightly high.
dip them in peroxide and moderate light and water flow and add a little iodine to water after water change

 

[Darthanakin3334]

So for starters your salinity is too high.. salinity should be 1.026 or it can be lower... but for corals I personally aim for 1.026... whatever you want to set it at make sure it doesn’t fluctuate much... now your zoanthids look pale I would suspect something is bothering them bacterial wise so a dip in iodine or furan-2 or chemiclean will take care of any bacteria that may have settled on the colonies I would try iodine first, move then to a lower light zone of the tank... while you dip make sure to turkey baste water on them to help get rid of parasites or anything that would be bothering them... what is your lighting like ? And phosphate levels ?

Fixing salinity and nitrate issues atm. Idk about phostates, I'll have to get a test kit for that. As for Lighting, I have a 24" 17 Watt 50/50 fluorescent light made by Coralife. As for dipping, Should I dip the rest of my corals just to be safe, or should it be done on an "As need" basis?

 

[Oscar47f]

Fixing salinity and nitrate issues atm. Idk about phostates, I'll have to get a test kit for that. As for Lighting, I have a 24" 17 Watt 50/50 fluorescent light made by Coralife. As for dipping, Should I dip the rest of my corals just to be safe, or should it be done on an "As need" basis?

If it makes you feel safe you can.. I personally do it on an as needed basis.. I have 100+ strains of zoas and dipping them all would be a pain... I would say if your other stuff is doing well don’t worry about them... as previously stated you can use hydrogen peroxide %3 diluted with water no more than 5 minutes but that’s more for algae, not saying it won’t work... but personally I go with iodine, chemiclean and furan-2 because they’re made specifically to kill bacteria and sterilize an area...

 

[joseserrano]

What kind of tank do you have. Describe your tank and possibly provide pics. You would remove salt water and add freshwater to bring salinity down. Nitrate will take large water changes to bring down. I imagine you are new and are over feeding. So reduce feeding

 

[Oscar47f]

Nitrates at 10ppm are acceptable probably not the issue especially if everything else is doing well

 

[vetteguy53081]

Nitrates at 10ppm are acceptable probably not the issue especially if everything else is doing well

But has potential to climb why I suggested water change.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Fixing salinity and nitrate issues atm. Idk about phostates, I'll have to get a test kit for that. As for Lighting, I have a 24" 17 Watt 50/50 fluorescent light made by Coralife. As for dipping, Should I dip the rest of my corals just to be safe, or should it be done on an "As need" basis?

Take salinity to 1.025 and temp range 77-79
How old are bulbs? That too can have an effect if they’re losing their brightness

 

[Oscar47f]

But has potential to climb why I suggested water change.

Good points my bad !

 

[Darthanakin3334]

If it makes you feel safe you can.. I personally do it on an as needed basis.. I have 100+ strains of zoas and dipping them all would be a pain... I would say if your other stuff is doing well don’t worry about them... as previously stated you can use hydrogen peroxide %3 diluted with water no more than 5 minutes but that’s more for algae, not saying it won’t work... but personally I go with iodine, chemiclean and furan-2 because they’re made specifically to kill bacteria and sterilize an area...

I only have 3 other corals, so dipping them won't really be a hassle. I'll get some iodine dip and try it in a couple days. Thanks for the help!

 

[Darthanakin3334]

Take salinity to 1.025 and temp range 77-79
How old are bulbs? That too can have an effect if they’re losing their brightness

I got them 2 months ago, idk how old the were when I bought them.

 

[Darthanakin3334]

What kind of tank do you have. Describe your tank and possibly provide pics. You would remove salt water and add freshwater to bring salinity down. Nitrate will take large water changes to bring down. I imagine you are new and are over feeding. So reduce feeding

It's a 39 gallon Bowfront. I've just finished the water change and brought the salt down to 1.025 and the Nitrates to about 5 ppm. I normally feed them twice a day, will once per day be better?

Edit: Forgot to include pics. other corals are closed because the light was off for the night

 

[vetteguy53081]

It's a 39 gallon Bowfront. I've just finished the water change and brought the salt down to 1.025 and the Nitrates to about 5 ppm. I normally feed them twice a day, will once per day be better?

2-3x per week, one small feeding sufficient

 

[vetteguy53081]

I got them 2 months ago, idk how old the were when I bought them.

Give you a tip to intensify them. Pull bulbs out and line the surface with foil, Shiny side facing down and put bulbs back in. Will be much brighter

 

[JACKS REEF]

Hello, I've been having trouble with my zoas. They've been closed for about 2 weeks, and a couple days ago I noticed it's been disappearing. I've tried to keep the Nitrates low and have been performing a 25% water change every week to keep the water quality clean. By changing the water, the pH has been low, unfortunately and even raising it back to 8.4 doesn't seem to help.

Water Parameters are:

Salinity: 1.0275

pH: 8.0

Ammonia: 0 ppm

Nitrite: 0ppm

Nitrate: 10 ppm

Calcium: 440 ppm

Action taken: -Added fresh water to decrease salinity and nitrates

-Added 2 doses of 8.4



I have a Pom-pom Xenia, Duncan, And GSP in the reef tank and they seem to be doing great, GSP has been growing very quickly, and Xenia is pulsing away happily.

I also have 2 Ocellaris Clownfish, and 1 Bi-color Dottyback who appear to be healthy.

Please let me know what it could be or what I can try to keep them from dying on me,

Thanks!

Could be your lights what lights are you runing currently?

 

[Darthanakin3334]

Could be your lights what lights are you runing currently?

I have a 24" 17 Watt 50/50 fluorescent light made by Coralife.

 

[joseserrano]

You need more light. Tank is pretty fresh. Be careful with Sudden changes. Your tank doesn’t have the maturity to deal with it.

 

[fishguy242]

i would dip and swish zoas in slightly warmer freshwater let sit 1 min swish ,rinse in dip or bowl of tank water ,look for zoa eating nudi's

 

[Darthanakin3334]

i would dip and swish zoas in slightly warmer freshwater let sit 1 min swish ,rinse in dip or bowl of tank water ,look for zoa eating nudi's

I'll give this a try!