Zoanthids, Are they really a beginner coral?

[Randomwhiteguy89]

I’ve been in the reefing hobby for over 10 years and in that amount of time I’ve had so many different types and variations of zoanthids some do good some do ok and some just melt away but recently I’ve had no luck and I’m unsure why.
I have a 125 gallon mixed reef and everything in the tank is growing amazing I have started fragging some of my lps, and sps due to it growing into one another but for some reason my zoanthids just keep melting away I’m at the point where I don’t want to spend anymore money on them.
Water parameters
Salinity 1.026
Ph between 8.2 and 8.4
Nitrates 10 ppm
Phosphate .04
Ammonia 0
Temp 78
Calcium 420
I am getting confused on the matter people always say myself included oh it’s your first tank try some zoas there a beginner coral but yet somehow I am growing all sorts of acros, and lps corals like wildfire and yet can’t keep a colony of zoanthids alive does anybody have any idea why?

 

[Randomwhiteguy89]

I forgot to mention I am using led lighting on my tank I am getting right around 250 par at the higher points directly under the lights and at the low points on the edges of the tank right around 90 and the majority of the space in between is consistently around 150 I have tried mounting them in all different locations in the tank with different par and flow with no luck I also started dosing iodine and aminos and that too did not help either

 

[WIReefer]

What’s your Alk at?

 

[Randomwhiteguy89]

180

 

[WIReefer]

180

So it’s around or a tad above 10 dkh? I think that may be your problem since PO4 is at 0.04. I would drop your Alk around 8 dkh.

 

[Randomwhiteguy89]

I’ll definitely give it a shot Thanks, also how would you recommend lowering it just additional water changes other than that I think I may have heard something about adding vinegar will bring it down

 

[WIReefer]

I’ll definitely give it a shot Thanks, also how would you recommend lowering it just additional water changes other than that I think I may have heard something about adding vinegar will bring it down

What does your salt you are using mix out to be? Either would suggest water change or changing salt that mixes to a lower dkh.

 

[Randomwhiteguy89]

I’m using instant ocean reef crystals it mixes out to be a bit on the higher side but I only do a 10% water change every other week

 

[WIReefer]

I’m using instant ocean reef crystals it mixes out to be a bit on the higher side but I only do a 10% water change every other week

Gotcha well if you don’t want to switch salts I would suggest getting your nutrient levels up.

 

[DeniseAndy]

I have found zoanthids like more nutrients in the water. I could not keep them when my tank was sps or gorgs. They hated the parameters. However, in my 20g qt tank they are thriving. The 20g has more nutrients and less flow. Also, I think some of the fish may have picked on them. Never saw it, but could have been the issue.

 

[Randomwhiteguy89]

I think I’ll try to slowly raise the nutrients in the tank and keep an eye on everything if I start to see any negative signs I’ll go the other route maybe I can slowly switch to regular instant ocean and supplement in the calcium so it’s not to big of a change in water chemistry Thanks for the advice

 

[Pntbll687]

I think I’ll try to slowly raise the nutrients in the tank and keep an eye on everything if I start to see any negative signs I’ll go the other route maybe I can slowly switch to regular instant ocean and supplement in the calcium so it’s not to big of a change in water chemistry Thanks for the advice

My zoas do great anywhere between 8-10dkh, if it creeps higher they tend to close up. Check your nutrients, zoas tend to like "higher" nutrients. This does not mean go from 5ppm nitrates to 50ppm in a week. It means GRADUALLY raise the nitrates.

For what it's worth I've been dosing aquavitro fuel, and zoas are the only coral where I can really see a difference when I consistently dose it.

 

[Randomwhiteguy89]

My nitrates have always sat right around 10 or 15 ppm I think I’ll take that approach first and try to work my way up to around 25ppm over the next few weeks and see what happens the most confusing thing to me is I have paly’s that are growing great and I have one set of Jason fox stargazers that do well but every time I try some other type of zoanthids they die off I recently bought a couple frags some Rastas, some utter chaos and a small patch of bam bams and all of them lasted about 3 days and were gone

 

[ahiggins]

I think palys are beginner friendly. Zoas are hit and miss. The common ones are pretty hardy but I’ve had small ones just melt for no reason at all. I’ve changed my opinion since starting on the beginner friendliness of zoas lol

 

[Pntbll687]

My nitrates have always sat right around 10 or 15 ppm I think I’ll take that approach first and try to work my way up to around 25ppm over the next few weeks and see what happens the most confusing thing to me is I have paly’s that are growing great and I have one set of Jason fox stargazers that do well but every time I try some other type of zoanthids they die off I recently bought a couple frags some Rastas, some utter chaos and a small patch of bam bams and all of them lasted about 3 days and were gone

I know they use quite a bit of iodine, so you may need to supplement, depending on how much is the saltwater you use

 

[nereefpat]

Something that hasn't been mentioned yet is pests. There are lots of pests associated with zoas. There are also many different zoas and palys and some may be more sensitive than others.

I agree about lowering alk to 8...or even 7 dKH.

My zoas seem to do well at undetectable levels of nitrate and phosphate, but I keep my alk at seawater levels of 7.3 dKH.

 

[Randomwhiteguy89]

I took the he path of possible pest problems but I’m very cautious when getting new corals I dip and look them over with a magnifying glass when I first get them haven’t noticed anything on them

 

[Big_Mclargehuge]

I’ll definitely give it a shot Thanks, also how would you recommend lowering it just additional water changes other than that I think I may have heard something about adding vinegar will bring it down

Beginner here. My alk is high right now 12.5 and my zoas are the only thing thriving as far as corals go.

 

[James Johnson]

I feel like everyone is missing the most obvious answer here, never heard of zoanthids melting or closing up due to water parameters unless you got some copper in the tank, most likely you have zoanthid eating nudibranchs once you eliminate them the zoas should open back up. On a side note if zoanthids are closed for too long thin film algae will grow on the surface preventing it from opening, a strong basting will typically remove the algae so the coral can open back up

 

[1Clown]

They shouldn't be sold to beginners at all given how dangerous they are, saying that I wonder if it's possible to extract their palytoxin and use it against a foe, I'm sure if someone did that they'd be banned. I fragged many and had fancy named ones, got squirted on a couple times, lucky I always wore eye protection and gloves.