Zoa's Shrinking Away, Help...

treedog5

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 22, 2013
Messages
648
Reaction score
252
Location
Rocky Mount NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Slowly but surely all my zoas have been curling up and fading away. My parameters seem to be in check so I can't seem to find the culprit. I have been searching for pest but can't locate any. I tried lowering the intensity of my LED's but that didn't help. I started doing weekly water changes, that did't help. So could you guys have a look and tell me what you think?
Parameters:
Cal- 450
Alk- 9.3
Mag- 1150
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 4.0
PH- 8.2
Salinity- 1.025
Temp- 79.3

20160912_203052.jpg
 

CodyRVA

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Messages
2,537
Reaction score
1,581
Location
Wilmington, NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
How long have they looked like that? Did it happen over night or did it take time? Did you make any changes to the system such as the lighting, dosing regiment, salt type, foods, etc? Mg is a bit low, have you tried dipping or fragging any?
 

TheEngineer

Formerly icecool2
View Badges
Joined
Nov 26, 2011
Messages
7,296
Reaction score
7,695
Location
PA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I've had that happen to me. It's happening in my tank right now, actually. Two rounds of chemiclean usually does the trick for me.
 

CodyRVA

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Messages
2,537
Reaction score
1,581
Location
Wilmington, NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I've had that happen to me. It's happening in my tank right now, actually. Two rounds of chemiclean usually does the trick for me.

Side note but if you've had it happen before and you have to keep using chemiclean there's clearly a bigger issue. I strongly suggest you attack it at the source. Good info though, interesting to see what the phosphates are like in this system or if nitrates are consistently low.
 

TheEngineer

Formerly icecool2
View Badges
Joined
Nov 26, 2011
Messages
7,296
Reaction score
7,695
Location
PA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Side note but if you've had it happen before and you have to keep using chemiclean there's clearly a bigger issue. I strongly suggest you attack it at the source. Good info though, interesting to see what the phosphates are like in this system or if nitrates are consistently low.
Yeah. My sense is that it is a bacteria I can't completely eradicate. If I knew what the source was I'd attack it :)
 
OP
OP
treedog5

treedog5

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 22, 2013
Messages
648
Reaction score
252
Location
Rocky Mount NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
To answer a couple of the questions, the zoas have been in the tank for around 8 months now. I purchased the live rock from a member off a different forum and they where healthy and nice at the time, but they have slowly started to decline over time. The ones in the picture were growing and spreading at first but that has stopped and the other zoas have started disappearing completely. I have not checked my phosphate levels, I do have a kit for that and will check it tonight. I also do have a small amount of red slime popping up so the chemi clean might be a good idea. I always do a quick dip of any new frags I get also. I have some hammer corals that are doing great and also my bubble tips are doing good. Hope that answers most of the questions.
 

Lenny_S

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 15, 2015
Messages
796
Reaction score
398
Location
Dutchess County, NY
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
In most cases, when it is a slow decline like that it is typically nutrition related.... they are not getting something they need. They get a fair amount of nutrition from lighting, but they tend to do a lot better when target fed with something like Cyclopeeze. If you have other corals doing "great" then it's not likely toxins or metals in your water, but it doesn't hurt to use TLF MetaSorb, or CupriSorb and/or GAC. As far as lighting goes, my direct experience is extreme high color temps (i.e. > 20K/Very Blue) negatively affects a lot of soft corals. IME they flourish in the middle (10K to 12K color temp) and moderate intensity (150 - 250 PAR). Light starvation can be a very slow process.... while too much light is a much quicker decline. What kind of lighting and intensity are you using?
 

revhtree

Owner Administrator
View Badges
Joined
May 8, 2006
Messages
47,602
Reaction score
85,989
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
Are you running GFO? I was overdosing GFO and started losing my zoas including a BIG colony. Took the GFO off line and they responded almost immediately and came back strong.
 

CodyRVA

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Messages
2,537
Reaction score
1,581
Location
Wilmington, NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
My guess is lighting. If you had a chemistry issue your other corals would give it away. You said you turned down the LEDs intensity, how much? Also, how high up in the tank are they and how far off the water are your lights? Do you know if the Zoas were in an LED environment before? When I upgraded from a 4 t5 bulb aquatic life to a 6 t5 bulb ATI some of my Zoas higher in the tank looked kinda bad for a few months before recovering and acclimating.
 
OP
OP
treedog5

treedog5

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 22, 2013
Messages
648
Reaction score
252
Location
Rocky Mount NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I'm running the OR T-247 right now, I was running a maxspect razor when I first got the rocks. Which happens to be the same light the previous owner of the rocks was running. I have tried raising and lower the lights to different intensity over periods of time with no noticeable effect. I'm not running any GFO but I was thinking about getting some if my p04 is high.
 

Lenny_S

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 15, 2015
Messages
796
Reaction score
398
Location
Dutchess County, NY
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I'm running the OR T-247 right now, I was running a maxspect razor when I first got the rocks. Which happens to be the same light the previous owner of the rocks was running. I have tried raising and lower the lights to different intensity over periods of time with no noticeable effect. I'm not running any GFO but I was thinking about getting some if my p04 is high.
Like @CodyRVA asked... How high off the water are the lights. The reason being that hot spots and/or lack of good blending with LED is a common problem. And how are you mixing your channels? Soft corals, zoas, etc... IME do better under a more even 50/50 white (6500K) and Blue (450nm or so) than a heavy blue mix. I don't have much experience with OR lights, but you may want to try shooting for 12K to 14K color temp (maybe someone on the form knows those settings). That spectrum usually has a good balance for both hard and soft corals, is decently visually appealing, and provides good growth and color for the corals.
In any case, going on the premise that it is a nutrition issue, that will help... as will feeding them (as long as they aren't too far gone).
 

ahiggins

2500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 13, 2016
Messages
4,827
Reaction score
3,493
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Im not sure about the withering problem but I can attest that under 14K LEDs, my zoas need pruning about once a month. In my 20K LED tank, I see maybe 2 polyps in as much time per colony.
 

Rob's Reef

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 27, 2015
Messages
645
Reaction score
384
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Most of my zoas have closed up on me too. But I changed from mixing my own salt to Scripps NSW I hoping it's just an acclimation issue. I also noticed my alk dropped so I'm slowly bringing that back up... fingers crossed
 
OP
OP
treedog5

treedog5

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 22, 2013
Messages
648
Reaction score
252
Location
Rocky Mount NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
My tank is a 50 gallon cube, the height of the tank is 20 inches and the light is sitting 7 inches above the water level. I have the Blue spectrum set on 30% and the white set on 15%, keep in mind this LED has a mixture of lights (green, red, royal blue).
 

Lenny_S

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 15, 2015
Messages
796
Reaction score
398
Location
Dutchess County, NY
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I can change the spectrum today, that would be a easy change to see what happens.
Sounds good... If you can raise the lights higher off the water that will help too. With almost any LED at least 10" above the water is pretty good. As far as spectrum goes, on mine a 1:1 ratio gives 12K to 14K and a 2:1 (blues to white) is 20K. White including other colors (red, green) that is. I have a mixed tank (zoas, LPS, and SPS) and kept the spectrum at 14K with really good results across the board.
 
OP
OP
treedog5

treedog5

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 22, 2013
Messages
648
Reaction score
252
Location
Rocky Mount NC
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Unfortunately I can't raise them any higher, but I will change the intensity to 30-30 and see what happens. I tested my P04 today and it was at 0. So I think I can rule out phosphates being the issue.
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 64 36.8%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 59 33.9%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 14.4%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 26 14.9%
  • Other.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
Back
Top