Can't keep zoas or mushrooms alive.

[luigy39]

As the title says, I just can't seem to be able to keep zoas and/or mushroom corals alive for a long time.

here is a list of the corals currently in my reef tank.

1- Red Montipora - top of the tank, frag that has quadruple in the last year.
2- Frog spawn - Top of the tank, Got it as a frag and now it has 5 head colony.
3- Hammer Coral - Middle of the tank, frag with 2 heads and now it is a6 head colony.
4- Florida Ricordea, Bottom of the tank,1 head, 5 separate heads now.
5- Xenia - top/bottom/middle of the tank, absolute explosion, 7 or 8 colonies, big and small.

The tank has been running for 3 years with moderate to low water movement.

Red or purple/deep blue mushrooms - bottom of the tank - they never take hold, they remain small and if they grow at all they look thin. I have small colonies that have restarted to grow from old ones but they just stay very small and fragile.

Zoas, eagle eyes, Green dragons. Bottom or middle of the tank - I bought two separate colonies a year ago, all dead with the exception of 5 or 6 heads of the green ones, they don't die but do not seem to improve. 2 eagle eye heads are very small and alive from a small frag that I bought 3 years ago.

Tank- 65 gallons - deep style
Light - Led AI Sol Super blue - 6 inches from the water (White 32) (Blue 46) S-blue 24) at its highest intensity for 2 hours. 10 hours of light total.
Skimmer - SWC-160
Salinity - 1.023/24
Calcium - 420-440
PH - 7.9. very stable
Alkalinity - 8/9 DKH
Temperature - 78/79*F.

I run one bag of chemipure and rowa-phos constantly.

What can I try differently to keep them alive?

 

[stagcrazy]

I had a problem a while ago wI think zoas opening I statted dosing Lugols solution everything 8 fine now

 

[so_tatted]

I had a problem about 2 months ago with my zoanthids opening. I got desperate and moved them to the second highest rock in my tank. After about 3 or 4 days, all the polyps started popping back open. After about 2 weeks, the entire frag, about 20 polyps, all opened fully. My issue was lighting I think. Since then, I have upgraded to a Kessil LED light and got 3 more zoanthid frags. They are all open all the way and have already started growing.

 

[luigy39]

Maybe zoas need more light than I thought. I will try to move them up a little and see how it works out.

 

[650-IS350]

you say you have a deep tank, what PAR are you getting at the lowest levels of your tank?

Running rowaphos and chemiclean probably stripping your tank of nutrients that the z/p's and shrooms would want.

 

[Brett.B]

Luigy39 Zoas will do fine in lower light conditions, but some zoas love being cooked in light and will grow fast almost a new palp every 3 weeks.

 

[Wryknow]

IMPE feeding zoas is pretty important in an otherwise low nutrient tank. Are you feeding them anything? How much? How often? I started using use freeze dried micro-plankton (Reef Chili, Reef Roids) 3-4 times a week to supplement their nutrition and my zoas started opening up and growing almost immediately.

 

[luigy39]

you say you have a deep tank, what PAR are you getting at the lowest levels of your tank?

Running rowaphos and chemiclean probably stripping your tank of nutrients that the z/p's and shrooms would want.

I do not have the tool to measure the par, maybe you can point me to a reliable link?

I do use rowaphos, but not chemiclean, I'm using chemi-pure.

IMPE feeding zoas is pretty important in an otherwise low nutrient tank. Are you feeding them anything? How much? How often? I started using use freeze dried micro-plankton (Reef Chili, Reef Roids) 3-4 times a week to supplement their nutrition and my zoas started opening up and growing almost immediately.

I do not feed my corals, I only add Fuel from aquavitro once a week.

 

[luigy39]

I was reading about this reef chilli and people seem to like it. I wonder if that would make a difference?

Is Fuel from aquavitro and actual food or more like a vitamin supplement?

 

[Reef Bass]

Personally, I have found freeze dried zoo plankton ( Reef Chili, Coral Frenzy) beneficial for my corals. I also like Reef Nutrition products - Oyster Feast, Roti Feast, R.O.E.

My palys exhibit a good feeding response to the R.O.E., as do my LPS and fishes. Oyster Feast seems to encourage polyp extension and feeding from SPS and LPS.

 

[Wryknow]

I was reading about this reef chilli and people seem to like it. I wonder if that would make a difference?

Is Fuel from aquavitro and actual food or more like a vitamin supplement?

I think that spot feeding freeze dried coral food -3 times a week is easy and effective. The zoas seems to be eating some of the bigger bits and it feeds the other corals and micro-fauna (which also feed the zoas.) It also creates a little nitrate in the tank, and the zoas and macro-algae seem to like that too. I can't speak to the Fuel supplement specifically but there are many different varieties of freeze dried corral food and they all seem to work for me. I usually just mix 2-3 together randomly whenever I feed.