Help - I can not get my Zoas happy

[dodwyer]

I have been struggling for the past few weeks to figure out what is causing the decline in my Nano. The tank has been up for about 18 months and full of Zoas and Pallies. I also have 3 fish. I started noticing my Zoas close up and not open, now nearly everything in the tank is closed and looks stressed or unhappy. I am at a loss as to what is going on but I am really worried I am going to start loosing them.

So far this has been the course of action

Pests - I fresh water dipped everything and did get a few, what I believe to be Nudi's.

Nitrates <.2
Nitrite <.2

Zoa pocks - negitive

Stray Voltage - has been tested and I have none

Changes to tank - none just do weekly water change and all in one.

Tank runs a chiller so the temp is a steady 78

on 6/26/09 the water params were
Temp - 78
SG - 1.022
PH - 7.75
Alk - 4.91
Mg - 1500
Ca - 500

Based on input from fellow Reef Central folks I have made some adjustments and the params as of this afternoon are

Temp - 78
SG - 1.025
PH - 8.12
Alk - 5.71
Mg - 1500
Ca - 500

it seems in the process of raising the PH with a buffer the ALK,Mg, CA all moved up a notch.

None of these things look too off as to make the change that has occured in the tank. I turn to all of you as I am at a loss as to what happened or what to do. Nothing is dead or melting right now but I feel like it will not be long - HELP

Here are pics from today

Full Tank Shot

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/5220/208841Nano_1.jpg

 

[pisces4u]

Isn't that really low for ALK?

Shouldn't it be closer to 8-9?

Also, in the Zoapox article on zoaid.com, one suspected cause in the decline of zoanthids is inconsistant salinity. Be wary of of much your SG changes throughout the day and week. Try to top off small amounts twice a day if you don't use an ATO.

It's hard to tell from the pics if they have an infection, but watch for brown or white growths. If you can check them at night with a flashlight, look for spiders or nudibranchs. They look more ****ed off about the environment though and not so much eaten.

If your tank has been up 18 months, have you changed your light bulbs recently or ever?

Don't give up on them until they are melting away. I had a couple zoa colonies that got upset and didn't open even a peep for 10 days but they survived and are fine now.

 

[dodwyer]

pisces4u

yes the Alk is off a bit, ideal would be 7-11 according to Randy Holmes-Farley's article in ReefKeeping Mag.

As you can see I have made an effort to move up the salinity over the past week - ie salinity swing. I did not think it would add to the problem and all the input kept telling me to move it up.

The lights were changed out and upgraded in Jan - I now run 3 x 36 (2 atintic and 1 10k) The atintic run all day and the 10K runs just a few hours in the middle of the cycle.

I have no give up in me but I am really pulling my hair out on this one. The tank has been so trouble free and easy it is killing me to see them like that.

 

[Pufferpunk]

If nothing else helps, you could look into adding vitamin c. Is there a skimmer on there?

 

[seaduck]

If u changed the lighting and things started going bad then u might consider going back to the original setup w/new bulbs of course. What about the flow, any changes there? what else have u recently changed??? salt mix?? are u dosing differently? go back to the way it was. Look closer for parasites.

 

[dodwyer]

There is a skimmer running on the tank

 

[Pufferpunk]

Then you're safe to add 1/8 tsp VC to that system, under the skimmer cup, 2x/day.

Dosing Vitamin C Chart

Use this product:
http://www.iherb.com/ProductDetails.aspx?c=1&pid=-7152293197697039798
$5 0ff coupon code: LUL789 (always good for first purchase).

To figure out how much to use, decide if you want to simply improve coral growth, spread, and color. If so, then you should dose around 5 ppm twice daily. If you are having problems with coral or fish health, dose up to around 30 ppm twice daily.

Calculate the total net number of gallons in your tank (minus rocks, sand, etc). Enter that number here ______.

You will now need to do a little math. The amounts below are for 100 gallons of water so if you have 50 net gallons, cut the amounts shown below in half etc.

Dosing amounts using Iherb product:
1/4 tsp=1112 mg.

For every 100 gallons:

5 ppm ----- 1892 mg VC
10 ppm ---- 3785 mg VC
15 ppm ---- 5677 mg VC
20 ppm ---- 7570 mg VC
25 ppm ---- 9462 mg VC
30 ppm ---- 11355 mg VC

After you have figured out how much you want to dose at each dosing, enter that number here _____. This is your dose to be used twice a day.



Notes:
*Be sure your pH and alk are within normal reef limits before starting. Adjust if needed. Monitor weekly.
*Shoot for a ppm of around 5 if only dosing for improved coral growth, coloration, and spread. Shoot for higher amounts up to 30 ppm if you are having melting zoas or closed zoas and look for the causes of your problems as you dose. Check for high nitrates, pests, zoa pox, predators, and unstable water conditions.
*Dose low amounts and increase the amount slowly over the course of a few days to a couple weeks.
*Do NOT dose at high levels (>10ppm), if you don’t have a skimmer! Especially on a nano tank.
* If you notice an algae bloom or increased skim on your glass then cut back by half until it disappears.
* Watch your skimmer, it will start to skim more.
* Dose the amount twice a day in a fast moving area of your sump or overflow. You may dilute the vitamin c in ro/di water for a minute then pour into my overflow. If adding to sump, try and add the vitamin c after filtration such as skimmers and reactors.
* If you have a question, ask here. I check VC threads daily.
* The instructions in this guide and throughout this thread are based on using pure Sodium Ascorbate, not vitamin c pills and other non-buffered forms of vitamin c.

Be sure to take some "after" pics!