help with Ked Red's zoanthids

[bobbychullo]

don't know if its keds redds, red kedds, ked red?... lol

anyway, i believe thats what I have...

lately they've been a little finicky and i was wondering if you have them, whats your placement in regards to lighting and flow?

i have mine in moderate to low of both and i was curious if i need to change that...

thanks in advance for your help

 

[chasekwe]

Mine are in definite moderate (not low) flow, and one of the brightest areas of my tank. I find them to be brighter red with more light. They're about 10" below the surface directly below an AquaIllumination fixture.

Mine are a relatively new frag but they've seemed consistently happy and have begun to spread.

 

[caddydaddy]

We have ours fairly high in low flow.

About eight inches from the top, at the back towards the middle of a six foot tank.

 

[Snookster]

Mine are near the bottom with moderate flow. Mine don't grow as fast as most of my others, but they look happy to me.

 

[Scopus Tang]

I've found these to be extremely fickle. Over three years time, population will increase, then die back, then come back again and repeat. I have mine in moderate flow and lower lighting, perhaps I need to move it into higher light.

 

[650-IS350]

mid high under 250mhs and 4 T5s good flow.

 

[cody6766]

low in the tank under 6 bulb TEK. They're very fickle little polyps. If something angers them they stay closed up for a few days. I'm going to try raising mine up to mid-tank soon. It seems that the sand and its critters keep them irritated.

 

[johnny]

what does finicky mean?

Are they closed up for prolonged periods? Stretching? Just not growing? Pale?

A picture of the problem would help too.

Nick

 

[bobbychullo]

they will close up for periods of time. this last one has lasted over a week.

some of the polyps are beginning to open. i was worried that staying closed so long would lead to them melting. their color is fine.

everything else in the tank is doing great. i will get a picture when my lights come back on...

 

[MUCHO REEF]

don't know if its keds redds, red kedds, ked red?... lol

anyway, i believe thats what I have...

lately they've been a little finicky and i was wondering if you have them, whats your placement in regards to lighting and flow?

i have mine in moderate to low of both and i was curious if i need to change that...

thanks in advance for your help

As you can see, others who have them have placed them low, mid level and high. Some of them in low, medium to high flow. This is the point I have made for years, the name doesn't have anything to do with how this or any polyp will perform in any given system as no two systems are alike. They will acclimate/adapt to most any type of lighting as photosynthesis is their primary source of sustainable nutritional uptake with external food being a secondary source of nutrition. What is key as is the case with most corals is flow/current and your basic parameters. This notion of fast growers and slow growers in my opinion is not indicative nor universal across the board or even on the board in my opinion. One's knowledgeable level of husbandry and a basic to advance understanding of zoanthids and palythoas and their requirements in aquaria is the deal maker and breaker in my opinion. This is what determines how well your polyps will do in any system.


Any and every zoa, paly or proto or any coral for that matter can be fickle, finicky etc at any given time in captivity. If you look at the link below, there are numerous explainable reasons for your retraction which could very well be nothing at all. If I were you, I would document the date your retraction began and ended, and log for comparison the next time it happens and I can assure you that it will happen again. It has happened in my tank since I began keeping them over 18 years ago. The key is knowing and understanding when they are in peril or just exhibiting any one of a number of normal behaviors such at #19 or # 25 for example.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1154238&highlight=mucho

Sorry to ramble, but I am glad they are coming around for you and much continued success my friend.

Mucho Reef

 

[MUCHO REEF]

One small caveat to what I stated above. I didn't want to give the impression that lighting is not important because it is. What I am saying is this, there are many variables which will dictate/determine whether your polyps retract or expand, flourish or perish, become vibrant or fad, grow or wilt. I'm just happy they came around for you and doing well. Thanks for sharing.

Mucho Reef

 

[SIR PATRICK]

I have found too, that the keds reds can be very touchy. I think they are a variety that is very sensitive to alk swings. Melt away pretty easily. Fortunatly, they recover well also, if you have enough of them and the swings dont continue.

 

[650-IS350]

My tank is the king of alk / pH swings

 

[SIR PATRICK]

^ Are you keeping them without them growing, and then receading, back and forth on occasion, somtimes to the point of loosing them?

My tank swings pretty good too, on a pretty regular basis- so I blamed it on that. Cant quite find any other reason for it.

 

[bobbychullo]

thanks for your input Mucho. I referenced the name that everyone gives them to make it easier for people to give me answers but i do understand that these catchy names we give our corals really mean nothing. i was curious since ive had them for several months with no apparent issues, but no real growth either...

^ Are you keeping them without them growing, and then receading, back and forth on occasion, somtimes to the point of loosing them?

My tank swings pretty good too, on a pretty regular basis- so I blamed it on that. Cant quite find any other reason for it.

...which leads me to this ^^ this is exactly my issue. my alk doesnt swing too bad. i have a litermeter III but sometimes after adding new corals it takes me a week or so to get the dosing right again. my alk was steady at 9.0-9.3 for weeks but just recently it dipped to 8.3. the combination of some new SPS and a water change with water that wasnt up to my normal params caused it i think... maybe we have a winner here! (I saw this on your list of 25 things, Mucho)...

they are opening again with some very slight melting. i almost tried moving them but elected to leave them be and ride it out.

 

[bobbychullo]

wanted to update in case anyone is interested.

i started adding vitamin C daily (for almost 2 weeks now) and i stabilized my alk to where it was before and the zoa's have recovered. i lost about a 3rd of the colony to the melt but the remaining are looking very healthy

i believe the alk swing didn't help. i think the vitamin c is helping the recovery, the rest of my LPS look fantastic, my euphyllia and duncan are fully inflated. the water seems cleaner and my ORP has slowly and steadily been rising.

ive been using the Brightwell Aquatics vitamin C.