my Fl zoanthids are not opening

[gtstylez87]

i got a frag of green fl zoos and they where open for the first 2 days i had them. now they are staying closed. i use kent nano reef a&b, and its a ten gallon with 30 watts. all my other corals are doing fine i got a bubble, mushroom, green stat polyps, brown zoos, green candy canes and xenia. just they will not open.

 

[MYDRAAL]

They're probably wild caught and will hopefully adjust before perishing. Initially try putting them in low light/flow and see if that helps.

 

[SIR PATRICK]

Zoas can be tempermental when added to a new tank. They take time to adjust to their new homes (especially if they are wild collected) to open up properly. During this adjustment they can close, somtimes for very long periods of time.

For now, keep an eye on them. Watch for fungus, polyp loss, pinching of polyps, or anything out of the ordinary (other than them not opening) and keep us posted on their progress. If anything else odd happens, let us know.

Newly added zoas tend to be tempermental.

During this time of watching, give us some info on their placment in your tank, along with info on your lighting/flow/water parameters. All these can only better your chances to getting a good answer to your zoa issues.

Good luck!

 

[gtstylez87]

i have 3 watts per gallon (power compact mini) medium to high (i have a filter that pushes 150 gph) all water parameter are normal(8.3, 0 amm, 0 nitrites, 0 nitrates, 0 phosphates, cal 425-450). first i placed them in on the floor in a well lit spot with high flow. then i moved them to another spot where it is also well lit with medium flow and their still closed.

 

[SIR PATRICK]

Sounds like your water parameters are good, and you say there is flow in the tank, all other corals are doing great.

This all leads me to beleive they are being finicky, and are aclimating to their new home. Give them time, and they should do well as long as there is nothing iritating them.

You say you have a mini PC light set up, and you are guaging 3 watts/gallon. I am guessing you have a small tank (10-20 gallons)

If this is corect, you should be able to keep the zoas up high in the tank with no adverce affects. If your tank is deep (over 15") the bottom might not be a very good place for them.

Another good idea for finding proper placment for these zoas would be to look at the lighting they were under where you baught these zoas. Place comparitively to what you find out they are already used to. You can also just start them at the bottom, and slowly work your way up till they seem happiest, little by little.

3 watts per gallon sounds good, but considering the watts are coming from PC's, the intensity of the light will be far less than other more advanced lighting. PC's tend to lose intensity quickly as the light penetrates down into the water.

Hate to stray off topic, but-

Watts per gallon has become an outdated rule of thumb with the more advanced lighting setups that have come out in the past 10 years or so. It has been found that the intensity of all the different lights available have a broad range from one type to the next.

Example- 65w of power compact light is no where near as intence as 65w of t5ho light w/ individual reflectors. Same watts per gallon, very different light intensity.

Hope this info helps!