I have a frag that was given to me by a friend about 4 months ago of some Hot Pink Zoa's. They are my favorite. About a month ago I had a major algae problem. Green hair algae.. So anyways I have fixed that by getting the 29 Gallon Biocube skimmer made by sappire and getting rid of the bio-balls, adding more live sand and I was doing water changes twice a week for about 6 months. Prior to that I was doing a little less than a 10% water change weekly. I still cant explain why my nitrates went up so bad... I also added a bag of Purigen based on advice at my lfs.. All of my water levels are good now. My PH is about 8.3, Nitrates are around 20, calcium around 475, nitrites are 0, ammonia is 0 and phosphates are good. So my question is this.. When the algae got bad the pink zoo's closed up and haven't opened back up since. they still look nice a plump and seem like they want to open every now and then, they will peek out a little. There is a little algae on the polyp itself when it is closed and im not sure what to do. I have it under control now but you can still see where it was. I wish I could post a pic but don't have a good camera. I do have a pic in my gallery of my tank though. Sorry for the short story... any advice would be greatly appreciated. :mad2:
My zoo's are dying.. Please Help
- Thread starter batesdk
- Start date
Scythanith
Premium Member
that's a lot of water changes, I hope it was with RO water. If not, there is a chance you were just fueling the fire for your algae growth. Whenever you mess with your sand bed and make large changes, especially if your system isn't really established, it will almost reset your biological cycle.
As for the zoo's if there is any residual algae on the frag, grab some of the wifes tweezers and pluck the remaining algae off. If you can, take the frag out and give it a pest dig with reef dip or lugol's, etc.
As for the zoo's if there is any residual algae on the frag, grab some of the wifes tweezers and pluck the remaining algae off. If you can, take the frag out and give it a pest dig with reef dip or lugol's, etc.
I buy all my water from my lfs and the changes are small,, not even 5 gallons. I know what you mean about the sand, that made me very nervous. I added 10 pounds and It seems to be okay so far but I was desperate. I was a little light to begin with and had been thinking about adding some for awhile this just gave me an excuse. as for the algae, its not even hair just a thin layer of green on the polyp. I guess the dip is the way to go.. I will try that. thank you...
jeweldamsel
New member
My experience with Purigen is bad. Last time I used it, some (not all) of my zoas also closed up and died. I think it is because Purigen is so efficient, it removes the essential chemical that the zoas need in the water as well. Although Purigen didn't extract all the chemicals, it reduces it to such a low level that some zoas may suffer from malnutriition. I solved this problem by removing the Purigen and adding ReefSolution as supplement. I only use ReefSolution twice a week with the suggested doesage and my zoa's are back to normal. Let me know if it works for you.
hexedagain
New member
Try rubbing the algae off of the polyps. If that doesn't work, get a very very soft tooth brush and lightly scrub it off.
I have had this same issue, and once I either rubbed or scrubbed it off, the polyps opened right back up and are thriving.
