New Zoa Frags not opening

[Luke Schnabel]

I recently bought my first Zoa Frags form my LFS three days ago. The one frag opens up slightly and the other is barely opening.
Tank Currently Temp 77-78, PH 8.12, Cal 365, Alk 9.2, Mg 1400, Amm 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 20, Phos Unkown(no test kit yet)
Temp Fluctuates every 5hrs controlled by Apex. Cal has been 390 for the last two weeks but noticed today when i did my test the tube is above the Cal fluid level so it was drawling air. Alk for the past two weeks has been between 9.0 and 10.3, Mg has been between 1420-1360 the last two weeks.
I have two MP40's running at 60%. The Zoas are in moderate to lower flow on a frag rack. I have them under a AI Hydra 26 running on Coral Acclamation mode at 50%. Also, I bought the week before a small piece of green star polyps. They open up all the way and have even grown three new polyps.
Im confused as to why the Zoas are not coming out???

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Some corals take longer to acclimate to new tanks than others. It's not uncommon for it to take a week if not a little longer for some. I'd keep them in a med to low flow and light spot as it sounds like you do.

 

[Isaacs55]

I recently bought my first Zoa Frags form my LFS three days ago. The one frag opens up slightly and the other is barely opening.
Tank Currently Temp 77-78, PH 8.12, Cal 365, Alk 9.2, Mg 1400, Amm 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 20, Phos Unkown(no test kit yet)
Temp Fluctuates every 5hrs controlled by Apex. Cal has been 390 for the last two weeks but noticed today when i did my test the tube is above the Cal fluid level so it was drawling air. Alk for the past two weeks has been between 9.0 and 10.3, Mg has been between 1420-1360 the last two weeks.
I have two MP40's running at 60%. The Zoas are in moderate to lower flow on a frag rack. I have them under a AI Hydra 26 running on Coral Acclamation mode at 50%. Also, I bought the week before a small piece of green star polyps. They open up all the way and have even grown three new polyps.
Im confused as to why the Zoas are not coming out???

Before you baught the Zoa frag what kind of lighting was it under?how low from the lights were they? I just baught my first Zoa as well, a radioactive dragon eyes colony. I dipped mine in 50:50 saltwater and h2O2 to rid the pests, took it off the frag plug and acclimated it for 10 minutes and placed it at the same level it was at the store. 30 min later it was fully extended.

 

[Luke Schnabel]

It was under LED lights. I have a feeling even after my lights are on the coral acculmation mode it's still brighter then the LFS. I moved them a little lower in my tank to try to help with the light.

 

[anthonys51]

i have zoa growing all over my tank. high up in high light , in the bottom corners in low light. before you drive yourself crazy. your nitrates are to high. also i will assume your phosphates are too high get yourself a gfo reactor and gfo to get those under control. with nitrates you need to do more water changes or feed less or both. i wouldnt use gsp as an indication that your tank is doing ok. they grow like weeds

 

[civics14]

Why would you automatically assume phoshates are high and tell him to get a GFO reactor? Sounds like a blind recommendation there.

I would just give it a few more days. Also, if you are concerned about phosphates, test first before you just get a reactor up and running. I don't test anything and chase numbers like everyone automatically recommends. I just do a biweekly water change, keep temp and ph stable, drip kalk at night, and I have a mixed tank that does very well.

If you read post after post, one thing you will find in common is stability in the tank and patience is the key to success in this hobby.

i have zoa growing all over my tank. high up in high light , in the bottom corners in low light. before you drive yourself crazy. your nitrates are to high. also i will assume your phosphates are too high get yourself a gfo reactor and gfo to get those under control. with nitrates you need to do more water changes or feed less or both. i wouldnt use gsp as an indication that your tank is doing ok. they grow like weeds

 

[anthonys51]

there is no way his nitrates are 20pm and his phosphates are zero. i been in this hobby for 30 years, normally when you have high nitrates, phosphates are sure to follow, but yes test first.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

civics is correct and does it like I do. I do every two week wc's and I've even stopped testing as everything was so stable. Now after I add some more LPS corals I'll start testing again to see where everything is. It came to me one day that I was testing that my numbers were the same as they have been for over 2 months. I've tested before and after wc's and it's still the same.

Now things are different because I upgraded to a 40b from my 20 l but the numbers are still close. I'll be testing parameters for the next month weekly and probably stop again testing unless there is a problem.

For a tank with minimal inhabitants that is stable wc's take care of everything you need so there is no need to dose anything. IMO and IME

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Anthony I agree with you he is going to be putting out some phosphates but I don't think his nitrates are so bad at 20 and the new corals will just take a bit to adjust to the nutrients that are there. I agree he should do a wc to get that down to less than 10 IMO this same wc will lower his phosphates to acceptable levels.

 

[anthonys51]

20 isnt terrible, but isn't good either. if everything in his tank was doing ok. i would say he is fine, but its not. but i agree i never test anymore, never really did. only test alk and mag and cal once a month to see if i should up my dose or not. but that is me. every tank is different, plus i like to think i know what i am doing. its like a cook, in the beginning you measure everything, but once you advance, you go by eye. i thnk he might be over dosing, or dosing incorrectly. but we need to hear back from him first. with zoa and gsp water changes should be able to keep up. but he isnt responding, so all we are doing is assume

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Anthony, the zoa's are new to his tank they need to acclimate. If they are coming from a tank with nitrates of 5 it is going to take a while for them to do so

 

[anthonys51]

i understand. but zoa are pretty easy to take care of. i never had them not open for 4 days. but i also never had nitrates in my tank. actually thinking of dosing for nitrates. all i am saying is this guys tank is 160 gallons and about 1months old. he is doing something wrong. he shouldnt have a nitrate problem already. lets ask questions and see what he is doing. ask detailed questions, maybe even see a picture of his tank. now maybe the zoa will open up in a few days, becuase there tough little cookies, but

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Many tanks are loaded with nitrates after the cycle is complete and if there aren't wc's done to get rid of them they hang around like a bad habit. I think this might be his problem and I pretty much said why I think he's having issues with the zoa's opening.

Time to do a WC of at least 20% to lower those nitrates

 

[Luke Schnabel]

Thanks for all your reccomendations guys. I do have a phosphate reactor running and has been running for three weeks. I would assume they would be low but I don't have a test for that yet. I do a 15g water change every 5 days. My chateo algae isn't that big just yet so it's not sucking out the nitrate fast. It has grown about twice its size but it's still less then a football size chunk.
I didn't think 20ppm would cause much trouble from what I've read. Ideal is nothing but my tank is new and so is my macro Algea it hasn't been able to suck it all out. I'm feeding twice a day and it's a slight feeding.

 

[anthonys51]

not trying to argue with you. we are both just trying to help him. i didnt think telling him to get a gfo reactor was a crazy idea. most people have one. heck he has one.
was your tank just cycled august 10th and yiu already have all those fish?
so how many lbs of rock do you have. you started your tank in july right. you say every 5 days when did you start doing that. also what test kit are you using. is there anything elsxe in the tank besides the zoa and the gsp

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Luke, like I said earlier 20ppm nitrate isn't a problem but if your zoa's came from a tank with nitrates of 5ppm then they are acclimating to that difference. They will be fine and open in a few days. You really don't need to change your water every 5 days unless you are having problems. I do a 10%-15% wc every two weeks and have no problems AND I feed heavy. With doing it every 5 days you are just wasting salt and money. IMO

 

[anthonys51]

that's it tell the guy with a nitrate problem to do less water changes, lol. just because it works for you doesn't mean it works for him. that's like a skinny guy saying i eat 2 burgers a day look how skinny i am, but i have a little guy shouldn't i stop . nope works for me. your going based on your tank, not his.
his tank is 6 weeks old i think, he is dosing cal, yet cant keep it up. he has high nitrates. he is doing something wrong. plus he said he feeds his fish a little , whats a little and what does he feed them.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Good Lord Anthony, I don't think you should take what you read so literally. That's why I HATE typing to try and help someone out on websites.

I love helping people and that is why I'm even on these boards, but at times it gets to be a pain.

I don't think he should be dosing anything at this point either. There are too many people on here kind of like doctors just keep throwing drugs at something and next thing you know you have a dozen or more bottles to treat this or that and they are all battling each other. (happened to me) then you sometimes have to step back and reset and get rid of it all.

I said this to a guy a few months ago as he was dosing everything under the sun and accomplished nothing. Turned out all he had to do was the wc's..

All I'm saying is step back and reassess the situation. Anthony did you ever once thing for a minute his test kit might be the problem? My tank was showing 20 nitrates every time I tested it. I used a friends and it was less than 5. Who knows what the problem is here but it needs to be reassessed.

I'm done, I'm tired and heading to bed. Tomorrow is a new day and I'm picking up some new additions to my tank. A Duncan and a Frogspawn.

All I've said here is my best guess with what's been said without me seeing it.

Good Luck and Good Night.

 

[Luke Schnabel]

I've been dosing Cal Alk and MG with a bubble Magnus. Everything has been spot on expect this last test my cal dropped low because my tube was above water level in cal mixture. It's fixed and I adjusted it up to 410 over the last 2 days.
In the display tank I have two clowns and a dottyback, in my QT I have my tangs and a six line. So I've only been feeding my display for about 10 days now. I have frozen sheets but I would say it equals a frozen square per day. I also let it thaw on the side of a dish to let any water and excess nutrients flow down and the meat stays at the top.
I've been doing 15% or so water change every 5 days to try to lower my nitrates. My macro algae isn't able to keep it in check just yet.

 

[Luke Schnabel]

You guys don't think I should be dosing? In the 4 days I my unit wasn't dosing calcium it dropped from 410-360?? I have it pretty tuned in and has been keeping my levels steady for the last 3 weeks???? I have a lot of coralline Algea because I bought 70lbs of it from my LFS to start my cycle. 3 of the pieces are big and 100% covered in coralline.