Palys Not Fully Opened

[MellowReefer]

I have one colony of peacock palythoas that don't look like they are fully opened, but they've been this way since I got them over 6 months ago. It's the first paly frag I've gotten but I'm pretty sure they're not supposed to look like this right? Does anyone know the most likely reason they are not opened fully? My zoas are usually all opened up, including the ones in the same area. Do they have similar requirements as zoas? It's in a lower flow area, and on the side of the tank where the light is a little less bright.

In the middle of this picture on the frag plug (sorry my camera is not the best):

 

[A. Grandis]

Can't see really well. If there is no irritators you could try target feeding it.
Look at night. Tiny hydroids, amphipods, worms, etc...
Make sure the water params are fine for reef.
Look like they are a bit bleached. If so, that could be temperature, if you didn't change bulbs lately.
I would recommend temperature 79° - 80°F for zoas.

One more thing, sometimes they have microscopic irritators.
You could dip them in a coral cleaner, like CoralRx, to eliminate the possibility once they are still on a plug.

If the problem was related to GFO, GAC, or anything similar I would think the other polyps would probably manifest the symptoms.

I can't think of anything else, unless you come up with extra info.
Good luck!

Grandis.

 

[MellowReefer]

Thanks. I recently started feeding all my corals (with Coral Frenzy) but I've only done it a few times so far.

I do use GFO and carbon. Alk is 8.5-9, Cal 460, mag 1430, nitrate/phosphate 0, temp is 79 degrees.

I will try dipping it just to be sure there are no bugs.

It is in a lower light area of the tank, but I suppose it's possible its still too much light? When I first got it I put it on the sandbed in full light and it closed up and wouldn't open again until I put it in the shade. So maybe it came from a really low light tank. I had it quarantined for 6 weeks in a tank with just a dual T5 light and it was fine in there. I'm actually considering going back to all T5s, since everything seemed to have been happier with just T5s...I was using just white/blue LEDs for a while and recently added back one dual T5 light because I've lost some LPS corals.

 

[A. Grandis]

LEDs X T5s...
I'm going to try LEDs soon. I keep saying that, but I'm so busy!!!

My main reason is the electricity bill!!!! Here things can get hot, specially summer time!!! So the lights and chiller will suck a lot of electricity any time!! I'm not rich!

After lots of search, I believe the way to go with LEDs is to place the zoas on the right spots. Main difference, besides the great ability to change intensity with a button and the lower cost of electricity, is that LEDs will focus the light down, specially with those lenses, and the T5s are more uniform distributed. That said, the amount of light the zoas will receive will depend on the direction the LEDs are emitting the light. I'm not considering the spectrum now.

For my tank, I'll try to make the rocks in a very open pattern in order to receive the light from the fixtures. Other thing to think about is that if you raise the fixture and give a bit more intensity to compensate it will reach more areas in the system, therefore favoring a great area.
To tell the truth, many species of zoas won't need lots of light (too much intensity from LEDs) and they can be even placed on the bottom of the tank, like people do with the Acans.
Placement of the zoas must be a critical fact using LEDs.

I just wanted to expose some of my ideas referring LEDs X T5s so you could try something out before actually go back to the T5s.
If you have the corals out of the reach of the light they will die. They need to be under the LEDs to receive proper light. Measuring the PAR will help you to determinate their placements.
Also the type of LED lenses will play with the area where light will reach, of course. That's another very important point, actually! many people give lots of attention to the intensity and forget about the lenses.

If the polyps have no bugs and the problem is light adaptation, you just need to bring intensity down a bit or put your fixture higher for a while. No need to change the colony to another place, if you like it there.

If you've tried all the above and still didn't work it could be that your LEDs aren't serving the purpose of the tank as a whole.

Hope others would comment on that too...

I hope you understand the need of GFO and that you really need it for your tank.
I don't use GFO and my phosphates are undetectable. Many others are in the same boat.
I also hope you know the drawback of using GFO in a closed system. Please search...

Grandis.