Polyps Closed

[Mudassir]

Hello Everyone,
I have got a little problem. My friend has a reef tank with leathers, mushrooms, clams, torch coral, zoas, etc..
The zoas (he's got 3 colonies) are all closed. He says they have been like this for about a while (atleast been closed for a month). All other corals are good and even swell up during feeding time. The water parameters are all stable and within range. I did a research on why the polyps might be closed, but its none of the reasons stated on the web. Any suggestions on what to be done would be greatly appreciated.
I will try to get pics and post them in the evening.

 

[Reefer54]

pics and water parameters...otherwise its a guess only.

 

[Mudassir]

will, get the pics later in the evening,
Tank Parameters,
Salinity-1.025
Calcium-400
ph-8.3
Ammonia-0
Phospate-0
Nitrate-0

One more thing, the polyps are falling of from the parent colony. Even after falling off and attaching themselves to rocks, they are still closed.
Thanks

 

[A. Grandis]

Hello Everyone,
I have got a little problem. My friend has a reef tank with leathers, mushrooms, clams, torch coral, zoas, etc..
The zoas (he's got 3 colonies) are all closed. He says they have been like this for about a while (atleast been closed for a month). All other corals are good and even swell up during feeding time. The water parameters are all stable and within range. I did a research on why the polyps might be closed, but its none of the reasons stated on the web. Any suggestions on what to be done would be greatly appreciated.
I will try to get pics and post them in the evening.

I have a guess, but before that I have 2 questions:
Could you please number all the reasons you have found on the web?
How do you know they're not the reason?
Waiting for the pics...

Grandis.

 

[Mudassir]

Attached some of the links i read from,

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=632970

http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums...nthids-closed-care-pests-troubleshooting.html

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1852909

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f6/why-wont-my-button-polyps-open-158680.html

And a few others.

 

[A. Grandis]

Nice links! Thanks!
Please let us know what is the Mg and Alk.
And pics of the colonies/ loose polyps...

Grandis.

 

[Jrbutitta]

I'm having a very similar problem ill be keeping an eye out.

 

[Mudassir]

Sorry for the delay in posting pics, had been quiet busy,

Alkalinity - 8dkh
Mg-1200ppm


Pls lemme know what can be done,
Thanks and Regards

 

[A. Grandis]

It won't be easy to diagnose by the pictures, because it's too far, but...
They look healthy to me.
No signs of bacterial infection.
No algae over them.
Check for predators or irritators!!!
I would bring Mg up to 1350 first. That could be it!
Try keep alk @ 8, and the Ca @ 400, as is.
Make sure water flow is fine and light is adequate.
It looks like they do have some irritators bothering them!!

Grandis.

 

[Mudassir]

should i quarantine them and put them in a seperate tank to see what happens?
i did see a few snails , black with white spots( not the astrea, or turbo, etc..) and are very small, less than 1/4 of an inch, donno what they are, will try to get a pic of them, could they be the irritators? My friend said, he did not add any of them, they just popped up.

Thanks for the quick reply Grandis.

 

[A. Grandis]

No problem!
Well, check at night too.
I would remove the snails to see what happens. Even if they are herbivores.
I've got some small snails that are irritators before, but they were black/gray.

Grandis.

 

[mhampton27]

I would try a quarantine with less light and flow. My father in law has a similar problem in his main display but his zoas stay open and happy in his sump with a light on it and light flow.

 

[Reef Junkie]

I agree with grandis.
Quarantine and wait. You may want to consider dipping them as well.
How long have they been I. This tank and how long has it been since any new corals were introduced?
Sometimes ZoaID colonies will arrive with eggs of unwanted snails that eat the colony.
You don't notice them until it's too late.
Again, quarantine.

 

[Mudassir]

the zoas been in the tank for about two months, initially they were open, but have been closed since about a month. As for the snails, i removed about 10-15 of them and the next day i saw another 10-15, appears to be a snail infestation problem. But why are only the zoos closed and none of the others? What do you guys think?

 

[Reef Junkie]

You should quarantine them. A lot of predatory snails will feed on one colony at a time at first.
That is until the next generation is hatched. They can spread like wildfire after that.
Again, quarantine.

 

[Mael]

In the first pic is that a fungia plate right below the zoas? I heard some can have long tentacles and might be stinging the colony. Its hard to tell in the second if there is anything near them, might need to watch for coral warfare at night.

Either way I would take the advice of others here, QT them and if it is pests your worried about doe a Bayer dip.