Rasta growth

[dviper150]

I am, I guess, having bad luck with these rastas. I bought them as 2 polyps about 2 months ago and they are still 2 polyps. No baby bump, no growth at all. They open everyday, close at night. I don't touch them to stress them or halt their growth. Not sure why this is growing very very slow. I have a ton of other zoas that are growing nicely. Some growing faster then others and even the slower ones pop up a baby head every 2-4 weeks. Are these supposed to grow this slow or is something wrong here? They are on a clear acrylic plug. I would like to take them off the that plug and put them on those white plugs or even rubble rock but I don't want to kill them in the process.

Some info on my tank. I just switched over from t5s to Leds about a month ago. Started it out low to avoid stressing the corals. I have them sitting about 7" above water level and the rastas about 15-16" below water surface in a 24" deep tank. for flow, I have 2 mp10s set to reef crest running at 80% power on a 65 gallon tank.

 

[MUCHO REEF]

I am, I guess, having bad luck with these rastas. I bought them as 2 polyps about 2 months ago and they are still 2 polyps. No baby bump, no growth at all. They open everyday, close at night. I don't touch them to stress them or halt their growth. Not sure why this is growing very very slow. I have a ton of other zoas that are growing nicely. Some growing faster then others and even the slower ones pop up a baby head every 2-4 weeks. Are these supposed to grow this slow or is something wrong here? They are on a clear acrylic plug. I would like to take them off the that plug and put them on those white plugs or even rubble rock but I don't want to kill them in the process.

Some info on my tank. I just switched over from t5s to Leds about a month ago. Started it out low to avoid stressing the corals. I have them sitting about 7" above water level and the rastas about 15-16" below water surface in a 24" deep tank. for flow, I have 2 mp10s set to reef crest running at 80% power on a 65 gallon tank.

Hello my friend. You're not having bad luck at all, there is a perfectively good explanation for why this is happening. But first, it would be best to take a look at this link/sticky at the top of this page and provide as much detail as possible. I'm sure someone here will chim in to help you.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1852463


Hang tough man.


MUCHO REEF
TOTM - August 2003

 

[dviper150]

Here is the list that is on that sticky that I didn't provide in my OP.

Temp - 82F
Alk. 9.8
mag. 1400
Cal. 420
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
Amm. - 0
pH - 7.8
Salinity - 1.026
I add Vit. C. Dose Cal, Alk, and Mag when I need too. I also add Iodide and strontium. For iodide and strontium, I dose weekly and do as the bottle instructs.
The flow - From HOB skimmer and HOB filter + 2 mp10s set on RC mode running at 80% max and turned down to about 50% max at night.

Nothing has changed in the tank except the lights which were swapped out from a 6 bulb t5 fixture a month ago. I had the rastas under the t5s for about a month and half with no growth so I don't think the light swap had anything to do with it. It still opens normally during the day and closes at night. I picked it up locally from a fellow reefer who fragged from his colony.

There are no pests on it or anything irritating it. I checked at night time too with a flash light and didn't see anything.

As far as lighting, I am running 2 china LED fixtures now 120w each. Running blues at 65% and whites at 50-55% (Can't remember which one of the 2). The max is on from 11-5pm and then starts to dim back down until 11pm. Sunrise starts around 8. rastas are sitting about 15" below water surface and fixtsures are about 6-7" above water surface.


I am having the same problem with my red and purple hornets too since the start when I got them. I have them sitting about 18" below water surface and they open up very little during the day, maybe 1/3. Not sure if I should move them down even lower all the way to sand bed or higher up. They were at the same level as the rastas before but I moved them a little more and still the same.

 

[kevin32]

I have the same problem. They are growing so slow for me too. Not sure what's causing it. Hope you can find the answer.

 

[silver17jo]

Zoa like dirty water spott feeding works wonders also

 

[Dexters Reef]

I had 1 polyp of red purple people eater for about 8 months, and it was always open and looking healthy, but never grew or split. I started feeding reef chili, and in 3 weeks I now have 3 babies! Not sure if it was the food or just coincidence, but just keep parameters stable and maybe try a small food to target feed. Got mine from BRS

 

[dviper150]

I do feed my tank oyster feast, mysis/pellets for the fish, rod's food for reefs, and phyto. Haven't tried reef chilli or anything else. EVerything else is growing fast except for that and I am giving everything the same lighting, food, and parameters.

I don't spot feed any of my corals, I just slow down the pumps, turn off the skimmer, and let it all float around for an hr or 2.

 

[BillyC]

Zoa like dirty water spott feeding works wonders also

I had 1 polyp of red purple people eater for about 8 months, and it was always open and looking healthy, but never grew or split. I started feeding reef chili, and in 3 weeks I now have 3 babies! Not sure if it was the food or just coincidence, but just keep parameters stable and maybe try a small food to target feed. Got mine from BRS

What exactly are you guys spot-feeding and how? I have palys that accept food but zoanthids such as rastas never ever accept food for me.

 

[ArrecifeJunkie]

They are by no means dramatic eaters and you'd be lucky if you saw them react much at all to food. But they are eating. I mix zooplankton or phytoplankton in tank water and fog them with a turkey baster.

 

[Peter Eichler]

They are by no means dramatic eaters and you'd be lucky if you saw them react much at all to food. But they are eating. I mix zooplankton or phytoplankton in tank water and fog them with a turkey baster.

Probably not... If there is no feeding response, as with many zoanthids, then they do not eat by means of prey capture. Most of the smaller zoanthids (think anything not mislabeled as a "paly" by the hobby) will not directly benefit from any type of feeding. Also, very few corals are believed benefit directly from phytoplankton and many are believed to be incapable of even digesting algae based foods.

To the OP, I'd suggest knocking off the strontium, iodine, and vitamin C dosing and sticking with the things which you know the benefits of and that you know your tank needs.

Some zoanthids just grow slowly, Rastas are known to be one of them. However, it shouldn't be quite that slow... The first thing I'd consider is lighting. I'm not a fan of LED's and that could be part of the issue, but I don't know enough about zoanthid growth under varioud LED's to really speculate. I will say that your photperiod is a little wacky. 15 hours with some type of light is too much with LED's and T5's. I'd suggest trimming your total photperiod down to a no more than 10 hours, with 8 or 9 perhaps even being better. Photoinhibition, which overly bright light or overly long photoperiods can cause, can be a huge growth deterent.

 

[Pallobi]

Zoa like dirty water spott feeding works wonders also

The dirty water explanation is completely untrue...

As far as the OP, simply put, u jus never know with zoas and palys from system to system... Some do good, some don't... Too many variables really... IMO...

 

[dviper150]

I will cut back my photoperiod and see if that helps. When I had t5s 3-4 weeks ago, they were on for a max of 10 hrs with 2 hrs being actinics.

 

[650-IS350]

When I had 8 T5 I ran at tonics for first 2hrs then all others turn on for 6hrs then last 2hrs attinics only again

 

[RDHDDRAGON]

rasta growth

rasta growth

I have some under chinese leds as well. I run mine about 10 hours a day.

If it was my tank and zoas, first I would drop the temp at least two degrees. I try to keep mine under 80, preferably closer to 78.

Second move them down a towards the bottom. Mine are 25" down from the leds and my leds are about 15 months old now so they have had some par drop off.

My rastas have doubled their colony in 5 months. They even jumped off the plug onto the rock i have the plug in. They do grow slower than all my other zoas, but they are growing. They are also completely open and about as big around as a pencil eraser.

I dose alk and calc. When i feed my mix has cyclopeeze in it. That is it. The fact they have not melted is good. They DO NOT like to be messed with and have a tendancy to melt when messed with.

Good luck, I hope they start behaving for you


And ditto what Peter said about dosing, especially if you are not testing for those values.

 

[dviper150]

I have some under chinese leds as well. I run mine about 10 hours a day.

If it was my tank and zoas, first I would drop the temp at least two degrees. I try to keep mine under 80, preferably closer to 78.

Second move them down a towards the bottom. Mine are 25" down from the leds and my leds are about 15 months old now so they have had some par drop off.

My rastas have doubled their colony in 5 months. They even jumped off the plug onto the rock i have the plug in. They do grow slower than all my other zoas, but they are growing. They are also completely open and about as big around as a pencil eraser.

I dose alk and calc. When i feed my mix has cyclopeeze in it. That is it. The fact they have not melted is good. They DO NOT like to be messed with and have a tendancy to melt when messed with.

Good luck, I hope they start behaving for you

Thanks! I will try to drop my temp but during the summer, its hard bringing it down 80. I have my heater set to 78 max. dropped down the rastas a few inches last night closer to the sand bad and under the shade of a tabling acro.

How high are your leds sitting from the water surface and are yours dimmable or no? If they are dimmable, what is your brightness level?

 

[RDHDDRAGON]

You can try to cool it by getting a small fan and blowing it across the top of the tank as well. It does help. In my tank at 81 things start going downhill and even some death occurs.

Mine are about 8" off the top of the tank. The 25" I quoted you though is from the lights to the zoas.

No, mine are not dimmable. I bought the original chinese ones 15 months ago. 120 v fixture with 56 white 56 blues all at 100%.

 

[Peter Eichler]

Your tanks should be fine up to 86 and even a little higher than that. 80 is in fact probably more natural than 78 for most tank inhabitants. In fact for growth, warmer temperatures should be better.

Dviper, I wouldn't worry about your temperature.

 

[650-IS350]

Peter good to see you bud

 

[Aqua firemedic]

My Rastas grow like weeds, they like low to med light and med flow.GL

 

[A. Grandis]

I wouldn't change T5s for any china LED system.
To tell the truth I wouldn't change T5s for any LEDs in the market today.
Not yet!

Try to bring your pH up a little, around 8.2.
Temp. at about 7.9° - 80° works better for me.
8.2 is still fine, but not the ideal in the long run.

I don't know until when people will bring up the empty statement about "dirty water" for zoas. With al the respect!
Make sure you do maintenance including water changes and keep a good skimmer running!!

Target feeding is far better and the right way to do it.
I've heard very nice comments about the Reef Chili!

Grandis.