I have some zoas that are starting to look poorly. The tubes of them seem very narrow and are not fully opening. I have a few leathers and various mushrooms in the tank. I also have a few types of crabs (including an emerald), snails, shrimp, star fish and multiple fish. I was wondering if maybe I need to add trace elements to the water as I never had. If so, which ones should I look at adding? Any other ideas what may be the problem? I will try and get a picture up in the next few days.
Trace Elements?
- Thread starter TimothyJ
- Start date
JetCat USA
In Memoriam
doing regular water changes, say 20% twice a month, will more then take care of any trace elements your system is in need of that may have been depleted. also never add anything to the tank you're not testing for and knowing you need to be adding.
JetCat USA
In Memoriam
if it's on a 65g w/ a 29g sump, thats about a 12%. you'd have better results out of the tank if you bumped that up a bit but you shouldn't be having any major problems with it as is unless it's from excessive nutrient build up.
Lord Sevein
New member
TimothyJ
Good question and good topic!! I have been wondering about trace elements myself. I have heard anecdotal information regarding iodine. I have both seen (at my LFS) and heard (here on reefcentral) that people who dose iodine in their tanks have their mushroom corals color up and split like crazy. I have heard that it can help to heal corals and to dose it when you frag . . . I'm not sure if this is to prevent infection or if it simply encourages the coral to grow tissue. Again all of this information is purely anecdotal and I have not directly experimented or experienced either. Maybe one of our resident Zoa experts can comment on this?
However, before we get into whether or not you personally need to add trace elements we need to have a little more information about your tank. What kind of lighting do you have? Are your water parameters in check? Have you seen anything snooping around your zoas that could be irritating them? Any or all these couldl be attributing to your problem.
That picture could help too.
I also agree with JetCat in that a "good" salt mix has a decent (read as naturally occurring) levels of trace elements. A good 10% weekly or 20% bimonthly water change should take care of most if not all your trace elements IME.
Any zoa experts want to chime in?
Hope this helps!
-Sevein
:strooper:
Good question and good topic!! I have been wondering about trace elements myself. I have heard anecdotal information regarding iodine. I have both seen (at my LFS) and heard (here on reefcentral) that people who dose iodine in their tanks have their mushroom corals color up and split like crazy. I have heard that it can help to heal corals and to dose it when you frag . . . I'm not sure if this is to prevent infection or if it simply encourages the coral to grow tissue. Again all of this information is purely anecdotal and I have not directly experimented or experienced either. Maybe one of our resident Zoa experts can comment on this?
However, before we get into whether or not you personally need to add trace elements we need to have a little more information about your tank. What kind of lighting do you have? Are your water parameters in check? Have you seen anything snooping around your zoas that could be irritating them? Any or all these couldl be attributing to your problem.
That picture could help too.
I also agree with JetCat in that a "good" salt mix has a decent (read as naturally occurring) levels of trace elements. A good 10% weekly or 20% bimonthly water change should take care of most if not all your trace elements IME.
Any zoa experts want to chime in?
Hope this helps!
-Sevein
:strooper:
Siffy
New member
I would limit iodine usage to dips when fragging. The concentrated dip kills some pests and also allows the frag and mother colony to intake as much as they need to boost healing in a few minutes. Any residual iodine left on the dipped rock will act as a dose for the whole tank after the dip. Iodine is dangerous to dose and test kits are not accurate. They detect iodine just fine, but the problem is once you have detectable levels in the tank you're at dangerous levels. I'm having trouble explaining myself, but basically iodine is taken up so rapidly by anything that uses it you can't test/dose/test/dose like other chemicals. I would look to water changes and food for trace elements.
Lord Sevein
New member
Wow thanks for the info Siffy! That makes sense to me.
Here are a few pictures of the colonies that don't look the best. They are the same type of zoa's just in two different areas of the tank. I did add a new Koralia 3 pump to the back wall of my tank about a month ago, but I don't think the flow is that strong for these two. I also had a light bulb burn out and have since replaced it. Any ideas fellow reef members?
As far as more details on my tank...
I have 196 watt power compacts, 1.0245 salinity, and all other tests show 0 ppm.
I have all reef safe fish (gobies, cardinals, tang, clowns)
I have 2 peppermint shrimp, snails, crabs, star fish...I also have an emerald crab that I may take out and see if that helps.
Thanks for any thoughts.
I have 196 watt power compacts, 1.0245 salinity, and all other tests show 0 ppm.
I have all reef safe fish (gobies, cardinals, tang, clowns)
I have 2 peppermint shrimp, snails, crabs, star fish...I also have an emerald crab that I may take out and see if that helps.
Thanks for any thoughts.
Lord Sevein
New member
TimothyJ,
Hmmm . . . a pest maybe? The reason I say that is because the closed polyps in the first picture seem to be in a stripe down the colony. IME an unhappy zoa/paly colony tends to either close/half close the entire colony or have random polyps close/half close throughout the colony. Pests, however, close (and possibly eat) polyps in a pattern - stripes, circles, etc. Take about five minutes and watch each zoa colony really closely. Do you see anything on the polyps or mat of the colony? What on or around the live rock the colony is encrusting?
There are of course zoa eating nudis, spiders, and starfish that could be causing problems. There are also several types of worms that can be eating or irritating the polyps. These can be both tube worms and "tubeless" worms. I have even heard of certain types of amphipods that can mess with the polyps too.
On the other hand your zoas could just be POed . . .
Let us know.
:strooper:
Hmmm . . . a pest maybe? The reason I say that is because the closed polyps in the first picture seem to be in a stripe down the colony. IME an unhappy zoa/paly colony tends to either close/half close the entire colony or have random polyps close/half close throughout the colony. Pests, however, close (and possibly eat) polyps in a pattern - stripes, circles, etc. Take about five minutes and watch each zoa colony really closely. Do you see anything on the polyps or mat of the colony? What on or around the live rock the colony is encrusting?
There are of course zoa eating nudis, spiders, and starfish that could be causing problems. There are also several types of worms that can be eating or irritating the polyps. These can be both tube worms and "tubeless" worms. I have even heard of certain types of amphipods that can mess with the polyps too.
On the other hand your zoas could just be POed . . .
Let us know.
:strooper:
So I just happened to walk by my tank and saw my emerald crab in my polyps. I shot I video on my camera and posted it on youtube. I am not sure he is the reason, but I caught him and tossed him in my sump for now. Take a look and let me know your thoughts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heFtlZ_bXso
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heFtlZ_bXso
Lord Sevein
New member
Well that could be it . . . but then again it could not. I once had an emerald crab in my tank and I loved it! He was the hardest working creature in my reef and was just so much fun to watch. IME these little guys will clean any algae off of anything.
Some people on here have had some problems with them though. They are opportunistic feeders and they will eat whatever they can get their claws on if they are hungry -- even our precious zoa/paly colonies! If your crab has been getting enough food he may have been looking for a snack.
However, from the video it looks like he was picking at things (detritus, algae) from between the polyps.
Keep an eye on the colonies and see if they start to open up more. If not go back to watching each colony for 5 minutes . . .
I miss my crab now. . .
IME these little guys will clean any algae off of anything. Some people on here have had some problems with them though. They are opportunistic feeders and they will eat whatever they can get their claws on if they are hungry -- even our precious zoa/paly colonies! If your crab has been getting enough food he may have been looking for a snack.
However, from the video it looks like he was picking at things (detritus, algae) from between the polyps.Keep an eye on the colonies and see if they start to open up more. If not go back to watching each colony for 5 minutes . . .
I miss my crab now. . .
I was just looking at my polyps because another set of them has a few tubes that are closed up and I notice a snail right in the middle of these new ones that are all closed up. It is a snail that I have never seen before and was wondering if anyone knew if this maybe the problem. Any identification of the snail would be great.
In the second picture you can see the head of the snail at the bottom right corner of the picture. It almost has a 'V' shape to it.
In the second picture you can see the head of the snail at the bottom right corner of the picture. It almost has a 'V' shape to it.
Lord Sevein
New member
Well you've got me on this one. Anyone else have opinions?
JetCat USA
In Memoriam
Nassarius vibex it looks like to me.
pass1over
New member
whenever my zoas are getting long, narrow and spindly, its an indicator to me that the lights are past due to be changed out.
PC bulbs only last 6-8 months I believe. Whenever I change my bulbs out, the zoas shrink down and the stalks become fatter instead of spindly.
I know you said 1 bulb went out, but how long has it been since you changed all your bulbs?
btw, ive got some of the same zoas. Their reddish/brown with a white spot in the middle. Any idea what their called?
PC bulbs only last 6-8 months I believe. Whenever I change my bulbs out, the zoas shrink down and the stalks become fatter instead of spindly.
I know you said 1 bulb went out, but how long has it been since you changed all your bulbs?
btw, ive got some of the same zoas. Their reddish/brown with a white spot in the middle. Any idea what their called?
