Whats wrong with my nuclear greens?

[Tennyson]

Hello, I've had this frag of nuclear greens for awhile, but now suddenly they seem kind of wilted and not accepting food or opening up as nicely.

Just wondering what could be the problem? This happened to a previous frag and it's pretty much dead now.. It's at the top of the tank, with moderateish flow, a little bit more. It was doing excellent but idk what happened.

Any help is appreciated! thanks

 

[Tennyson]

Sorry i dont know if you can tell from the pic but I'd just like to add it's tentacles have retracted as well, but can still catch a little bit of food.

 

[A. Grandis]

Water is too clean?
Try skim less. Offer invert target liquid food.
Give it a time.

 

[Tennyson]

Oh could it be that I cleaned too much?because I remember it starting a day or two after I cleaned, and it was about 30%

 

[muhnandr]

some zoas actually thrive in dirtier waters

 

[Tennyson]

Okay I guess that's the problem then! Ill just leave it a little and see how it does. Also just wondering, I'm planning on using RODI water soon, will this have negative effects on them or just the same?

 

[Cymaster007]

No negative effects from the RODI water. It may help if anything, I used to use the Stater Bros. RO water from the machine out front until one day a friend showed me how a TDS meter works, and I tried the RO water and it had 16 ppm. He showed me his RODI water had 0-1 ppm. I bought a rodi the next day and it helped with algae control.

 

[Tennyson]

Okay well its been a couple days I've shortened the time my skimmers on to onlyh some nights. But it seems to have gotten worst.
But just wondering, I added a fairly large live rock to my tank, could this be the problem? Could my nuclear greens be more sensitive to this change then everyhthing else in my tank? If so how long will it take to recover?

If the rock isn't the problme ill test everything tomorrow maybe there's something wrong there?

 

[Tennyson]

Okay well its been a couple days I've shortened the time my skimmers on to onlyh some nights. But it seems to have gotten worst.
But just wondering, I added a fairly large live rock to my tank, could this be the problem? Could my nuclear greens be more sensitive to this change then everyhthing else in my tank? If so how long will it take to recover?

If the rock isn't the problme ill test everything tomorrow maybe there's something wrong there?

 

[lilalove]

How old are your bulbs? I had some zoas do that, retract their skirts and start to fade. The bulbs were only a few months old, but were the cheap ebay bulbs. I replaced them with Phoenix 14k's and they are colorful again and fully extending their skirts. Is it just the nuclear greens affected?

 

[dalston]

some zoas actually thrive in dirtier waters

This is one of the biggest myths out there when it comes to keeping zoa's. It is true that zoanthids will thrive in nutrient packed water but nutrition and nitrates are 2 different things. Sure, they can live and grow under these conditions but to be ideal you should be aiming for zero waste.

To the OP,You say you added a large rock recently, was it cured? you could be starting a mini cycle... I have had this morph of protopalythoa almost completely die off and bounce back twice. This is a very hardy polyp. IME this polyp likes strong indirect flow with good light. I would turn your skimmer back on, move it to a place with both strong flow and good light and leave it be, the more it is touched and moved, the worse it will get.

 

[Tennyson]

Okay thanks! The guy said the rock was cure and its a very reliable store so I'm pretty sure it is. Coulod it be starting a mini cycle still?

And yes i have left it be ever since and still not looking any better. But skimmers back on and I just ordered an RO/DI system so quality should be a lot better after that.

Not sure how old the bulbs are. 4 months maybbe? My nuclear greens are the only things that seem to be struggling in my tank

 

[Tennyson]

Okay thanks! The guy said the rock was cure and its a very reliable store so I'm pretty sure it is. Coulod it be starting a mini cycle still?

And yes i have left it be ever since and still not looking any better. But skimmers back on and I just ordered an RO/DI system so quality should be a lot better after that.

Not sure how old the bulbs are. 4 months maybbe? My nuclear greens are the only things that seem to be struggling in my tank

 

[ficklefins]

I would try moving them lower in the tank and away from direct lighting. They can handle lower light levels with medium flow.

 

[Izzone001]

Do you happen to have a before picture so that we can compare them?

 

[Tennyson]

heres from 3 weeks ago or so, maybe 2. I just saw another thread though could it be too high up and bright for them? Because I think I'm noticing some fading. Would lowering them help?

 

[ficklefins]

I would try moving them lower in the tank and away from direct lighting. They can handle lower light levels with medium flow.

Which is what I suggest two posts up :rollface:

If they start to get lighter in color it may be because they are receiving too much light, which is the case in the frag I had in the pic below.

 

[darrelljm]

I keep mine at the bottom of the tank in medium/low flow and they do well!

 

[Tennyson]

Which is what I suggest two posts up :rollface:

If they start to get lighter in color it may be because they are receiving too much light, which is the case in the frag I had in the pic below.

Haha oops that too lol didn't notice well I lowered it. I'm pretty sure that was the problem, we'll just have to see. I just don't know why it started fading now and not the. First month or two I had it. But anyways thanks everyone!!

 

[Tennyson]

Update:

unfortunately I think my nuclear greens are passing away not because of the bleaching but because I was upgrading to RO/DI water, and hadn't cleaned the tank (i was waiting for the ro/di to come in before cleaning the tank, and that took about another week) so by my mistake they're suffering.

But I still have a couple polyps left and they're just barely alive, i did my first complete change today so the waters perfect. Could it be too late? Some polyps have already died but there are definitely 3-4 left.