zoa colony acting weird.

[Jritter02]

What would cause a colony to suck itself in? I checked my water today and all paramaters are good except nitrates. They were at 40ppm so i did a 50% water,change. I have a 24g nano. Just a clown,fish and tang (no need to throw in comments about tje tang needing a bigger tank, i already know this and thats not the reason im here). I haven't changed lighting our anything like that. This colony used to be full and bright up to about a week ago. I have 3 other small colonies that still look awesome. Up until a week ago though this was the best looking colony i had.

 

[whosurcaddie]

Do you know any of your other parameters besides nitrate. Like phosphate calcium alkalinity magnesium? 40ppm is high but not dangerous. What is your source water?

 

[Jritter02]

I just checked the other parameters on sat. Ph was 8.2. Alk was 9.5 i believe. Calcium was 420 and i believe mag was 1100 or so? That last number might not be right. I wrote the nunbers down but threw them away after testinf cause everything was perfect. My water i use is from an RO filter. Like i said though i have 3 other colonies in the tank and they all look great.

 

[BlindZide]

You have any crabs or snails? Could fish have swam up to them and startled them? They don't always close because of a problem. They can close if something bothers them.

 

[Jritter02]

I have crabs and snails but they arent on the colony. Got half the colony closed (in the center) and the other half still looks good. Im trying to post a pic but my phone is acting stupid.

 

[BlindZide]

Mine do that sometimes as well. Nothing to worry about. They can be moody. I have also noticed that flow will sometimes bother them. Just keep an eye on them. If more and more start closing and get smaller in size then we might need to dive deeper into the issue.

 

[NWoods]

Mine do that sometimes as well. Nothing to worry about. They can be moody. I have also noticed that flow will sometimes bother them. Just keep an eye on them. If more and more start closing and get smaller in size then we might need to dive deeper into the issue.

+1
I have 3 different colonies of Zoas. One is fully open and the other 2 are closed up. Maybe a resting period? Who knows. I've heard that Zoas can go through a hibernation-like period for weeks or even months. If they were open before and nothing major has changed, I would leave them.

 

[shesacharmer]

I had a bristle worm living between the polyps that caused mine to close up. I tweezered it out into the sump and it's been fine since.

 

[Fallling]

Check for nudibranch and other pests.

 

[Jritter02]

What about copapods? I noticed i have quitr a few of those in the tank. Will they hurt zoas?

 

[m0nkie]

pods will not hurt the zoas. not even the big amphipods that seem to crawl around it. if you want to look for parasites, you have to look at night. not right after lights out, try 1-2hrs before lights turn on. with a red flashlight.

chances are it's fine. just keep a close eye on it. count the # of polyps if you can. if something's eating it, chunks will go missing overnight.

 

[Jritter02]

No chunks missing at all ever. Just sucked in. And i do see little critters in there at nigjt. Small whi
white/clear ones