Zoa Growth Question

[strout]

I am having a problem with polyp growth or lack there of. The polyps I have look great, just no babies. I do about a 30 gal. water change in the 125g tank every week, my guess there is about 100g of water in the tank, the live rock takes up the rest of the space. I am thinking that the problem is that the MH lights I have over the tank maybe getting the water a bit warm and that maybe the problem. I am also running a GFO & Carbon reactor, a 200g Reef Octopus skimmer and I am guessing that the sump holds around 30g of water with a few pieces of live rock in the sump and have a light over the sump that I only turn on at night and one clip on fan over the sump that runs 24 - 7. I have taken a few temps of the tank: in the morning with just the T5 lights on, the temp gets up to 79.2 after the MH lights have been on for about three hours the temp. is 80.7 Depth of the water in the tank from the top of the water to the top of the sand bed 19" and the glass under the MH to the top of the water is 7 1/2 " The MH lights are 250w 20k bulbs. I have taken all of my zoas and moved them towards the bottom of the tank and that is where these temps were taken at. Anyone have any ideas? Some of these frags are 1 year old and no babies, but the polyps on these frags look good.

 

[betamed]

I can't see those temps being an issue. Wish I had a solution as it sounds like your doing things right.

 

[strout]

Well, I must be doing something wrong, I just can't figure it out. Maybe I need to stop with the water changes every week and go to just twice a month and see if that helps.

 

[MUCHO REEF]

I am having a problem with polyp growth or lack there of. The polyps I have look great, just no babies. I do about a 30 gal. water change in the 125g tank every week, my guess there is about 100g of water in the tank, the live rock takes up the rest of the space. I am thinking that the problem is that the MH lights I have over the tank maybe getting the water a bit warm and that maybe the problem. I am also running a GFO & Carbon reactor, a 200g Reef Octopus skimmer and I am guessing that the sump holds around 30g of water with a few pieces of live rock in the sump and have a light over the sump that I only turn on at night and one clip on fan over the sump that runs 24 - 7. I have taken a few temps of the tank: in the morning with just the T5 lights on, the temp gets up to 79.2 after the MH lights have been on for about three hours the temp. is 80.7 Depth of the water in the tank from the top of the water to the top of the sand bed 19" and the glass under the MH to the top of the water is 7 1/2 " The MH lights are 250w 20k bulbs. I have taken all of my zoas and moved them towards the bottom of the tank and that is where these temps were taken at. Anyone have any ideas? Some of these frags are 1 year old and no babies, but the polyps on these frags look good.

1. Do you have any other corals besides zoas and palys in this system?

2. If you don't have sps or a heavy bio load, I would go with a water change every other week. If you have all zoas and palys, the higher nutrient rich enviroment will help with growth.

3. A miner temp shift that small isn't going to be an issue as it relates to growth.

4. What type of ballast is driving your MH's?

5. Are your bulbs DE or HQI bulbs?

6. Have you performed any PAR test of the bulbs in conjunction with your ballast type?

7. You might consider changing from 20K bulbs to a 14 or 12 K with a higher PAR reading along with your ballast?

8. Make sure you keep your bulbs and lens clean and clear of any salt, dirty etc which can decrease their effectiveness.

9. I would not move them anymore. Moving your polyps around will alter, stunt, slow, decrease or stop your growth.

10. Do you feed them, if so, what, how do you feed them, how often and when?

11. What type of make up water are you using?

12. What type of salt?

13. Are you allowing your make up water to aerate for 24 hours? Are you matching the temp with that of your tank and also matching the PH of your tank?

Yes, everyone can influence growth positively and negatively.

I hope this helps. Don't fret, just try not to watch them waiting for a polyp to grow. It will happen my friend, just hang in there ok.


Mucho Reef

 

[strout]

I will try and answer your questions, meaning I don't know the answer to a few.

1. Three Toadstools a Devils hand, a RBTA and two small SPS corals and a bunch of zoas
2. My fish in the tank are this: Two M. Clowns, 1 Fox Face, 1 Midas Blenny, 1 Hippo Tank and 1 Flame Angel
3. Ballast driving my MH,,, all I know about my ballast is this,,, They are Hamilton MH and I am guessing they are Hamilton Electronic Ballast
4. Are the Bulbs DE or HQI bulbs, I really don't know, I do know they are Ushio bulbs
5. Haven't taken any Par test, I do know the bulbs most likely need replaced but the zoas weren't growing before the bulbs needed replaced
6. I was at one time using Cyclop-eeze in the tank, but stoped when I read that a lot of people don't feed their zoas. My LFS has me using something called Vibrance in the tank one time a week. Don't know if that helps, only use a little bit one time a week and have only been using it for three weeks.
7. Water is RO/DI
8.Salt is Instant Ocean
9. I make my water for the water changes Two days in advance. Gives me time to get the salt just right and I try and match the water temp as best I can.

Thanks for the advice

 

[MUCHO REEF]

1.

2. My friend, I would get rid of the Foxface and the Blue Hippo Tang if you are going to keep zoas. They are known polyp eaters. It happened to me and others right here in this forum. I have heard people say, "my hippo has been in my tank for a whole year and nothing happened." Trust me, in my opinion and others right here, tangs can not be trusted with a tank full of zoas. Some will disagree, but the decision is yours. I love them but removed all of my a long time ago. They are too unpredictable and with the price of zoas and plays these days, do you really want to take that chance? Please read all of this thread in the link below. Don't take my word for it.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1852064&highlight=blue+hippo

3. Not being mean, sir it is really important to know what you have.

4. Bro, you have to know this, it's important for you to know this. Does it screw in like a light bulb or does it snap in with no thread on either end? I don't think Ushio makes a DE ( Double Ended ) bulb. Maybe they do, but I can't remember. You may want to check Sanjay's site for PAR readings on your bulbs with your ballast and shoot for higher PAR which will aid your growth. Other factors contribute also to growth, but this is of great concern if you are not getting the growth you desire.

5. If you are in a local reef club, someone might allow you to borrow a meter to check.

6. Do you have a link for the Vibrance? I haven't heard of it. I usually feed at least twice a week no more than 3. HOMEWORK - do a Google search on what zoas and palys prefer to eat as well as a search here. I would like your opinion.

7.

8. Have you always used IO?

9. Are you matching the PH?

Thanks for the speedy replies my friend.

Mucho Reef

 

[strout]

The bulbs are double ended and snap into place, I am going to be ordering some new bulbs for the tank. I have pretty much alway used IO salt although I did use a few buckets of Oceanic Salt when setting up the tank. I did a bit of a serch on the Vibrance product. Its made by a company called Seachem and it says on the bottle that it raises lodide level. I didn't know what that ment, so I kept searching, and that seems to mean it raises the Iodine level. I really don't think its a coral food, more like a coral color enhancer. You asked about matching the PH level when making up my new water for the tank, sorry to say the answer is no. What I was trying to match was the salt and the temp. The Foxface and the Hippo tank will be gone out of the tank when we upgrade to a bigger tank at the first of the year. I was going to remove them or at least try and remove them but that would have left us very few fish in the tank and I didn't want to replace them with any other fish until the new tank, sooo my wife didn't like the idea of having so few fish in the tank so I just left them for the time being. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to get me going in the right direction in getting my zoas to grow.