Zoanthids not growing

[That New Guy]

Is it possible my water is too clean for zoo's to thrive? Most of my corals are doing well, but just zoanthids and paly's, they're alive but just not growing or looking great.

I test 0 PPB on ULR Phosphate and 0.00 on multiple nitrate tests.

Should I consider feeding more orso?

 

[bertoni]

Feeding more should be safe enough, and it's worth a try. Zoanthids and Palythoa might do better. That's hard to predict. What other corals are in the system?

 

[Uncle99]

Corals would starve at N=0 and P=0.
I trust you mean "œtrace" of both
N=2-5ppm and P= 0.03-.1 would be a good nutrient level for all corals.

 

[bertoni]

Corals might or might not do well with nitrate and phosphate at a measured level of zero. I ran tanks for years that measured zero for both, and got good soft coral growth.

 

[zheka757]

Sorry for jumping in. But I also have a same problem. I have about 6 zoa drags. That are year later still looks like frags and not growing. At the time when I got them my nitrates where around 20-40 ppm. Right now my nitrates undetectable on red sea test. And my phosfates are at .2 ppm. I have bunch of sps frags that are growing in same tank. But no luck with zoanthis.

 

[mcgyvr]

Sorry for jumping in. But I also have a same problem. I have about 6 zoa drags. That are year later still looks like frags and not growing. At the time when I got them my nitrates where around 20-40 ppm. Right now my nitrates undetectable on red sea test. And my phosfates are at .2 ppm. I have bunch of sps frags that are growing in same tank. But no luck with zoanthis.

As you may have noticed in the posts above no one really knows why at times some corals do great while others do nothing..
So most just try to make some subtle changes and see what happens..
It could be lighting.. It could be flow.. It could be nutrient levels.. It could be a pest.. It could be something else.

 

[bertoni]

In addition, conditions that are good for some corals are poor for others. As a group, corals are less related to each other than, for example, mammals, so it's not surprising that they often need different environments.