Zoanthids Not Opening

B

BaleKlocoon

New member
Only 3 of my ~20 zoanthid polyps are opening and it has been that way for at least a week. I've had them for 2+ months and they were fine before, and I haven't changed my light settings. What could be the problem? I assume they will die if they never open? My nitrates and phosphates are at zero. I've read that maybe it's because zoanthids don't like clean water? If that is likely the problem how do I raise my nitrates just a little without raising them too much? I've thought about trying to feed them some reef frenzy but I assume they won't eat any of it when they are closed? I tried a 25% water change 5 days ago and that didn't seem to change anything.
 
Also there was brown stringy algae growing on them when the problem first started. I got all of it off and it hasn't grown back but they still aren't opening.
 
Not sure about the brown stringy algea..kinda sounds like a cyano or dinos..

I had some zoas that stayed closed for well over a month. They were new additions to the tank.. and took almost a month and a half to finally open up for me

If your water parameters are in check. You could try dipping them to see if there is a pest annoying them..


Sent from my SM-G930VL using Tapatalk
 
Not familiar with dipping. I'm a coral noob. I've got my new lights coming in on Tuesday so if the new lights don't change anything after a few days I might do the research and try dipping. I'm sure my old used black box LED's aren't the best, but the zoas looked great for the first couple of months so I will be surprised if the new lights fix the problem.
 
And I'm not sure what the brown stringy stuff is but I doubt it is cyano. I have a little cyano elsewhere in my tank and it is really easy to physically remove. This stuff, I had to put on latex gloves and pull it off and it required quite a bit of force. It was really stuck on there.
 
BaleKlocoon said:
..... My nitrates and phosphates are at zero. I've read that maybe it's because zoanthids don't like clean water? If that is likely the problem how do I raise my nitrates just a little without raising them too much? I've thought about trying to feed them some reef frenzy but I assume they won't eat any of it when they are closed? I tried a 25% water change 5 days ago and that didn't seem to change anything.
Click to expand...

They like dirty water. Having 0 nitrates and phospates isn't good.
 
BaleKlocoon said:
What is nudis?
Click to expand...
Sorry what I meant was Zoa eating nudibranch. It is a pest that will feed on yours zoas, almost all the polyps will close up and leave you wondering. This happened to me a while back, not fun. It's worth checking for them. You should also dip your corals in some Revive or Coral Rx to kill any other pest that may be on it.

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk
 
I might have to try the coral dip.

I have 2x120 watt black box LED's. It only has blue and white. I put blue on 50% and white on 40%, 8 hours a day about 12 inches off the water. I do have a Razor X R5 300W LED Fixture - Maxspect arriving on Tuesday, but I will be surprised if that's the issue since the zoas were doing fine for a couple months.
 
Just in case anyone was curious. Flow was the answer. I eventually put them about 8" away from my power head, with the flow vector pointing maybe 15-20 degrees from directly at the zoanthids, and many of the closed polyps are opening again.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Jyetman
Why do my grandis palys look like this?
Replies
2
Views
423
Jyetman
Jyetman
A
Please help reef tank
Replies
9
Views
529
wvned
wvned
C
Need advice
Replies
1
Views
454
Uncle99
Uncle99
S
Nutrient Export
Replies
0
Views
560
SantaMonica
S
H
New Crocea Clams - Some opening some not?
Replies
3
Views
775
hilde123
H
Back
Top