Zoas make no sence!

[likefish]

I have 3 tank connected to a common sump = all tanks share the same water.

In my 40 breeder frag tank i am very successful with Palys and Zoas. They grow well, have great color and look fantastic.

in my 120 SPS display tank I can not keep a zoa healthy to save my life!!!

I have recently attempted to move over a few frags of "hearty" zoas/pallys:

Gobstoppers and Sunny D's. both have shrunk in size, paled in color and are putting out no new growth.

Because the tanks share water it rules out:
1) my water quality parameters
2) Pests
3) nutrients

which leaves flow, irritants and lighting?

40 breeder lighting: 36' Pamorama pro all blue on for 12 hours mounted 10" off tank. 4 bulb T5 on for 2 hours (coral+ Blue+, 2 actinic)

120 Lighting: 2 48" Panorama pro strips mounted at 10" both on for 12 hours with one coming on an hour before the other (14 hours total)

4 bulb T5, Blue+ and Coral+ on for 4 hours
Blue + and Aquablue special on for 4 hours
One comes on 2 hours before the other=2hours all on

i dont believe the lighting to be too intense due to the increased depth of the tank. i attempt to acclimate new zoas on the sand. i dont belive the lighting to be too little because.... its not a little.

FLOW: bothe tanks have Jaebo WP pumps providing high pulsing random flow. I intentionaly paid attention to the amount of movement of the skirts before moving and then tried to reporduce in the new tank.

Irritants: I have 5 chromis, 2 anthias, a starry blenny, 2 clowns, 1 yellow tang in the tank. My clean up crew is nonresistant other than a few turbo snails ans cerith snalis.


SUGGESTIONS? IDEAS? COMMENTS?

 

[likefish]

ouch 145 views and no suggestions. Was hoping to find the silver bullet solution.

I hate this hobby!

 

[SpaceGhost]

I don't think that sharing water rules out pests, those are two separate ecosystems with shared water. It is quite possible that a pest like a zoa eating nudi, or fish is in just one tank. A predator could be housed in one and not the other. Type Oregon reef, great worm incident into google for an example.

With Z and Ps a vigilant eye is required. It is easy to tell of something is bothering a polyp when the lights are on: if I ever see a polyp or group if polyps closed, I look for the source. A crab may have walked by, or a sexy shrimp was dancing. If the source is not obvious I get worried and begin to look very closely at the polyps. Many pests are very tiny. If I can't see any sign of the irritant, I will note the closure in my head. If it closed a second time when I look at the tank and continues for more then a couple of days, then I might pull it out and give it a careful inspection 1" from my face (I wear goggles because they are cheap and Zoanthids and palythoas randomly shoot streams of toxic water out which has sent people to the hospital and caused blindness before). Still nothing? Dip it in a cup of tank water with Lugosi added to make it look like bud light for 10 min with light stirring action, a light brush down with a soft tipped toothbrush paying attention to nooks and crannies, shake off in the lugols solution upside down. Wait a couple days, paying attention. Still closing, then I repeat procedure but with revive. Chances are you should find it doing this.

If not, try to beware of how many polyps are on a suspected frag before bedtime, then check it again in the AM. A nocturnal creature could be eating them. I just recently had about 25 polyps of Mohawks start disappearing, the only thing I have caught munching on them was my yellow belly hippo tang. Ate 5 of them in front of me. I am not sure if he was eating them because they were a little tore up, or if they were a little tore up from him eating them.

If there is any stallon (connective mat) left from the frag keep it in the tank, they often can come back, even from a sliver with no polyps. If you really want to get to the bottom of it, move some over and setup a timelapse camera fixed on the polyps. I use an app called lapse it on my apple products and a moon light or nearby lamp left on at night. I am guessing nudi, fish, hidden hitchhiker. You will know for sure if you follow these steps. Fact of the matter is many things find z and ps delicious. Dip and quarantine to reduce problems. Maybe divide a frag in half and send only half over so you do not lose the entire colony.

 

[SpaceGhost]

That just covered disappearing polyps. For shrinking I would give them time if they are opening, timelapse and lugols dips may still help you figure it out. And feed the crap out of them, meaning you should see them pooping you feed so often.

 

[knap_123]

Shrinking is a good sign of to much light. For me I only get 7 hrs. Of light. 3Pm to 10pm are they still on bottom? Try placing some in different shaded areas.