Zoas won't open, HELP please

[Tschupe]

It's been a month that my zoas wont open. I will admit I got bad advice from an LFS. they told me that I would not need to dose anything as long as i didn't have SPS corals

My fault for trusting them.

When i started taking water tests this is was what i got.

CAL-350

ALK-7

MAG-1260

Now 4 weeks after daily tests and dosing when needed my levels are

CAL-425

ALK-8.4

MAG-1340

The strange thing is I have purple death/nuke greens and magician "palys" in the tank that are open.

And even more strange is my zoas are growing/spreading even though there not open.

If there is something else anyone thinks I need to test for please let me know.

Also my hammer is growing /my trumpets are growing, kenya tree fragging itself every 2 weeks.
Everything in my tank is happy as can be except my zoas.

Any thoughts /advice welcome!!

 

[Jmnazari]

Hmmm, predation? Flatworms, dwarf angels, fungi, zoa eating nudibranchs? I have patches of GSPs in the same colony that just won't open.

 

[mwladdicted]

Your LFS was correct to an extent. Unless you have a high demand for calcium ie. lots of sps, dosing isn't really necessary as long as you keep up on your weekly water changes. Although, you seem to have quite a bit of LPS that may fill the void. They make the salt with all that stuff to make the new water have the appropriate levels. If you read the salt box it should say I believe or just test the new water yourself. As far as the zoas go I would take a really close look at them to see if you can see any pests. Also, how often do you do a water change? What lights are you using? are they opening even a little? Is there any type of algae looking stuff growing on the closed polyps? Are they being blasted by a powerhead?
-Tom

 

[Tschupe]

I do weekly 15% water changes.
I have a DIY LED 10 blue 10 white that I run at 45%.
I wouldn't think there would be any pests I've dipped every coral that I've bought.
Some are closed all the way and some are slightly open.

 

[XSharkboyX]

You only listed a fraction of the parameters that are needed to be tested for successful reef keeping. Lets see what the rest are.

I agree with mwladdicted. Don't immediately jump the gun and say your LFS was wrong and gave you bad information. They were essentially right. I worked at a LFS for 8 years. Dont take this the wrong way, but its people with attidudes like you that made me leave. :headwallblue: It is EXCEPTIONALLY frustrating to hear someone say they shouldn't trust their LFS. They are there for a reason, and in 99.9% of cases they know more than the customer about the hobby.
It really comes down to the bioload of your aquarium. If it is high, then your going to have to supplement it. If it is low, the amount of trace elements in your salt will most likely do fine.

What sort of fish do you have? Inverts? I have an idea of what the problem is, but share some more information with us....

 

[ReeferBill]

low PH is also a problem for star polups not opening.

 

[Tschupe]

Sharkboy.
Yeah in hindsight I realized I shouldn't of posted that about blaming the LFS. In the end it's my tank my responsibility.

I will do more water test after work and post the results tonight.

I have 2 clowns. 1 yellow watchman goby. 1 cleaner shrimp. 2 sexy shrimp.

 

[Tschupe]

Ammonia-0

Nitrite-0

Nitrate-5

PH-8.0-8.3

MG-1320

KH-8.3

Cal-420

Salinity 1.025

Temp 78

Those are all the test kits I have if there's something else you think I need to test for let me know and I'll go get whatever test kits I need.

Thanks

 

[Friday Night]

^^^^^^

Stats look good. Are these "frags" one to two polyp frags or a colony?

 

[Tschupe]

Frags. Some 2-3 polyp some 10

 

[XSharkboyX]

Part of your problem is the 2-3 polyp frags. High mortality rate. You should never buy less than 6-9 polyps at a time. At the least. IMO. Are you

Do the shrimp climb all over them? Are u 100% sure there are no crabs in the tank? No hitch hickers?

 

[Friday Night]

^ +1 to shark

Zoas that have been fragged are all ready stressed out then when put into a new environment will continue to be stressed

 

[Tschupe]

I do have a couple small red legged hermit crabs in there.
So if they are stressed will they remain stressed?

 

[Detroit_306]

I'm having the same issues as you.. I gave two small frags that wouldn't open after a few weeks, two days later she sent me a pic of my two frags fully open enjoying life... Not to hijack your thread but I have a large mushroom in my 34 gallon cube, can they cause problems in the water?