Zoas won't open up?

[sanchezz]

Hey all, so I purchased a clump of LR for my Pico from my LFS that had a teeny tiny colony of bright green zoas on it. At the shop they were all open and happy, and when I brought them home, I gave them and the rock they are on a FW dip to get rid of anything that may have come along for a ride.

Shortly after putting them in the tank, maybe an hour or so they were all open and loving it. They closed up that night at lights out and haven't opened since. During they day, most of them open halfway, then close up again repeatedly.

My parameters have all been good:

Nitrate - >5ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Ammonia - 0ppm
pH - 8.3
Salinity - 1.024
Temp - 78.4 Right Now

I'm running an AC70 on medium flow, with an 18w PC lighting setup. The zoas are about three inches off the bottom of the tank in direct light. The tank has been up for almost three weeks with parameters checking out after the first week. I have 3.5lbs of live sand and about 6lbs of live rock, with a heaping ball of Chaeto in my little fuge.

They all still seem plump and juicy, and they're even budding off. Two of them each have two new polyps growing off of the bases. I've checked for Nudis, Snails and all things of the sort. Why won't they open up again?

My Snail and Hermit seem to love the tank, why don't my zoas!! :*(

When I brought them home:

The next and every other day:

FTS for lighting views:

 

[hunnicuttz]

Have you done a water change lately? Have you tried feeding them?

 

[sanchezz]

Have you done a water change lately? Have you tried feeding them?

I did a 20% water change yesterday, and I haven't tried feeding them directly. Can I even feed them if they're closed? I've been blowing them off gently with a small baster every couple days just to keep the area extra clean.

 

[hunnicuttz]

From the pic it looks like they are slightly open. They look a lot better then my purple hornets . But I would try a direct feeding maybe that would make them feel a little better and encourage them to open up.

 

[hunnicuttz]

Anything is worth a shot right?

 

[sanchezz]

Anything is worth a shot right?

That's true! They're all closed up except one that is less than halfway open. Maybe I'll pick up some food at my LFS this weekend.

 

[hunnicuttz]

I like Reef Snow for my zoas.

 

[sanchezz]

I like Reef Snow for my zoas.

Okay, and I can use my mini baster to just target feed them?

 

[650-IS350]

slightly shade them a bit.

 

[sanchezz]

slightly shade them a bit.

How should I go about doing that? The rock they're on is like HUGE in my tank, should I move another rock over that one?

Edit: I took another rock and made an overhang with it, we'll see what happens.

 

[650-IS350]

just make sure it's not directly covering them but acts to shade them from 100% of the lighting.

 

[sanchezz]

just make sure it's not directly covering them but acts to shade them from 100% of the lighting.

That's what I did, I made an outcropping near the waterline and it's shading them almost 100%

 

[hunnicuttz]

That's what I did, I made an outcropping near the waterline and it's shading them almost 100%

Ok show us a pic hahahaha :bounce1:

 

[sanchezz]

lol!

No Shade

Shade

 

[hunnicuttz]

nicely done!

 

[sanchezz]

nicely done!

Ask and you shall receive!

 

[pugcrush]

What kind of lights were they under at the LFS, along with distance from the lights? It may take a lil bit for them to acclimate to your lighting. How long did you FW dip?

 

[sanchezz]

Dunno what kind of lights they were under, but the tank was at least 80 gallons, so MH I assume? They were about the same distance from the lights as they are now, just under higher intensity.

I dipped them for around 3 minutes.

 

[AJSTITAN14]

IMO they want more light and or flow.

Depending on the species of zoa you have zoas can generate 100% of their energy from photosynthesis.

These Zoas are also in sort of an alcove you may need to change the pattern of flow in the tank to make them happier.

The coral books recommend moderate to strong lighting and nice flow for Zoas.
All my zoas got a lot happier when I moved them higher in the tank.
There is probably some merit to shading them when they are new to the tank to prevent "sunburn" but these are photosynthetic sun loving animals. So if the recommendations to shade them don't work try giving them more light and better flow. I have a frag of zoas that are almost directly in the output for my biocube and they are loving it like dogs with an open window on the highway.