Zoos never make it in my tank.

Dr4g0nf1y

Dr4g0nf1y

Premium Member
I've never been able to figure out why Zoas never make it in my tank. My tank is over 2 years old at this point and I have never been able to keep a Zoa. I have other corals, Kenya Trees, Mushrooms, Xenia, Toadstool leather, squamosa clam. But the moment I put a Zoa in there it never opens and eventually dies.

Tank is 75g
Total Flow in display is ~1400gph
Temp is 79deg
SG is 1.025
Nitrates undetectable
Phosphate undetectable
Lighting is 2 x 250w 15k metal halide.

Anything I should test for?
 
I feel your pain, we have never been able to keep Zoa's either, doesn't matter what setup they were in, small or large. Everything else grows like crazy, even the paly's... Go figure....
 
zoos like a little dirt in their water. Could be those 0 nitrates/phosphates. Try increasing feeding a bit next time and letting the nutrients in the tank creep up just a bit.

With mostly softies and a clam you should have some nutrients in your water to make them happy.
 
I should mention that this is not a new problem. I tried zoas a year or so ago and the same thing happened.. they never opened after I acclimated them and added them to the tank. I've checked for Nudibranchs and Sundial snails. Recently I added 5 polyps of PPEs and they are sitting in there right now like little purple marbles. Haven't opened in over a week. But they were wide open at the LFS.
 
You are starting them off at the bottom of the tank and properly light acclimating them right?

Specifics of what exactly happens to them when they die off might help nail it down too. Your normal acclimation procedures and daily routines might help too. More info the better.
 
Ok.. After I arrive home with them I will float the bag for 15 minutes to acclimate temperature. Then I will remove about 1/2 of the bag water and swap it with my water. This will sit for 15 minutes and I will repeat that again. Then I take them out of the bag and place them on the sand. I left them there for 4 days and no change. So then I moved them back by my HOB overflow to give them more shade. 4 days of that and no change. Today I moved them up to a high flow high light area.

Since it's been so long since I had the last ones I don't remember if they suddenly disappeared or if they appeared to "melt". I'll keep you advised how this goes. I can post pics in the morning but there's not much to see.

Forgot to previously mention that I run a crab-free tank. I use snails as my CUC and a large sea hare. I haven't added any rock to this tank in years so I'm sure by now if there was a hitchhiker I would have seen it.

I also use RO/DI water for top-off. And I do TDS test every batch I make. The top off water containters are food grade. The shop I bought them from had the SAME type of corals in the tank with this frag as are in my tank.
 
weird... just got our first zoas last night and they were open within 15 minutes of putting them in the tank. What is your handling procedure? We wrapped our's in a towel, inside a thermal travel carrier, touched only the rock whenever possible (never used force on any polyp). The polyps that got in the way during handling are the only ones that haven't opened.
 
I have the same problem with zoa's. I'm on my second tank and been in the hobby for about 5-6 years and I cannot keeps zoa's alive. Some last longer than others. But eventually they just slowly disappear. Everything I put it my tank thrives, except zoa's. And it would be my luck since zoa's are my favorite coral!
 
Dr4g0nf1y said:
I should mention that this is not a new problem. I tried zoas a year or so ago and the same thing happened.. they never opened after I acclimated them and added them to the tank. I've checked for Nudibranchs and Sundial snails. Recently I added 5 polyps of PPEs and they are sitting in there right now like little purple marbles. Haven't opened in over a week. But they were wide open at the LFS.
Click to expand...

Its you then, give them to a buddy that's in the hobby for a little bit so they can recoup while you figure out what is going on.

JMO/TWIWD
 
what do you use to check SG? if you are using refractometer, do you using calibration fluid instead of water. I used to check SG with hydrometer, off by 0.003-0.005. Nothing was happy then.
 
distilled water is not the appropriate calibration fluid for refractometers. search or google it.

In my case, I also calibrated with ro/di and after recalibrating with calibration fluid at a known level, I was off by 0.001. Not much, but I think I was fortunate.

I suspect toxins being released by the softies are making the zoos grumpy. I'd be running carbon 24/7.
 
How old are your test kits? Have you cross checked them against any other test kits (ie a buddies, or the LFS?) You should def get some calibration solution for that refractometer.

How old are your bulbs?

Are you iodine dipping them prior to adding into your display?

Are you buying all these polyp frags from the same source? They may not be properly healed at the time of purchase. Often times fraggers in the modern day want to get their frags out the doors before new polyps appear on the frag, that way they are not giving you any extra polyps for free... So they cut them right before the sale, not allowing any healing time.

Also you moved them 3 times in 12 days, that is too much imo. Put them in the sand where they have good flow, in the begining. Leave your day lights off for the rest of the day, and run only your actinics. It will will encourage your polyps to open up.
With proper aclimation and tank parameters, healthy polyps should open fully in less than 1 hour imo.
 
XSharkboyX said:
How old are your test kits? Have you cross checked them against any other test kits (ie a buddies, or the LFS?) You should def get some calibration solution for that refractometer.

How old are your bulbs?

Are you iodine dipping them prior to adding into your display?

Are you buying all these polyp frags from the same source? They may not be properly healed at the time of purchase. Often times fraggers in the modern day want to get their frags out the doors before new polyps appear on the frag, that way they are not giving you any extra polyps for free... So they cut them right before the sale, not allowing any healing time.

Also you moved them 3 times in 12 days, that is too much imo. Put them in the sand where they have good flow, in the begining. Leave your day lights off for the rest of the day, and run only your actinics. It will will encourage your polyps to open up.
With proper aclimation and tank parameters, healthy polyps should open fully in less than 1 hour imo.
Click to expand...

What mixture do you use to iodine dip Zoa's? Im getting some tomorrow and do not have any Coral Rx or any other specialty dip.
 
Thisseemsfishy said:
What mixture do you use to iodine dip Zoa's? Im getting some tomorrow and do not have any Coral Rx or any other specialty dip.
Click to expand...

You should be able to find something posted by Mucho Reef in the search threads area for iodine dip.
However i use 4-5 drops per gallon of RO water.
 
If everything else in your tank is living, surviving, thriving etc, and your zoas aren't, there is an explanation. I can think of a dozen reasons off the top of my head.

My first question would be, where are you getting them from?

Are they tiny frags?

I can show you dozens of threads of people having the same issues. Usually it's because these frags were prematurely fragged, excessively fragged or improperly fragged. I would then look at all of your parameters one by one.

If you posted everything about your tank, how you received them, did you light acclimate them, did they dissolve, go limp, detach etc. All are important to know what happen. How long after they arrive did they go down hill? As I said, there are a dozen questions and through a process of ellimination, we could tell you.

Are you testing all your parameters?

You listed your turnover rate, but what kind of internal water movement do you have? Lack thereof will alone cause your polyps to slowly decline.

If you want to start a long Q & A, I bet someone here could tell you what happened. I would strongly advise that you not purchase anymore until you find the root cause of their demise. Keep the faith my friend, you will be successful with them in time.

Mucho Reef
 
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