Softies won't spread

[Bcb577]

Hi all,its been almost a year since I started my 10standard nano reef aquarium.it is my first one and I really enjoy the hobby!I practice good husbandry with a 20%water change weekly and haven't skipPED ever.my water parameters always checkout to be within good limits.my question is,that I've had a col plugs of zoas that seem to be healthy but for some reason they won't spread,they tend to stay on their plug and get thicker,but not spread.I've always read that zoas spread really quick and don't know what I'm doing wrong if anything?I'm unable to send pics,I also have some penis,and gasp that are doing great.

[Tamberav]

How fast zoa's spread depends on the individual zoa. Some are almost invasive and others grow very slowly. If the frag is small, they also grow smaller.... bigger colonies put off more heads, ect. They do like a little Nitrate in my experience.

 

Also auto correct....

 

,I also have some penis,and gasp that are doing great.

[masterbuilder]

Right...what Tam said. But in a year you should have some growth/spreading. Tell us your water parameters, type of lighting, livestock, etc. and maybe then you get some more ideas.

[masterbuilder]

Hey Bcb. I looked up your tank and you have quite a bit of filtration going on there. You mentioned in another post that you have NEVER had to clean your glass. Sounds like a sterile tank. Softies like some nitrates and other impurities If it were my tank I would take the skimmer offline for now, drop the carbon pad and just use regular filter pads. You can keep using the chemi-pure and doing your water changes. I dont know what LED you're running but softies dont like being blasted with high light. I would make sure your not overdoing it. LEDs look a whole lot dimmer than you would think when they are actually throwing a high PAR. Might think about turning down your lights some, especially the whites if you can. Its fairly easy to tell what zoas/palys like as far as light level, too low and the will stretch up towards the light, too much and they will stay very flat looking. In my experience, less light is better with softies.

 

Anyway...dirty up your tank. You really should have to clean your glass every few days. Get a good test kit like Salifert and check that your nitrates are just barley detectable and I bet you will see a change over time.

[Tamberav]

Sorry I missed that the tank has been up a year. Masterbuilder is on point.

 

Did you ever get your nitrate and phosphate test kit?

 

I have found (in small tanks) softies grow the fastest with very simple filtration and water changes. They are forgiving corals and it is such a small water volume, there is no reason to complicate things.

[Bcb577]

Hey Bcb. I looked up your tank and you have quite a bit of filtration going on there. You mentioned in another post that you have NEVER had to clean your glass. Sounds like a sterile tank. Softies like some nitrates and other impurities If it were my tank I would take the skimmer offline for now, drop the carbon pad and just use regular filter pads. You can keep using the chemi-pure and doing your water changes. I dont know what LED you're running but softies dont like being blasted with high light. I would make sure your not overdoing it. LEDs look a whole lot dimmer than you would think when they are actually throwing a high PAR. Might think about turning down your lights some, especially the whites if you can. Its fairly easy to tell what zoas/palys like as far as light level, too low and the will stretch up towards the light, too much and they will stay very flat looking. In my experience, less light is better with softies.

 

Anyway...dirty up your tank. You really should have to clean your glass every few days. Get a good test kit like Salifert and check that your nitrates are just barley detectable and I bet you will see a change over time.

great advise thank you