Zoanthid not opening

[TechLobster]

Hi all,

 

I purchased a darth maul zoa (my very first zoa) frag at a swap last weekend. It wasn't fully opened when I bought it, but the vendor had the mother colony (very nice looking) on display and I could see the colors and it looked healthy. I acclimated it, etc. and it hasn't opened back up since. I thought zoas were supposed to be easy but so far that hasn't been my experience.

 

My tank has been running for about a year now. I have a biocube 14 running stock lights, Intank basket with floss+polishing cloth, purigen and chemipure elite, upgraded MJ900 return with a hydor flo reflector. I know I am overstocked: 2 clowns, 1 royal gramma, 1 emerald crab, 1 banded coral shrimp, 1 tiger pistol shrimp, 1 blue legged hermit, 2-3 other hermits, ~10 assorted snails. I feed NLS pellets every morning, 1 NLS algea tab every couple days to make sure my inverts are eating and coral frenzy every 2-3 days.

 

I do 25-30% water change weekly (Mondays) and I just tested parameters now:

-Mg = ~1200 ppm (Res Sea Pro)

-Alk = 7 (Red Sea + API double check because I had read that zoas are sensitive to alk)

-pH = 8.2 (Red Sea)

-Ca = 400 ppm (Red Sea) 440 (API)

-Phos = 0 - 0.25 ppm (API - hard to tell 0 with this test but its below 0.25)

-Nitrate = 10 - 20 ppm (API) <-- this is higher than I'd like and I'm gonna throw in an extra water change this week and monitor NO3 levels

-SG = 1.026 (refractometer) 

-temp = 78 with 1 degree swing (digital)

 

I am at a loss, everything else in my tank is thriving (except a frag of meteor shower cyphastrea that I've partially bleached by placing in high light that I am currently trying to find a good spot for). I know my flow could be better, but my tank is euphyllia dominated and the MP10 I bought make it look like they are all in a hurricane. 

 

Anyone have any general ideas? I'll post a pic tomorrow when the whites come on.

[Tamberav]

When zoas are acting pissy I do an iodine dip using lugals and tank water. They seem to love it and helps them bounce back. 

 

Sounds like it was already stressed when you bought it. How many polyps is it? 

[TechLobster]

It was just a one polyp frag. What ratio of iodine to tank water do you do? And how long do you dip in iodine? Never done an iodine dip before but I'll definitely try this tonight.

[Pjanssen]

Sometimes it just takes Zoas awhile to open up, 2-3 weeks is not uncommon. As far as the dip, just 2-3 drops in a cup or more of tank water for 3-5 minutes. If you ae nervous about it, then just do 1-2 drops for 1-3 minutes and see if you get any response. Your parameters seem fine for Zoas, although 1 full degree of temperature swing is high, depending on the time frame.

[burtbollinger]

9 hours ago, TechLobster said:

I thought zoas were supposed to be easy but so far that hasn't been my experience.

 

but my tank is euphyllia dominated and the MP10 I bought make it look like they are all in a hurricane. 

 

 

1

not necessarily.  Zoas and leathers both a giant pain, IMO.

 

Really watch that flow...an overpowered MP10 in a euphyllia tank is a good way to SLOW kill all your eyphillias.  (been there, done that)

[Pjanssen]

6 minutes ago, burtbollinger said:

not necessarily.  Zoas and leathers both a giant pain, IMO.

 

Really watch that flow...an overpowered MP10 in a euphyllia tank is a good way to SLOW kill all your eyphillias.  (been there, done that)

I think he said he took the MP10 out. Zoanthids don't need a lot of flow, just enough to carry nutrients to them. Also, I don't have any Darth Mauls, but I find the more expensive the frag, the harder it is to grow. You might want to try some unnamed Zoanthids. 

[Tamberav]

4 hours ago, TechLobster said:

It was just a one polyp frag. What ratio of iodine to tank water do you do? And how long do you dip in iodine? Never done an iodine dip before but I'll definitely try this tonight.

What pjanssen said I'd exactly how I do it. 

 

Single polyps are always tougher for me... Probably because they are a fresher cut frag. 

[TechLobster]

2 hours ago, burtbollinger said:

Really watch that flow...an overpowered MP10 in a euphyllia tank is a good way to SLOW kill all your eyphillias.  (been there, done that)

Yeah, I took out the MP10 after only a couple of days, so mu only flow comes from the return.
 

3 hours ago, Pjanssen said:

Sometimes it just takes Zoas awhile to open up, 2-3 weeks is not uncommon. As far as the dip, just 2-3 drops in a cup or more of tank water for 3-5 minutes. If you ae nervous about it, then just do 1-2 drops for 1-3 minutes and see if you get any response. Your parameters seem fine for Zoas, although 1 full degree of temperature swing is high, depending on the time frame.

I'll do the longer dip tonight, I am not too worried about losing it because honestly, I figured it was already a goner. 

 

I've attached a pic of the closed zoa bud, it looks like it is still alive to me, but being my first one I have no idea.

[Pjanssen]

As long as it’s still there then it’s still alive. They melt away pretty quickly

[TechLobster]

Cool beans, I'll post a pic after the dip and keep you updated, thanks for the help thus far. 

[OPtasia]

Iodine/iodide are processed fairly quickly in a reef tank. I know a lot of reefers that swear by it. I dose it in my tank about once a week as part of my red sea coral color enhancer kit whenever I need to dose 2 part. 

 

Zoas can be finicky beasts. I have several colonies in a biocube 32. Some are doing fantastic and spreading fast (dragon's eye, bam-bams, utter chaos, rastas) and some seem to need more nurturing (PPE's, hornet reds). What i've found with my zoas is they all love medium to bright light (top of the tank in an LED biocube, medium to low height under brighter higher PAR lights) and like a mature tank with nutrients in the water column (aka "dirty" water).

 

I have palythoas that will actively feed but my zoas really don't actively eat much at all. I do spot feed with aminos and nano reef roids but it's debatable if the zoas actually eat it directly. 

[TechLobster]

Day 9 of Zoa watch. Still have not seen it open yet but I leave before the whites come on and I came home to my BLH harassing it (ignore the filthy glass I need to scrape tonight). I did the iodine dip last night and it has still not melted away yet... Fingers crossed.

[Tamberav]

I see my hermits on my zoas a lot, they seem to just eat algae or dead tissue. 

[TechLobster]

I did my extra water change Thursday night. Last night I could finally see progress. Disappointed that it looks like this isn't a Darth Maul based on the "petals". But I hope it continues to open. Being away for the weekend, so 48hrs without checking on it. No one ever told me I'd get separation anxiety for a box full of salty water.

[TechLobster]

Day 16 and I think the thing finally popped all the way out. It doesn't look super healthy, but I expected that after being closed for that long. 

 

Anyone have any idea what zoa this is now? 

[Tamberav]

Utter chaos? Maybe it morphed?

[CarolinaShoreReef]

1 hour ago, TechLobster said:

Day 16 and I think the thing finally popped all the way out. It doesn't look super healthy, but I expected that after being closed for that long. 

 

Anyone have any idea what zoa this is now? 

Nice to see that it finally opened up! I've got some polyps on a colony of radioactive dragon eyes that haven't opened up after being out of the water for 10minutes.. only been about 11 days though. 

[ajmckay]

Glad it finally opened up for you.  Definitely took a while - my experience is that they open  a bit quicker under lower light but will fade away under insufficient light over time...  The thing with frags is you never know how long ago they were cut up.  It could have been the day before or it could have been weeks ago.  So a few factors to consider.

 

Zoas can definitely be a pain in the butt though.  I just got some frags recently and out of 3:

- 1 was fine

- 1 had zoa pox and I ended up with 4 polyps (from a dozen)

- 1 still has a fungus which seems to move slower but it's taken out like 3-5 polyps (out of like 20) and I'm still not sure if the losses are going to stop (I've already tried iodine dip and peroxide).

[TechLobster]

Update: My Zoa has been happy and expanding nicely (when my inverts don't walk on it). It is now starting to grow two new polyps. One is at the point of growing lashes, the second is still a bud on the original stalk. Still not sure what exactly I have here, but I am happy with the colors esp. under blue lights (crap phone photo from last night attached; in person the lashes are bright fluorescent orange with bright fluorescent pink speckles in the center). Thanks to everyone who helped calm my fears that I got a dud. Can't wait until I have a multi polyp colony of this stuff.