Zoanthids are not growing well

[Steve Sico]

Does anyone know why my zoanthids are not growing well. Is algae growing on them? If so how do I stop that.

[Steve Sico]

Also I don't know what the white thing is in the center of the green zoa.

[Jono]

White thing looks like a sponge to me. What are your parameters?

[Steve Sico]

Ammonia nitrite and nitrate at 0 , PH is 8.0 but I can't test calcium I just added Kent marine nano reef 2 part. And the calcium came up high. But it was low the other night I tested.

Salinity 1.025

That's all I got

Should I poke at the sponge to see if it's soft?

[metrokat]

You might have pods irritating it - you could do a quick swish or a dip with 50% peroxide and tank water. 3 minutes tops. - swish it around or turkey baste it.

The colony will be pissed off for at least a couple of days after but it looks already pissed.

Notice what if anything falls off in the dip. 

[Steve Sico]

That sounds like a good plan for tomorrow. The one is on a big rock I guess I have to take the whole rock out. I have Dip from when I bought the frag so I'll use that. 

Thanks for the advice.  

 

[Oldsalt01]

How old is the tank?  I had a terrible time keeping zoas for the first year of the tank. Once it matured they started taking off. +1 on the sponge. 

[Clown79]

I have not had much luck with zoas myself, I often think it's due to low nutrients.

 

You say your nitrates are 0, that may be why the zoas aren't so happy.

 

The dipping method @metrokat suggested will not only get rid of critters but also any algae that may be growing them.

 

It's also safe to do if you follow her instructions.

[ReefWeeds]

I agree with @Clown79. Zero nitrates might be the issue. They typically don’t seem to do as well in new tanks as they thrive with some nutrients in my opinion. Nitrates a minimum of 5 and phosphates at .08 or higher seems to be the key. 

 

Also, what kind of flow are they in? If algae is growing on them, could be not enough flow. And too much flow will sometimes irritate them. 

 

What kat said is good advice as well. 

 

Personally, I wouldn’t add two part until you can test for both alk and calcium regularly otherwise you’re just asking for trouble I think. Guessing with calcium and alk additives never ends well. 

[Steve Sico]

Thank you for all the advice.  I am going to dip them today with a water change. I will post how the zoas do in a few days.  Hopefully with pictures of them open and healthy again. 

The tank is 8 months old with 2 gallon water change a week. It's the 13.5 gallon evo with stock everything. I think I might have to upgrade the pump. But what do I do with this sponge? 

 

[Clown79]

2 hours ago, Steve Sico said:

Thank you for all the advice.  I am going to dip them today with a water change. I will post how the zoas do in a few days.  Hopefully with pictures of them open and healthy again. 

The tank is 8 months old with 2 gallon water change a week. It's the 13.5 gallon evo with stock everything. I think I might have to upgrade the pump. But what do I do with this sponge? 

 

The sponge on the rock? 

 

It may die after the dip