Why Aren't My Zoa's Opening Up?

[Zach72202]

I will try to me most comprehensive as I can at the moment. I am not very good with saltwater, but I am very well versed in freshwater, so I have the basics down, just so ya'll know where I stand. Pictures of the tank and zoas are attached.

My current issue is that my zoas are not opening up, usually they open about halfway. This has been ongoing for about a month (yeah I know) and I really am not sure of the cause, but I suspect high nitrates.

The passed few weeks, the maintenance just hasn't been getting done. Last week I did about a 20% waterchange and today I did a 50% waterchange. Before those two, I cannot remember the last time I did one. Oops...

So here is the tank setup and equipment and know parameters:

Tank: Fluval Flex 32 Marine Version (Full tank image attached, full white enabled for maximum clarity, not typical lighting)
Lighting: Stock Fluval Marine Light
-Runtime+Percentages: 8 Hours Total
-White: 45%@6hrs then to 10%@4hrs
-Red: 30%@6hrs
-Purple/Blue/Cyan: 100%@10hrs

Fluval CP2 (425gph) On the Right side (Shown in image)
Stock Circulation pump in the overflow
Sicce Powerhead on the left, not much known about it, I don't run it all the time.
Still using the stock media sponges.

Known Parameters:

Nitrates: 20~ppm (API Master Test Kit)
pH: 8.2-8.4~
Salinity: 1.024 (Has been around 1.026-1.027 prior to change)
Temperature: 82F~

I use Brightwell NeoMarine Salt and RO water (Not RODI, just RO, comes out about 9-13ppm)

Current fish/invert livestock:
1 Mandarin Dragonet (Image attached for funzies)
2 Ocellaris Clownfish
4 Bengaii Cardinals
1 Orchid Dottyback

2 Peppermint Shrimp
12~ Hermit Crabs
1 Mexican Turbo Snail
4~ Astria Snails

*Added Today*
8 Nassarius Snails
1 Pincushion Urchin

Additional Information:

I am just getting over a cyanobacteria outbreak. Dosed chemiclean about two days ago and it worked out today was the 50% waterchange I was planning on doing. I got the urchin to help clean up the hair algae accumulating.

I feed 1 frozen cube of mysis and bloodworms per day (sometimes twice). The mandarin loves the bloodworms.

It looks like the zoas aren't dead, but not doing good at all. Some will do this thing where they open about halfway, but never all the way like they used to. As you can see from the images, my kenya tree(s) are doing amazing, which is unsurprising, but also my green sinularia leather is doing good too, and I notice good growth. What really gets me is how these two open up so good and show good color, but the zoas are not having it. You can see the zoas in two separate images. One where they are all closed up tight, and the other on the kenya tree frag doing the half open thing I was talking about. I am not really expecting a full recovery, but at least for some polyps to survive if I can help it.

Thank you for reading and any help would be appreciated! If anybody has any questions about parameters I would be happy to provide what I can.

 

[vetteguy53081]

There are a number of factors why zoas close up. Some are water movement/flow as zoas do not require the consistent high flow conditions that SPS corals do. I would consider a moderate flow environment ideal but Zoanthids, like most corals, can adapt to low or high flow. In high flow, you will typically see polyps grow closer to the rock with shorter stalks. Another is lack of feeding and food as infrequent feeding and ultra low nutrient conditions can lead to entire colony meltdowns. Target feeding is not a requirement as Zoanthids are photosynthetic. I have found that target feeding Zoanthids always provides mixed results, when a food particle falls onto the polyps.

Back to parameters, good water quality is a must. What test kits are you using ?
dKH: 8.0 - 10.0
Calcium: 420 - 440
Magnesium: 1300 - 1350
Iodine: Maintained via regular water changes or manually at small dosages
Temperature: 78-79 degrees
pH: 8.1-8.3
Phosphates: .02 - .03
Nitrates < 5

Asterina stars, little tiny tiny spiders and nudibranchs also will make them miserable to point of death as will aptasia, worms like spinoids or vermetid snails. A few things to look for. Hope this helps

 

[Zach72202]

Okay, so I do not feed my corals. I was thinking about starting to, but since I didn't have much interest into the tank previously, I did not buy anything for it. I plan on adding some more corals in the next few weeks and I am thinking of using RedSea Reef AB+ (I think it is called that) for food.

I did a look around for pests, and it seems I do not have any.

As for parameters. I only really have the API master test kit (Includes pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate). I do have a GH/KH and a phosphate test kit. I do not own anything to test Calcium, Magnesium, or Iodine. I feel like my nitrates are the primary issue, being above 15ppm for sure. My temp might be a bit high, which is easy to lower. Next week will be back at the fish store and I will be looking for these test kits. I'll take in some water and test it there as well. In the interim I will probably do a few smaller waterchanges just to alleviate the nitrates and see what happens.

Thank you for the help and reply! Much appreciated.