Why do my zoas look like this?? Not fully open, losing skirts...HELP

[adritank]

So on and off my zoas do very well for a while, then do poorly for a while and i cannot figure out why.
I recently changed from Radion g3 to ATI w/ reefbrites.. but they were doing this before the light switch so i know that is not the issue.
Theres nothing to really pick at them like a pest or anything.. i've inspected very closely n, and every frag i get is replugged and dipped in Bayer.

I'm thinking maybe its the high calcium? but others have had higher i'm sure and are completely fine.. I hope someone can help!

Current Tank Parameters as of yesterday:
Alk- 9.8
Cal- 490 (high)
Mag- 1350
No3- 8ppm
po4- .16
Salinity- 1.025

Here are photos of how my zoas are looking:

Thanks in advance

 

[saltyphish]

I doubt its the cal. Mine runs in the 500 range. Skirts missing is typically a sign of pests. I know you said everything is replugged and dipped though

 

[GoFish]

Maybe you missed some eggs when doing a dip? Sounds like what zoa eating nudis do. They chow down on the skirts. Have a look late at night after the lights go out.
Or are the skirts just not fully opening? In which case could be something else

 

[adritank]

Maybe you missed some eggs when doing a dip? Sounds like what zoa eating nudis do. They chow down on the skirts. Have a look late at night after the lights go out.
Or are the skirts just not fully opening? In which case could be something else

I mean its always a possibility that some eggs were left behind. but i have looked at night several times and have never seen anything on any frag.
but yeah its mainly the skirts that dont come out.. and polyps are kind of cupped oddly on the top. idk if you can tell by the pics

 

[joshporksandwich]

Maybe you had an alk swing. 9.8 is borderline high for me

 

[adritank]

Maybe you had an alk swing. 9.8 is borderline high for me

Its possible.. Has something like this ever happened to you?

 

[GoFish]

Alk "swings" can irritate pretty much all corals, that's if it happened somewhat drastically in a fairly short period of time. If it raises slowly then it shouldn't be an issue. I went months without testing last year and then one day decided to pull out the test kits and found Alk at 11.7dkh and double checked with same result (Salifert). Nothing in the tank showed signs of stress, and I have mostly zoas. I target and currently have it at 8.3dkh. Since Nov 2015 my lowest test was 6.7dkh and highest was 11.7dkh, and zoas never missed a beat at either end...

Do you have a clearer photo of the bright orange polyp on the bottom of the 2nd picture? That's one I can kinda see what looks like some random lashes/skirts missing.

 

[adritank]

Alk "swings" can irritate pretty much all corals, that's if it happened somewhat drastically in a fairly short period of time. If it raises slowly then it shouldn't be an issue. I went months without testing last year and then one day decided to pull out the test kits and found Alk at 11.7dkh and double checked with same result (Salifert). Nothing in the tank showed signs of stress, and I have mostly zoas. I target and currently have it at 8.3dkh. Since Nov 2015 my lowest test was 6.7dkh and highest was 11.7dkh, and zoas never missed a beat at either end...

Do you have a clearer photo of the bright orange polyp on the bottom of the 2nd picture? That's one I can kinda see what looks like some random lashes/skirts missing.

I'll get some clearer photos tomorrow.
Some zoas are not affected.. while others are slightly affected and others greatly affected. Ill clear pics of several different ones tomorrow

 

[Supurderek]

I would assume pests. Sadly, with such abundance of zoas, plenty of food and tank to hide.

 

[wattson]

high Alk ,,high nutrients,,,,,,,lower Alk ,,lower nutrients,,,lighting is a key componant too,,I keep my Alk around 8.0 with moderate nutrients and moderate T5 lighting..
usually my mind goes right to pests or skimming and DOC issues (Po4 /No3 too),,I dose Iodide at a low dose,,usually when iodide is low in my tank,,,I start to see things like this,,I dose Seachem Iodide twice a week of 3ML in a 200 gallon system ..
My flow is moderatly high to very strong..I see alot zoas with long stalks in your pictures,,usually lighting is too low and flow is too..they go hand and hand foresay
Always look at pest topic first,,then parameters,,then nutrients,,water change schedule,,DOC topic,,and so on..

 

[adritank]

I'm pretty positive it's not a pest issue. Gonna lower alk and cal. We'll see what happens. Thanks for everyone's input

 

[joshporksandwich]

Its possible.. Has something like this ever happened to you?

Yes. Alk too high or lights too strong also

 

[Elementalj]

Yes. Alk too high or lights too strong also

They melt like the wicked witch of the west!

 

[Chris Adams]

for the ones that are not doing well can you lower them? looks like they are on frag racks.
Try lowering a couple showing issues and see what happens.

 

[FugeTown]

Check your powerheads , my zoas started closing and noticed algae on my powerhead took it apart cleaned the impeller and the flow was noticeably stronger and sure enough my zoas are opened nice again, my zoas respond to coralvite too.

 

[FugeTown]

 

[adritank]

for the ones that are not doing well can you lower them? looks like they are on frag racks.
Try lowering a couple showing issues and see what happens.

Going to raise the ati a couple inches.

Check your powerheads , my zoas started closing and noticed algae on my powerhead took it apart cleaned the impeller and the flow was noticeably stronger and sure enough my zoas are opened nice again, my zoas respond to coralvite too.

I'll clean the mp40 and raise the % a bit. Thank you guys!

 

[keithfish1]

So on and off my zoas do very well for a while, then do poorly for a while and i cannot figure out why.
I recently changed from Radion g3 to ATI w/ reefbrites.. but they were doing this before the light switch so i know that is not the issue.
Theres nothing to really pick at them like a pest or anything.. i've inspected very closely n, and every frag i get is replugged and dipped in Bayer.

I'm thinking maybe its the high calcium? but others have had higher i'm sure and are completely fine.. I hope someone can help!

Current Tank Parameters as of yesterday:
Alk- 9.8
Cal- 490 (high)
Mag- 1350
No3- 8ppm
po4- .16
Salinity- 1.025

Here are photos of how my zoas are looking:

Thanks in advance

Did you ever figure this out?

 

[RyanS]

Did you ever figure this out?

Yea, it would be nice to have a follow up rounding out such knowledge.

 

[jev99]

I would also like to see a follow-up. I'm having the same problem.

I keep changing my mind what I think it is. Today I think it's because I switched to reef crystals salt.