Help on zoa's not opening

[darkreef]

i am thinking flow.. blew off all the rocks everyday and this is the only coral thats getting a build up of detris and goo. my other zoa's are doing wonderful.

i only have 2 T5's on my tank ( upgrading lighting system tonight!)
did a water change and cleaning yesterday usually when he gets like this he will open after a water change but now my (think there mohawks) are not blooming and hard to feed!

ps. water is fine..

Tank crew : Fire shrimp , mandarin Dragnet , Dwarf Zebra Lionfish
Clean up : 7 turbo's , 2 green emerald crabs , 2 hermits , 10000X bristle worms
chocolate chip star fish (sump)
Coral : Devils Leather , sunny d's , Mohawks , Candy apples , 3 hitch hiker zoa's , a hitchhiker mushroom and a few feather dusters

feeding : brine shrimp and mysis , phytoplankton

ph : 8.0
ammonia :0
nitrates : 0
Nitrites : .5


few weeks of having it!

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/1120054_10151875556569923_2124338553_o.jpg



now :(
https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/1172524_10151872536474923_1137472100_o.jpg

[darkreef]

i do have him put higher in my tank now could that be a problem?

but my candy apple's are higher and doing great ! with my sps.

[Phil]

Need more tests
Ie
Alk
Mag
Cal

And what are u useing for lights. Looks like a lot of algae on the glass id test your phos too.

[darkreef]

its around 6 months old now. been having a phos problem.. cleared up for a while and i bought a bunch of snails that didnt go well and now i got algae.
il do my tests right now.

[darkreef]

phoso 1-2 between
calcium :560
Hardness : 17.5
Nitrate : 0
PH: 8.2

this is weird because i buy all pre mixed water and use ro water only :S

[Phil]

phoso 1-2 between
calcium :560
Hardness : 17.5
Nitrate : 0
PH: 8.2

this is weird because i buy all pre mixed water and use ro water only :S

Your cal is way hi and alk should be 7-8 dkh or 2.5-2.9 meq/l so that's way hi too. Your phos can come from useing rock that was saturated with dead stuff.

[91Atrac]

Seen this before and it's all on your water. Not lighting unless your bulbs were old!!!!!! Then that'll cause your algae on top of bad quality water.

I hate testing my tanks so I do weekly water changes of 25% or more but nanos are prone to spikes depending on how you feed and what your keeping. To much phyto and it can make the parameters jump a bit and if its going up daily well then you know what your doing wrong.

I would just start doing more water changes and start from there.

[Phil]

For evaporation your roping off with fresh water right? I have to ask.

[darkreef]

yes always fresh. i put more fresh in the tank then salt ( no cover ). i do a 25% biweekly il start doing it every 4 days until the problem clears up. just started getting that red slime and i knew something was wrong and ran to the forms. so i blow my live rock off daily.. it snows pretty bad. so il blow the rocks everyday and water change every 4

[91Atrac]

You have slime then it's not good and no weekly personal choice cuz I also don't skim I do 30% or more weekly. Not enough macro in my fuge to accommodate the food I add. So I think 25% bi weekly is to little.

[Phil]

Are u useing a refractory or the needle thing? For salinity? And what so u mix it to 1.24-.26

[darkreef]

so.. i red my kh test wrong
dKH : 1 ( turn blue on 1 drip) -.-
ppm KH : 17.9

going to test my store water...

[darkreef]

i use premixed. mix is 1.25 and i dont let it get above 1.27
when i do mix my own its 1.24

[darkreef]

i skim .. last water change i really stirred **** up for a good hour in my tank and sump and half filled my skimmer

[darkreef]

i dont feed my tank, and when i did it was a tiny little just to feed my two heads, im going to start tomorrow because i just got a dwarf lion. i just add
plankton for pods for my mandarine

[Phil]

You have slime then it's not good and no weekly personal choice cuz I also don't skim I do 30% or more weekly. Not enough macro in my fuge to accommodate the food I add. So I think 25% bi weekly is to little.

Ya I'd take a water sample into a lfs they usually test for free and I'd also test the premixed water your useing. Just trying to see why your cal and stuff is so high. Changing your water will help. Also running some carbon and phos will help

[darkreef]

i have a phos pad and filter floss in my sump now.. but its loaded with pods and i dont wanna take it out ;P maybe i can throw it in the sump add new stuff until the pods explode on that one? or the old pads could be what contribute to my phos problem

[91Atrac]

Just shake the phos pad. The pods will run out. They repopulate pretty quick. Get that water in check and you'll be back in business.

[Phil]

i have a phos pad and filter floss in my sump now.. but its loaded with pods and i dont wanna take it out ;P maybe i can throw it in the sump add new stuff until the pods explode on that one? or the old pads could be what contribute to my phos problem

It can be bad to leave foam in longer. I'd put some real carbon or phos in a bag in your return area

[91Atrac]

If you have a foam pad abs you never clean it that will definitely contribute to prpblems. It NEEDS to be rinsed at least once a month or the detritus build up WILL cause problems. Rinsed mine today in water change water. Bye bye crap build up lol!!!

[darkreef]

sounds good guys. thanks. going to do a ten gallon water change now. take the pads out buy some carbon and phos tomorrow ( not to worried the pods have cheato too ) .( can i throw it in a stocking and over my overflow outlet thats in my sump?

[Phil]

Yes that's the best place to put it

[91Atrac]

^^^ agreed

[pinkreef]

my little red zoes opened up after i removed my leather from the tank:idea:

[darkreef]

When I got them they were in the same tank with leathers. My leather is only a frag and not by it

[Madreefer]

How old is this tank?
Give us more info on your setup.
You keep doing things the way you are and your always going to have problems. There's lots of people and ifo on here that'll help you get on the right track to a successful tank.
Stop feeding plankton.

[denny_CC]

what do you have for flow in the tank?

[darkreef]

i have tank pictures up. i have one powerhead and my return pump on the other side

[reefwars]

Up your flow And I bet they open right up , avoid moving them around and low light :)

[91Atrac]

Up your flow And I bet they open right up , avoid moving them around and low light :)

Some zoas actually prefer medium to high light. These don't tho.

[darkreef]

i just did a 15% water change and put carbon in a sleeve on my intake to sump. il try uping the flow too! i think its because i got so much live rock also. is there a way to get more flow behind the rocks?

[darkreef]

oh? so i should probabley use the rock as a sand island? well im upgrading my lighting system as soon as i find a controller .

[reef_rookie]

I had problems with zoos. and it was aways the red ones. Now I dose with ecosystems "reef solution". Now when the problem starts I put a cap full in, and they start oping up again right. Hour or so, depending on how bad they are.
I you decide to try it I hope it works

[JmeJReefer]

Cleaning ur tank would help. A small layer of algae could be building up on the zoas. More flow? Too much? Good luck

[darkreef]

Thinking on renting a hare for a bit. And I put the power head right on the zoo's see if that maybe be the problem . If it still keeps up I'm going to move them down to the sand bed . Going to buy a new tooth brush and brush the algae off . If my lion will let me that is don't want to get stung . See all my other zoos are doing wonderful. One of my sps died though . Not sure if I bleached him or if he's dead .

[darkreef]

Ran into a big problem ... I can only get water on Sundays , and the place I get water was to chep to give me a new lid... Ten gallons of water in my trunk ... No fresh left. I have conditioner but didn't really want to use tap . Would this be ok for a few top ups and one water change until sunday?

[Madreefer]

Yes. Alot of people use tap water. You can find good priced RO units in buy/sell section.

[91Atrac]

Yea I'm currently using tap water. I will be getting bottled water ASAP tho.

[darkreef]

I have another small question , I have crappy lights. . Two old t5s just went and boufht a ai sol blue unit and don't wanna bleach everything ... Was think 35% to start ? And should I just mainly worry about the whites or will the blues bleach too .

[91Atrac]

I'd worry about the whites mostly. Those units are said to be powerful but depends on the size of your tank and the wattage of unit you got.

[darkreef]

I'm not sure if its giving me the coverage I need. So sad. And the bracket I got doesn't support the weight good so all my light is kinda pointed to one corner ... Rather then the middle of the tank . Guess I'm going to have to build something . Not sure how though

[Madreefer]

Coming up on 2 years now with running the AI Sols. From my experience the whites don't bleach anymore than the blues. Your plan of starting out at 35% is good. Ramp them up 3-5% a week. It looks dull but your tank will be getting enough light so don't get impatient and go quicker. Move your light up a little bit and the spread will be better. Moving the configuration of the lenses will help as well.