Retracted Zoo's

[Wayne]

Hey once zoa's retract for a few days they are considered done right? Half just didn't come out for a few days then the other half isn't coming out. All my levels are good and everything else in the tank is looking great... I just did a water change to see if any improvement is there. But why do they do this?

[reefwars]

they do it for many reasons, mostly i find they do it when its time for a water change....but they do it as defence,if theres too much light ,if algae is growing on the polyps,if they are being picked at or handled,sometimes they dont acclimate well zoas are picky like that:) are these the ones i gave you??

its perfectly fine for zoas to stay closed for a few days ive had frags i got off people that didnt open for weeks, i got a little frag of pat last year that i got with just a few heads of yellow and orange and they sat in my tank for months before any sign of life.alot of the smaller frags i get from red coral usually take a few days to open and become comfortable.and i buy 5$ frags from ken and i buy the ones that arent open and see if they open up in my system:)

water changes are a big thing with zoas even if your water tests fine they need regular water changes plus you need to feed them i know alot of people dont but they do a million times better when fed, and mine stay open all night the only reason mine close now is if i need a water change or aiptasia is growing out of them which seems to be my big big big problem lol:)

try to stay clear of deepwater zoos untill you get the hang of taking care of them , they are hit and miss for everyone :):)

[bignose]

I was told Alkalinity does this to zoas and palys. You might need to adjust.

[marcingo]

Could also be lighting.

I purchased a LED setup for my 10 gallon. Had a colony of zoos I got from another reefer. The minute they went in somewhere midway between the top and bottom of the tank they never opened. It was probably 2 or 3 weeks before I clued in. I moved them onto the sandbed in indirect light. Within a few minutes half opened. Within thehour all opened. I kept them there for a good week. Then I moved them up high in the tank again and they have stayed open ever since.

They must have been unaccustomed to the high light intensity and when they had a chance to adjust lower in the tank they are fine now.

Lately I also had a cyano breakout. Zoos havent opened in days because of it. Looked like things are getting better this morning though and a few were open.

[Wayne]

Naw Denny these are ones that have been in my tank for a few months now. I will have to check my alk when I get home. As for lighting nothing has really changed for a few months now. I am hoping the water change will work, if not its time for some more :)

[Myka]

Hey reefwars, what do you feed your Zoas?

[daniella3d]

Of course not! I had some that remained closed for a month and are now beautiful and always open and spreading.

Check for amphipods at night. Mine were being and still are eated by amphipods that chew on the base and polyp at night. If there is no white on them and no sign of disease, I would suspect either a zoa spider or just plain nasty amphipods chewing on them. I have the problem with amphipods in both of my aquarium and I have seen the amphipods eat and take large bites out of my zoas.

I am now trying to find something that will kill them because they only come out and eat the zoas at night when the fishes are asleep! :cry:


Hey once zoa's retract for a few days they are considered done right? Half just didn't come out for a few days then the other half isn't coming out. All my levels are good and everything else in the tank is looking great... I just did a water change to see if any improvement is there. But why do they do this?

[reefwars]

I feed zooplankton in decent amounts every two days, I also feed microvert in small amounts and coral excel, mysis hits my tank for fish and eel so some of that finer stuff I'm sure they get to. I also have a nano koralia pointed downwards to help food get around . I think I've had a easy time with zoa's so far because my tank isn't perfect my nitrates are always at around 5 have been for over a year they use to be higher before in changed it to a zoa tank. I have lots of life in my tank like it's over ridden with Copepods and amphipods as there's no predators for them in my tank plus a dsb of about 4-5 inches. I also only use a 250 w mh 20,000k about 28" from the sandbed so it's not that intense , in the evening and early morning it's 4x39w true blue actnics which I like to show off to people because they change the look of my zoa's almost completely I love it :)

it's a real shame that over the past year I've let the long hair algae and aiptasia take over I've got the long hair algae starting to go away and I just added another filefish to take out the 200+ heads of aiptasia I've got happenng so things are looking up and I'm motivaed about it again:)

sorry Wayne to highjack didn't mean it lol :)

[Wayne]

sorry Wayne to highjack didn't mean it lol :)

LOL no worries!

daniella3d I hope your right I won't count them out just yet and I will sneak up with a flashlight tonight and check! :lol:

[reefwars]

LOL no worries!

daniella3d I hope your right I won't count them out just yet and I will sneak up with a flashlight tonight and check! :lol:

never count them out when they are dead they will melt away or turn whitish and fall off and float away. When i lose a zoa I just leave it and let nature take it's course they don't create much dieoff individually so leave it :) Aldo the problem I'm having are really small baby aiptasia growing between polyps I can barely see them but my zoas notice it:)