Oldest Zoas melting away

[Beej1254]

Ok. I give. I thought this Zoa colony was bouncing back after removing a couple vermetid snails. But it continued to have polyps melt away. I thought maybe it was too shaded so I moved some rocks around. Still melting away. I changed the position of the rock the zoas are on and they look very unhappy now. I totally suspect the move to be the cause of that. The majority of the polyps are open but they don't look full like they used to. They haven't in a long time.

Everything in my tank looks great right now besides this colony of zoas.

Parameters are:

Temp 78-79
Ph(currently):8.47
Mag: 1400
ALK:10
Calcium:420

Nitrates: 5-10ppm
Phosphates: card says 0.25


I guess I'm gonna try and dip the whole rock and try and kill any left over vermetid snails. Other then that maybe reduce the lighting intensity? They are still at the same level in the tank just angled so now they all get even lighting.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Sniperhank]

Polyps and softies is always something dealing with alkalinity. Be it a spike, drop, inconsistent levels...something.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Beej1254]

What could cause a spike or drop? I was testing as I posted this because I wanted the most accurate readings to post


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Beej1254]

I tests my calc, ALK, and mag every Monday an hour or so after I do my water changes. It seems to have been pretty good for me doing this as my levels are always within the same ranges. I like to keep my ALK at 10dkh..I dose usually around 60mls of 2 part ALK on Mondays. And wait till the next water change to do it all over again.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[bribo12]

Why do you keep your alk so high? But that doesn't seem like the issue here. Have you checked for nudibranchs?


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Beej1254]

Not sure how I originally settled on that number. I think it just became my go to number honestly because of the trouble I had with my test kit in the beginning. I didn't trust my readings so I shot for the middle of the "acceptable" range and just stuck with it. Depending on the lighting in the room I either have an easy or very hard time reading my test kit. My corals always seemed happy with it. I'm gonna test again tomorrow morning and probably everyday over the weekend and then again after my water change to see if my levels are constant.

I've been trying to keep a very close eye for pests in the tank. Sense I just got 9 new coral frags I guess it could be possible. But I feel like this problem started long before these new additions. I always dip and inspect my corals before adding them to the tank but that doesn't mean I couldn't miss something. The main problem plaguing my tank right now pest wise are these vermetid snails. I have found that they definitely irritate corals when they are close by and that they even grow on sps corals. Once removed the corals are much happier. Other then that I literally sat on a stool with my face against the tank glass looking right at this colony hoping to find a pest I could remove.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[bribo12]

Have you had a ph swing or anything? The snails could definitely be a factor too. Do you have a pic of the Zoas?


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Beej1254]

The only thing I've noticed is that my PH daily swing has been reaching 8.49 to a range of 8.1 - 8.49. It used to reach 8.35 max. But as others have said before in my post about that it's most likely due to the fact that it's now spring and I've opened the windows. I checked my most recent graphs and haven't noticed any major spikes aside from when dosing ALK.

I haven't been able to test yet this morning when my living room is lit with natural sunlight. I'll post new results soon.

Here is when my zoas were healthy a month or so ago.




And this is from just now




Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Beej1254]

Ok just dipped them. They are all closed up but look good. Got lots of debris off them and a ton of Amphipods. I thought I did a decent job of blowing out the gunk with a turkey baster but I guess not.

I wonder if my yellow Corris wrasse is trying to get at the snails and pods and is really irritating them?

Unfortunately I won't be able to take time to retest parameters. I've been with my fiancé at the hospital all day and I gotta head back now.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Sniperhank]

Are they in a different spot due to being dipped?
I'd still want to aim at alk being the issue at hand.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Beej1254]

I tried to place them back in the exact spot I had them in. I recently re did my scape to give them more light because they were thinning out so much in hopes to help.

Hopefully all is well today and I'll get some time to retest


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Beej1254]

Ok. I retested in a bright lit window and feel confident in my results.

Calcium:430
ALK: 9 dkh
Mag: 1420

I usually like to keep my tank at

Cal: 420
ALK:10 dkh
Mag:1400

This doesn't seem much of a difference to me.

I did however recalibrate my ph probe as well.

Before recalibration my PH was reading 8.35 and after recalibration got reads 8.08.

I've checked and dipped for pests (I know 1 dip may not get them all) and the vermetid snails are being completely removed when I see them.

Can it be possible that my daily PH swings are too drastic? Wouldn't that affect the whole tank? Could my zoas have some sort of infection? Should I reduce lighting? After all I did move and reposition them.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Beej1254]

Also do you think that maybe they were too close to my mushroom?? Aren't mushrooms toxic?


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[54seaweed]

All coral is toxic , doubtful mushrooms had any effect on the zoa's, address all your parameters to see what isn't right , retrace your steps did you start doing anything different , it could be something simple that your over looking

 

[Beej1254]

The only recent changes were moving some rocks around and using holdfast and Nyos reef cement. And different lighting hitting the zoas from moving rocks. Aside from that nothing's changed besides ph. But this issue started before awhile ago and was the reason why some of the changes happened in the first place.

Someone suggested using Chemiclean on the tank or as a dip for the zoas. They said it helps take care of any bacterial problem they may be having. I won't say I'm really against chemicals or things like that but I do take pride in the fact that I haven't used any as of yet. Personally I don't want to either especially because who knows if it'll help


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[54seaweed]

Chemiclean will always mask the problem but that wont solve the problem , finding the problem and addressing it head on is always a better practice , Chemiclean is the easy way out . covering the problem never fixes the problem.

 

[Beej1254]

That's one of the reasons I don't like using chemical fixes. So far after the dip in CoralRX I've just left them to be in their new spot. Today I think they look a bit better. I'm still monitoring my parameters.

The only other thing I can think of..which I don't know if it'll sound crazy or not.

Sense the season change sunlight hits my house slightly differently. So now I have the intense direct sunlight coming through my front door window like last summer and hits the center of my tank where these zoas used to be. Sometimes this happens for a couple hours. Last summer I covered the window on the front door and I haven't yet this year. I wonder if they got fried from the direct sunlight?




Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[54seaweed]

what do you think they get out in the ocean , most of my corals thrive more with more light , I don't get direct sunlight but Lots of sunlight shines on the tank ,
my problem is temp in the summer can get rather hot ,

 

[Beej1254]

Well yeah in the ocean they are used to the sunlight. But in my tank they only get LEDs run at 40% power. And from the angle the sun would hit the tank they won't be getting much protection from water depth either. Even if they are found in shallower water I guess my thought is they are acclimated to the extra intensity of the light?

I mean I can see it as being a possibility sense I've tested my parameters 4 times in the last couple days..I recalibrate my ph probe..dipped for pests 2 times now and checked again for vermetid snails. My arms are as clean as they ever were going into the tank. Nothing new or different has entered the tank except the aquascape cement and epoxy and I don't think it was that.




Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Beej1254]

Just an update.

I haven't added any chemicals or anything different to the tank to try and solve this problem. Just been monitoring my parameters everyday. The zoas definitely seem to be making a recovery. I'm still not sure what happened to them. My only explanation are the vermetid snails and the excessive direct sunlight on the colony.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice