zoanthid buttons not wanting to grow

[lpreston83]

Mates,

I've been having issues getting my zoathids to spread. I've had this tank in this configuration for about a year and a half now. About 4-5 months ago I almost killed off these buttons due to the lights being old. So I went ahead and bought some new T5H0 Purple and white bulbs and they seemed to be making a recovery. A new coral actually grew up out of the same live rock piece that I bought with them on it. I have them up at the highest point in the tank tucked into a rock because my urchin acts like a bulldozer to anything that isn't secure. About a month ago I noticed that growth had stopped and this week many of them have been closing up.

I can't figure out why these guys aren't growing please help.

Tank info
Two side hanging filters and a pump for water flow.
Lights T5HO purple and white bulbs ~5 months old
Ammonia <.25
PH 8.0
NO2 Nitrate <5
Nitrite 0
Salinity 1.023
Alkalinity N/A
Calcium N/A
Water temp 78-9

Tank mates
Hermits
Various snails
Sunflower (Yellow Flowerpot) coral at the bottom of the tank
Blue Damsal
Sea urchin

 

[fort384]

How about your PO4?

Where are they in the tank, and what kind of flow do they get?

 

[lpreston83]

They are top center and get moderate flow. I'm not sure what the PO4 is don't have a test for that.

 

[fort384]

That could be a factor. Once PO4 gets above 0.03 or so ppm, it can seriously inhibit coral growth. If you plan to keep coral, I would get a PO4 test kit. At the least it would rule it out as a cause.

Have you tried moving them at all in the tank and getting a different flow/light combo to see if it helps?

 

[EriksFish315]

Po4 is phosphate test kit.

 

[lpreston83]

It was doing fine before so I'm thinking its prob not flow or light. I'll buy a PO4 kit and test if they are normal I'll try moving.

 

[fort384]

Next thing to check is Alk and Ca. Make sure they are also stable and within acceptable range. If it is swinging a lot, especially when you do a water change, it can inhibit growth.

 

[54seaweed]

I had a few zoa's not opening than a friend told me to try blowing them out lightly with a turkey baster , sure to my demise I found a nudi hiding in them
since than they are the most colorful zoa's in my tank

 

[lpreston83]

Woke up this morning and tried looking for the Nudi but couldn't find anything out of the ordinary for my tank.

 

[lpreston83]

so got back from the aquarium and PO4 results came back a little higher than 0 and ALK can CA came back fine. Bought some phytoplankton in a bottle to see if he isn't getting enough food.

Boy would I feel stupid if it wasn't doing well because I was starving it.

 

[fort384]

IMO you need test kits. What is fine for alk and Ca and how will you know if those numbers are moving unless you can test on demand?

Zoas do not require supplemental feeding to stay healthy so I think there is something else at play. It won't hurt to try though.

 

[lpreston83]

Yeah its on the list of things to buy, but christmas makes it less urgent.

 

[fort384]

Well, then I'd say try the supplemental feeds through the Christmas season here, and if you don't see a response, start delving deeper into potential water quality issues. I had all kinds of trouble when I started my tank, and it was only when I started testing and logging my test results regularly (weekly) that I noticed I was getting some pretty good ups and downs in Alkalinity between water changes. Once I fixed that problem (by dosing 2 part) my coral growth started to explode.

 

[54seaweed]

Yeah its on the list of things to buy, but christmas makes it less urgent.

put it on Santa 's list