Yellow Polyps dying

jdamron

jdamron

New Member
I received a really nice colony of about 30 healthy looking Yellow Polyps from saltwaterfish.com a few weeks ago. And since then they are slowing dying. My understanding is that these Zoanthids do not need high light requirements or special needs but it looks like I am loosing them. The heads seem to shrivel up and then they appear to fall off the rock. I have other low/medium light corals that are doing great including LPS and other Zoanthids. See image. I have been feeding the Yellow Polps mysis Shrimp and Coral Chili about every other day and this still does not seem to help. They do grab the food and appear to eat it but they keep dying. No other aggressive coral is close by - see picture. Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate and testing at zero. I do run GFO to combat hair algae. Any ideas on why these are dying and what I can do to save what is left of them?
Thanks in advance.

 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
They actually need medium light and medium flow
what lighting do you have? and what flow on them?
 
jdamron

jdamron

New Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by meowzer http:///t/391683/yellow-polyps-dying#post_3475203
They actually need medium light and medium flow
what lighting do you have? and what flow on them?
I have two 10,000°K 65W and two Actinic 65W for a total of 260 watts over 90 gal tank.
As far as flow, I have roughly 700 gph through the return from the sump. And for circulation I have two of the Koralia Evolution 750 and one Koralia Evolution 1050 on a wavemaker timer. I have experimented with the circulation pumps to try not to blast them because at first it seemed like they had too much flow and were falling off the rock. I turned off the pumps for the picture, but normally they are moving in the flow pretty good.
 
jdamron

jdamron

New Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by rickross23 http:///t/391683/yellow-polyps-dying#post_3475209
You need more watts and better lighting. Do toy have t5, vho, what?
The two 10,000°K 65W and two Actinic 65W bulbs I have are Coralife Compact Fluorescent. I was afraid it might be a light issue. I guess I was thinking since I have other corals doing fine (Candy Cane, Hammer, other Zoanthids) that I thought had similar lighting needs that these would do okay. So perhaps the other coral I have just do not need as much light as Yellow Polyps?
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Where are they in the tank? I can't see them in the full tank shot.....you can try placing them as high as possible
 
jdamron

jdamron

New Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by meowzer http:///t/391683/yellow-polyps-dying#post_3475214
Where are they in the tank? I can't see them in the full tank shot.....you can try placing them as high as possible
They are about half way down from the water line to the sand. I have inserted an image here that highlights where they are. I will try to move them to a higher spot. Thanks for the ideas.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
At the level that you have it, and what lighting you do have - I don't think lighting is the issue.
I've kept polyps like that in 20" deep tanks with 130w of Power compact lighting before... without issues. Then again, I'm not saying that you shouldn't have more light over the top of your tank for the other corals you have either...
Check for anything irritating them - starfish, fish, shrimp - any other invert. Look at it with a red flashlight at night and see if anything is munching on them.
Some polyps/zoas are very tempermental. Some polyps do really well and others just melt away - and no one really knows why. If those particular ones melt away in your tank, don't try them again...
2x2=4
 
jdamron

jdamron

New Member
Thanks everyone for the ideas. I went ahead and moved them as high as I could (about 8 inches under the water surface). I will see if that helps. If these continue to die I will just try something different next time.
I really liked the yellow because so much of what I have now is a tan color or green so I was trying to get a little more color using coral that can tolerate low lighting. Eventually I would like to upgrade to LEDs when my budget can permit. I have avoided some of the other lighting options because my tank runs around 80 degrees as it is now in the summer. For what it is worth I can't find where I said 290 watts anywhere but it does not matter.
I appreciate the ideas.
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by jdamron http:///t/391683/yellow-polyps-dying#post_3475242
Thanks everyone for the ideas. I went ahead and moved them as high as I could (about 8 inches under the water surface). I will see if that helps. If these continue to die I will just try something different next time.
I really liked the yellow because so much of what I have now is a tan color or green so I was trying to get a little more color using coral that can tolerate low lighting. Eventually I would like to upgrade to LEDs when my budget can permit. I have avoided some of the other lighting options because my tank runs around 80 degrees as it is now in the summer. For what it is worth I can't find where I said 290 watts anywhere but it does not matter.
I appreciate the ideas.
I read it wrong, my apologies.
Yeah, you could try that. What might be the culprit is running your tank a little too hot. Those particular polyps might like the water a little cooler than you have it.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
My 54G runs about 80 and I have a large group of yellow polyps.....I have leds in that tank tho, but they are kinda covered by other stuff too
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
they could be hungry as well. try spot feeding them those will definitly eat small meaty foods like mysis and cyclops.
 
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