zoos losing color and not opening

[seawitch]

I dont know what the problem could be. All my other corals are doing great except for my zoos. I have checked params including phoshpate and everything is really good. The zoos were great up until about 2 months ago. I thought it would pass, whatever it was but it's not. Any ideas on what my problem might be?

 

[reefkprz]

Originally Posted by Seawitch
http:///forum/post/3182379
I have checked params including phoshpate and everything is really good.
Can you post your actual parameters?
along with tank size, lighting, when you changed bulbs, filtration, inhabitants, waterchanges, how much how often etc. you havent given us much to go on. anyone trying to give a reason would just be spitballing in the dark without more information.

 

[cranberry]

How long have you had them? What light were they under and what light are they under now? Have you looked for zoa predators?

 

[seawitch]

55 gal. 4x54 t5 lights(2aquablue+15k and 2actinic22k) salinity1.026 ammonia,trites,trates,phosphate all tests show 0 ( I think my xenia keeps the trates showing 0) I have had these zoos from the time my tank was 6 months old and it is now 1 and a half years old. They were growing well and looking good until lately. I have checked them out with my magnifying glass and can't see anything unusual on them.

 

[seawitch]

oops forgot, water changes I do 5 gallons per week. filtration is 75 pounds live rock a protien skimmer and one of the hang on backs that i put carbon in.
I have a serpent star, sally lightfoot crab, a few hermits, a conch, various snails, a coral beauty, pair of ocellaris, friedmani dottyback,pearly jawfish, firefish and a lawnmower blenny.

 

[reefkprz]

I would say its probably poor water quality. 5 gallons of water change a week on a 55g tank isnt enough to keep up with your bioload or diminished trace elements. I would reccomend upping your waterchanges to at least 20-30% of tank volume. aka 10-15 gallons at a time. even if you switched to bi-weekly. it would be healthier for your tank.
What does your calcium and alkalinity read at?

 

[seawitch]

Ok thanks, I'll give it a try. I just figured a lot of my water was displaced with rocks and sand that I only had about 40 actual gallons of water in the tank which was why I was doing 5 gal a week.

 

[reefkprz]

how old are your light bulbs? they may no longer be oputting out enough par for your zoas.

 

[bcollett]

Have you made any changes to your filtration ie, new skimmer, More carbon or new media etc...? I had a similar problem when I upgraded my skimmer. Suddenly my water params were great but all my corals started to suffer. I think they got used to all the dissolved organics floating around. Once i pulled all of that out of the water. everything looked like it was about to die. After about 2 months everything bounced back with a vengance and has been doing awesome ever since.