zoas alive?

hi
was just wondering if my zoas are alive or dead?
have had others say they are still alive but got invited over here becasue there are some keen zoa keepers
this is the zoa frag in question


it is near the top of the tank atm and been told might be better lower down?
thanks
Matt

Zoas are funny wee things and often close over, Usually there is a reason for this and may be down to a para or perhaps to much flow or lighting.
Were in the tank are they placed?

Admin wrote:Zoas are funny wee things and often close over, Usually there is a reason for this and may be down to a para or perhaps to much flow or lighting.
Were in the tank are they placed?

they were placed higher up in the tank but has been ro dipped and lowered as advised by others
good idea?

I have found zoas to do best very low down and ideally on a rock on the sand bed. You want to have them in a low flow area.
My money is that they were getting to much light and possibly flow.

Move them as low down as possible and see how they do in a few days. If possible have a look when all lights are off and the room is in darkness, To do this use a torch, phone light or whatever but make sure you put a red filter on it ( A red sweetie wrapper, Raspberry ruffle works great) over the light.

I recently lost about 5 colonies to amphipods.

def still alive.if its been dipped it will take a few days for it to come out.
I had three I found in my sump that looked worse than that(transparent) and they
all came back perfect.....took a couple of weeks.
as said lower them down a bit and also keep an eye out for creatures on
it during the night...use a torch with a red lens cover

ok cool thanks
will keep an eye on it

something else ive thought about is the protein skmmier
could this be removing the goodies and starving the zoas?
if so may run without for a while but what could replace it in the spare chamber?...cheato?

The skimmer wont be affecting them mate, Have you had a chance to do test yet? Do you have any fish yet?

no fish and doin tests about now
post again in a min with results

OK mate, I have a few nice zoas that I'll help you out with when we find out your problem.

water paramounts could be the issue!
they have been fine till now but little variation today
temp 25
salinity 1.028
pH 9
ammonia 0.25
nitrite 0.025
nitrate 2

obviously nitate and ammonia little high :s and pH a little high too

also getting more tests once tests kit is in stock like phos etc.

Para's are a good bit out mate. Your tank shouldn't have any ammonia or Nitrite.
Also I would bring you SG down to 1.025 by adding more Ro to your tank slowly over a the next week.
Has you tank cycled? How long has it been setup?

yer :s
has been cycled and been set up since 15th jan 2011
have been sorting out salinity slowly and has come down...had 1 bad batch of salinity and doesnt help that our device isnt accurate is about 0.004 low so when we thought we had it right it was wrong :s
best methods of removing nitrates and ammonia?

What size is your tank?

nano 15l
tis the microhabitat 15l


of the point: shall i set up a thread about it?

Do a small water change m8, 3L max.
Start a thread m8, Ill create a subsection now for nano's

ok ta
water changes when high levels...how often?
am doing them every sunday atm

also dunno the size of the powerpads for the TMC box filters but would it be worth trying them out?
this is a list of the pads that are available
Phosphate (PO4) Reduction Pad
Nitrite (NO2) & Nitrate (NO3) Reduction Pad
Filtration Start up Pad
Activated Carbon Filter Pad
Water Clarity Filter Pad (Marine)
Calcium (Ca²+) & Magnesium (Mg²+) Supplement Pad
Ammonia (NH3) Reduction Pad

i can only find one place that stocks them atm and each pad is £3.75
worth a try of any?
dad has filter floss in his atm and could grab bit of that?

Filter floss will generally only make the water clearer, I recommend you buy a small tub of rowaphos as its one of the best phosphate removers. You will only be adding a small amount into the bag it comes with then place this in a high flow area.

What lighting is on the tank?

ok thanks
and standard lighting atm
am looking into a diy project with 4 star CREE LEDS 2x blue and 2x white

Are the bulbs reef bulbs in the unit at the minute? Zoas usually dont mind bad water that much?

there are 16 LEDs all white
tis the standard unit

seems fine for lighting for the zoas anyhow.

the diy led build will be done if funds allow
if not gunna stick with what i got

good place to try for leds is ultraleds, they dont the leds I have in my freshwater nano.
im currently working on a coral bulb set up for it as Ill convert it to marine once the
last neon is gone.using two of these http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Coralife-50-50-Inc-Socket-Fluorescent-Aquarium-Bulb-10w-/370292891383?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item56372d1ef7#
I had a led blue strip in the main tank using it as a moonlight strip and as soon
as it comes on in the morning the zoas all open up.did you buy your rock from
the LFS or from someone breaking a tank down?