MJH22

I have an 8g nano. Water quality is great... normal on all fronts... I even took a water sample into a store, and they verified it. My question is my Zoa has closed up for 3 days now. I've had my tank set up now for two weeks and the coral for about a week. The Zoa was doing great for a week. It was the first thing in my tank.

I have a duncan, a hammer, a gorgonian, a xenia and a clown that have all been doing fine as I can tell. Upon recommedation of a couple of people, I also seeded the tank with copepods. When I put them in was the same day the Zoa closed up.
Should I be concerned about the Zoa??

sirdarksol

I'm not positive about this, but 2 weeks seems a very short time to establish stable water quality.
As for water quality being "normal on all fronts," does this mean that:
ammonia and nitrite are both 0,
nitrate is under 20,
salinity is within normal marine range?

MJH22

Yes,
Salinity is and has been stable .024 -.025
0 ammonia
0 nitrite
0 - 10 nitrate as of yesterday and today. And that was confirmed at Big Al's today when I brought in a water sample.

My Nitrate was a little high two days ago, so I did a partial water change and it brought it back into line. Even my calcium has been holding between 400 and 500.

My phosphates were maybe a little high, so I put in a PURA filtration pad yesterday. It was about 0.25 - 0.5. (sometimes it's hard to get an exact match on the color.)

I really want to know if it is normal for a Zoa to do this sometimes or is it a sure sign something is wrong?

carlos413

Dont take this the wrong way but you have got to slow down. With salt water time is key. I would not add anything till atlest three months of set up and it would be slowley. try and bring those corals back if you could. Get a good saltwater aquarium book. Good luck:

MJH22

I don't take it the wrong way. I appreciate any and all advice. I'm aware I went too fast, but what's done is done. I have my girl friend to thank for that. She's a bad influence... lol. My tank is doing great and I'm giving it loads of attention. I was told coral does not have the same footprint as fish, so I put a few more than I initially wanted, but they are not that big... a couple of good pieces and a few frags.
Anyway, I'm reading nonstop and I'm going to make it work.

I love the zoa, and it's my biggetst piece. I've been reading and people say it's normal for them to close for a week or so and then open up good as new... as long as nothing withers and falls off.

sirdarksol

I'm at my limit of knowledge with this stuff, so I'm really just responding to bump this thread up a bit so other marine members will notice it.

MJH22

Zoa still not open...

Mike

Hmm. Can you post a picture. It may help. How close are the zoas to the other corals you've introduced? What kind of lights are they under? alkalinity level?