My zoos do not multiply

plancton · 09/01/2007, 04:55 PM

I've had them for 8 months and I don't see them multiplying. My water quality is good, my calcium is 450 mg/l

They told me it could be the iodine so I was adding Lugol's 2 drops 3 times a week = 6 total drops. My tank is 175 gal.

But at the LFS they told me the instructions are overated and that it was to much iodine so they told me to add only 2 drops per week.

And I don't know if their problem is really the iodine anyways...

mile sq. reefer · 09/01/2007, 06:47 PM

Dont feel bad. My SPS take off and I can't keep xenia for extended periods of time, I guess thats a good thing. I also exp. the same with zoa's. Go figure.

AquaReeferMan · 09/01/2007, 06:53 PM

What for lighting to you have them under? Pretty much any zoanthid I throw into my tank takes off. I have 3x150w HQI's and 2x130 Actinics. I never dose iodine, just part A and B.

plancton · 09/01/2007, 07:42 PM

its 5x 80watt t5s. They are close to the sandbed, and just to give you a clue, I am having a good growth on SPS and stary polyps.

Snowboarda42 · 09/01/2007, 07:48 PM

IIRC, zoo's like "dirty" water. Unfortunately SPS don't. Some zoo's just grow faster than others, and it seems like you might have the ones that don't. Usually the slower growing ones are the more colorful ones, while the tan and brown ones grow like weeds.

cloak · 09/01/2007, 08:47 PM

Something might be eating them faster than they can multiply. Check one of the other forums for pests that are associated with zoo's.

Travis L. Stevens · 09/01/2007, 09:14 PM

Stop dosing Iodine. You can easily overdose on Iodine. All the Iodine that you need is already in the water as long as you're doing water changes like you're supposed to. This could be a stress factor and becausing them not to multiply. Just stop dosing extra additives and chemicals, feed you aquarium like normal, and keep up with biweekly water changes. You'll notice a drastic improvement all in due time.

krowleey · 09/01/2007, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Snowboarda42
IIRC, zoo's like "dirty" water.

*cough* Misconception #6

darkcirca · 09/01/2007, 10:02 PM

I've got some red/green ones that just keep growing. I bought 2 tiny frags and they took off like crazy. I keep the rocks tilted so it has a little bit of shade, under Aquactinics 5x54w T5. When I had my other frag up higher it never grew, but as soon as I put it down a bit lower it started taking off and almost doubled in the past month.

Tennsquire · 09/01/2007, 10:22 PM

Try dosing a little red wine and playing some Barry White. That should get them going....

Chibils · 09/01/2007, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tennsquire
Try dosing a little red wine and playing some Barry White. That should get them going....

This thread is over. Tennsquire just won.

clarkiis · 09/01/2007, 10:35 PM

I have the same problem with some green zoa's has not multiplied at all. But my blue zoas which turned purple after about a month has gone crazy and have only had them for 2 months.

reefer1024 · 09/01/2007, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Snowboarda42
IIRC, zoo's like "dirty" water. Unfortunately SPS don't. Some zoo's just grow faster than others, and it seems like you might have the ones that don't. Usually the slower growing ones are the more colorful ones, while the tan and brown ones grow like weeds.

I dont think that is true at all. I have noticed the exact opposite of this. My zoas seem to grow fastest in clean water with high flow and high light. Zoas may be able to survive dirty water but i don't think they like it.

Try moving your zoas to a different spot in your tank. Somewhere with good flow and light.

pelochas · 09/02/2007, 12:50 AM

i had my zoos under 260-watts of pc lights and nothing grew, the corals just open up. now with 2 metal halides at 175 watts, all the corals are multiplying and overgrowning each other. and this is with less housekeeping and water changes and feeding to the tank, not even 3 feeds a week, i really beleive its your lighting

triggerjay · 09/02/2007, 01:37 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by pelochas
i had my zoos under 260-watts of pc lights and nothing grew, the corals just open up. now with 2 metal halides at 175 watts, all the corals are multiplying and overgrowning each other. and this is with less housekeeping and water changes and feeding to the tank, not even 3 feeds a week, i really beleive its your lighting

So, you say lighting,...you say your corals are overgrowing each other, and you have done less housekeeping and WC's? But you are sure its the lighting? Not the difference in your water from less maintenance? It could be change in general.. with the water, or the lighting.

Change in itself could be the stimulus for the new growth. Change for the better? change for the worse? I have no idea. But I do know that when you frag a coral, the main colony will sometimes regrow at an excelled speed... I think sometimes just change in general, whether it be a water parameter change, lighting change, or physical intrusion, can cause corals to react with new growth.

We can use a common mushroom as an example. You can hack it up, dice it, throw it in a bowl of LR rubble, and a new head will grow where the head was cut from, and your cut and diced pieces will also grow to the live rock rubble, creating many mushrooms at a much faster than natural pace.

I am not saying don't do your regular maintenance, but from my experience, certain corals seem to have better growth with some NO3 present, while other corals will do very poorly with NO3 present. I feel the key is a matter of learning what habits make your corals flourish by trying different things. Some variety of corals are also natural slow-growers.... and this could also be the case.

Jason

vessxpress1 · 09/02/2007, 08:32 AM

I've been experiencing the same thing. I have T-5s and very few zoanthids have ever really taken off in my tank.

Short story...

I bought 2 frag plugs with lunar eclipse frags from the same colony back in February. One had 3 tiny polyps on it, the other had one large polyp with a baby just sprouting out of it. Here we are, 6 months later and the one with 3 tiny polyps looks exactly the same as they day I got them! NO change. And they are open every day.

On the other one, the tiny one has grown into a larger polyp and it has sprouted one more, which was a couple months ago. Since then, no new growth.

They are towards the bottom and still look like they're getting too much light. A little faded. And xenia grows like weeds in my tank. I had to isolate the stuff.

So, recently, I just started an experiment with the lunar eclipses. I kept one frag for myself and traded the other one that didn't grow at all, to a local reefer that has halides to see if he can grow it any. It's only been a couple weeks but I'll probably post results in the zoanthid forum.

Personally, from now on I think I'm better off getting a frag of 10 or 20 than trying to grow them from a single polyp. Bigger, established frags just seem to have done better for me.

Sheol · 09/02/2007, 09:00 AM

Different strokes for different Zooanthanids! LOL. There are as said many different species that come from different enviroments.
I no longer worry about it.

Matthew

Wrench · 09/02/2007, 09:13 AM

They're all different. I have some that grow like weeds and others that grow very slowly. My water is what I consider to be very clean with undetectable nitrates and phophate. My fastest growing colony is my Green RDE's which are very bright and the slowest growers are my Safecrackers. RDE's are around 15-20 polyps/month and the safecrackers are averaging 3 polyps/month. I dose no additives whatsoever and do weekly water changes using Instant Ocean Reef Crystals.

09/01/2007, 04:55 PM	#1
plancton Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Mexico Posts: 1,866	My zoos do not multiply I've had them for 8 months and I don't see them multiplying. My water quality is good, my calcium is 450 mg/l They told me it could be the iodine so I was adding Lugol's 2 drops 3 times a week = 6 total drops. My tank is 175 gal. But at the LFS they told me the instructions are overated and that it was to much iodine so they told me to add only 2 drops per week. And I don't know if their problem is really the iodine anyways...

09/01/2007, 06:53 PM	#3
AquaReeferMan Got Reef? Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Under the Sea, Pa Posts: 4,593	What for lighting to you have them under? Pretty much any zoanthid I throw into my tank takes off. I have 3x150w HQI's and 2x130 Actinics. I never dose iodine, just part A and B. __________________ Couple SPS/Zoanthid tanks and a couple of FW planted tanks. Current Tank Info: 5 pieces of glass with some silicone and plastic frames holding them together

09/01/2007, 07:42 PM	#4
plancton Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Mexico Posts: 1,866	its 5x 80watt t5s. They are close to the sandbed, and just to give you a clue, I am having a good growth on SPS and stary polyps. __________________ Hansel, he´s so hot right now...

09/01/2007, 07:48 PM	#5
Snowboarda42 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Warshington Posts: 1,094	IIRC, zoo's like "dirty" water. Unfortunately SPS don't. Some zoo's just grow faster than others, and it seems like you might have the ones that don't. Usually the slower growing ones are the more colorful ones, while the tan and brown ones grow like weeds. __________________ 40B Mixed Reef 100% Captive Grown Corals See, that's the trouble with the world today. Not enough danger to kill off stupid people before they get old enough to breed. Bring back lawn darts! -PrivateJoker64 Current Tank Info: 40B, 20L Sump/Fuge, Mag 9.5 Return, 2x Hydor Koralia #2's, 150W 14K HQI, 139W T-5, Euro-Reef RS-80P Mesh Modded, 40LB LR, 80LB LS, 54x Turnover, Mostly SPS, Some Softys Too.

09/01/2007, 09:14 PM	#7
Travis L. Stevens Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Perry, OK Posts: 13,946	Stop dosing Iodine. You can easily overdose on Iodine. All the Iodine that you need is already in the water as long as you're doing water changes like you're supposed to. This could be a stress factor and becausing them not to multiply. Just stop dosing extra additives and chemicals, feed you aquarium like normal, and keep up with biweekly water changes. You'll notice a drastic improvement all in due time. __________________ Travis Stevens Current Tank Info: Restarting 28g Bowfront

09/01/2007, 06:47 PM	#2
mile sq. reefer Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: NJ Posts: 2,045	Dont feel bad. My SPS take off and I can't keep xenia for extended periods of time, I guess thats a good thing. I also exp. the same with zoa's. Go figure.

09/01/2007, 08:47 PM	#6
cloak Moved On Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Stockton, CA Posts: 14,854	Something might be eating them faster than they can multiply. Check one of the other forums for pests that are associated with zoo's.

09/01/2007, 10:02 PM	#9
darkcirca Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Centreville, VA Posts: 491	I've got some red/green ones that just keep growing. I bought 2 tiny frags and they took off like crazy. I keep the rocks tilted so it has a little bit of shade, under Aquactinics 5x54w T5. When I had my other frag up higher it never grew, but as soon as I put it down a bit lower it started taking off and almost doubled in the past month.

09/01/2007, 10:22 PM	#10
Tennsquire Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 1,399	Try dosing a little red wine and playing some Barry White. That should get them going.... __________________ Nothin' left to do but smile, smile, smile.... Current Tank Info: 75 reef (2x 250 ReefOptix IIIs, AB 10k bulbs w/ 330 watt VHO, EuroReef RC135 skimmer, multicontrolled Tunze 6095's X2); 40 sps prop tank (Outer Orbit Pro 150, Euroreef CS6-1+ skimmer); 20 softie prop tank

09/01/2007, 10:35 PM	#12
clarkiis Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 47	I have the same problem with some green zoa's has not multiplied at all. But my blue zoas which turned purple after about a month has gone crazy and have only had them for 2 months.

09/02/2007, 12:50 AM	#14
pelochas Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Pasadena, TX Posts: 385	i had my zoos under 260-watts of pc lights and nothing grew, the corals just open up. now with 2 metal halides at 175 watts, all the corals are multiplying and overgrowning each other. and this is with less housekeeping and water changes and feeding to the tank, not even 3 feeds a week, i really beleive its your lighting __________________ 120g Reef Tank Oceanic, 2x175watt MH 14k Iwasaki, 1 Ecotech MP40, Reeflo Dart return pump, AquaC EV-120 Eheim 1262 ,AquacontrollerJr, KentMaxximaHI-S, PhosBanReactor150, Geo Kalk Rx. Current Tank Info: working on diy led lighting and finishing a sump refuge relocated outside the house

09/02/2007, 08:32 AM	#16
vessxpress1 Premium Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: NW IL Posts: 1,603	I've been experiencing the same thing. I have T-5s and very few zoanthids have ever really taken off in my tank. Short story... I bought 2 frag plugs with lunar eclipse frags from the same colony back in February. One had 3 tiny polyps on it, the other had one large polyp with a baby just sprouting out of it. Here we are, 6 months later and the one with 3 tiny polyps looks exactly the same as they day I got them! NO change. And they are open every day. On the other one, the tiny one has grown into a larger polyp and it has sprouted one more, which was a couple months ago. Since then, no new growth. They are towards the bottom and still look like they're getting too much light. A little faded. And xenia grows like weeds in my tank. I had to isolate the stuff. So, recently, I just started an experiment with the lunar eclipses. I kept one frag for myself and traded the other one that didn't grow at all, to a local reefer that has halides to see if he can grow it any. It's only been a couple weeks but I'll probably post results in the zoanthid forum. Personally, from now on I think I'm better off getting a frag of 10 or 20 than trying to grow them from a single polyp. Bigger, established frags just seem to have done better for me.

09/02/2007, 09:00 AM	#17
Sheol Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Waxahachie, Tx. Posts: 3,610	Different strokes for different Zooanthanids! LOL. There are as said many different species that come from different enviroments. I no longer worry about it. Matthew

09/02/2007, 09:13 AM	#18
Wrench Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Maryland Posts: 2,004	They're all different. I have some that grow like weeds and others that grow very slowly. My water is what I consider to be very clean with undetectable nitrates and phophate. My fastest growing colony is my Green RDE's which are very bright and the slowest growers are my Safecrackers. RDE's are around 15-20 polyps/month and the safecrackers are averaging 3 polyps/month. I dose no additives whatsoever and do weekly water changes using Instant Ocean Reef Crystals.