happy zoa's suddenly refuse to open (with pics)

[jent46bow]

I have a somewhat newer colony that was open and looking good for a couple weeks and then suddenly close tight. They closed for 4 days and I did a FW dip incase of parasites (although I have not been able to see any). I also at this time placed them in a slighlty higher flow area and slightly closer to the light, still mid tank though. Waited another 2 days and did another FW dip. They have now been closed for over a week.
ammonia - 0
nitrate - 0
nitrite - 0
ph - 8.3
salinity - 1.026 (with refractometer)
ca - 480
tank is 8 years old, with 2x96watt pc and 1x65watt pc. 46 gallon bow front.

here is a couple pics:

I am out of ideas, all other zoas look and act fine. 3 days ago I hate a temp spike to 92F, the zoa's were obviously closed before this but I am sure it has not helped. Only thing that has not opened after that is the frogspawn (anything to do for him other than time??). Thank you I am so lost on this one

 

[alti1]

cal seems a little high. what is your alk level? if u have nudi's the freshwater dip isnt enough. u need to add some lugols iodine to the dip. before u do that move them away from the lights. that normally makes them open if there is nothing wrong with them.

 

[jent46bow]

unless the nudi's are micrscopic I don't think I have them, I have looked up and down for them and can not find any. Also my alk test is far expired so I threw it away. So are you saying put them in the shade and see if they open? Never heared of that before, I just wanted to make sure I understand what your saying correctly.

 

[alti1]

dont put them in the dark, but a slightly haded area might make them open up. the nudi's are very small and they change colors to match the zoa's. they normally only come out at night. if they dont open in a week or you see them disappearing try another dip with the lugols solution. the zoanthids forum on reefcentral.com has the exact procedure for the dip. i would give u the link but im having trouble getting on rc right now.

 

[Mihai]

Stop stressing the zoas any more than you already did (no more dips). Some zoas just don't like my tank (or are very particular about where they want to live). I had a relatively big colony that I split in 4 and placed in 4 different places and only one of them survived. All others are doing fine. Yours may be one of those.

M.

 

[blue_eyes53813]

I had a colony that wouldnt open and I almost gave up on them. I was looking at them one day and a tiny tiny tiny tiny snail like thing moved. It blended in with the rock. Must have been in a crack or something. Look to see if there is any shells or weird thing blending in with the rock. It may have a Zoo eating snail on it. I do have pictures but I am new to this site. I will try to post pictures. OHHHH the snail looked almost like a polyp when it was closed or not moving.

 

[blue_eyes53813]

Ok I found one. The snails pointed white tip was stuck in a rock whole. I swear i thought it was a polyp. I put it in a bowl and it opened and looked like a regular snail without a shell.

 

[blue_eyes53813]

Here is is open and on the run.

 

[Anonymous]

For some reason, zoos willclose or look a bit crappy every once in a while.

Stop stressing them out any more.

What is your alk? High alk will bother them

Always remeber, just because the other zoos are fine, it could be them being used to the tank for a longer period than these new ones, so they adapt a bit more to changes. So though they may look fine, you could still have a problem that hasn't shown in them yet.

Stray voltage is another concern with any polyps or zoos, as their "tentacles" seem affected easily by this.

Post back with alk though, I feel this may be the problem?

 

[jent46bow]

well they are slowly starting to open up more and more each day. They are currently around 90% open. Also I have a ground probe for stray electricity and I monitor it on occasion with a multimeter. I will post if anything changes but I think my best option ATM is to do nothing but leave them alone. Thanks for the continued intrest though.