GMK zoas shrinking, can they be saved?

[ratzy82]

My GMKs have looked like this for months now. I’ve had them in complete shade with no results. Moved them back into par and they look better. Par in this spot is around 60-80. I can’t see any pests. Did a cipro dip on them about a month ago. Been spot feeding them reef roids. Any advice on bringing them back or are they goners. My rainbow incinerators looks similar all my other zoas are thriving.
Parameters
Alk 9.6
Call 460
Mag 1430
Nitrates 9
Phos .09

 

[luis angel]

Have you been trying to give it a little more light and flow? I had a similar problem a few months ago and I raised it higher where they had more light and a little bit of flow and from there they only grow, it doesn't mean that is the solution but you can try, I wish you good luck

 

[ratzy82]

Have you been trying to give it a little more light and flow? I had a similar problem a few months ago and I raised it higher where they had more light and a little bit of flow and from there they only grow, it doesn't mean that is the solution but you can try, I wish you good luck

sure, I'm willing to try anything. I hear GMKs are tough, I just dont want to give them too much light. I would think more than 200 par is going to be too much.

 

[luis angel]

sure, I'm willing to try anything. I hear GMKs are tough, I just dont want to give them too much light. I would think more than 200 par is going to be too much.

I have an ai prime 16 and mines are on top, you can try for a week and see how they react

 

[ratzy82]

any idea what kind of par they are under. I have them under kessels currently. But i actually do have a nem tank with an ai prime. Wonder if I should move them over there..

 

[luis angel]

any idea what kind of par they are under. I have them under kessels currently. But i actually do have a nem tank with an ai prime. Wonder if I should move them over there..

I'm sorry brother but I don't have a way to measure par, I can give you the configuration and you can get an idea or test it in the anemone tank

 

[luis angel]

 

[ratzy82]

no worries, i usually run my uv maxed and blues maxed. I'll see how they do in the main dt, if nothing then maybe ill move em to the nem tank with the ai

 

[Mmbra]

My GMK really like light. Mine have grown from 3 polyp to about 12 since November. Mine are at the top of my tank. Not sure of Par but plenty of light.

 

[ratzy82]

My GMK really like light. Mine have grown from 3 polyp to about 12 since November. Mine are at the top of my tank. Not sure of Par but plenty of light.

ok good to know, maybe I've had them in too low of par

 

[Salty_Northerner]

How big is the tank?

This is my settings on a WaterBox 35.2 and I can keep a mixed tank no problem at around 62% total intensity. I run my Prime 16 HD for 11 hours a day with 4.5 hrs of full spectrum then transition to just blues and a splash of red for the rest of the day and all my corals are growing like weeds.

If everything is doing well then move the zoa higher or add some iodine.

 

[JNalley]

ok good to know, maybe I've had them in too low of par

yeah, 60-80 is quite low. Zoanthids are found at all levels of the ocean, even in some tide pools, some species do well under near darkness, while others thrive at points that would make an Acro think twice... I'd move them to an area that's about 150 or so with decent flow and see how they fair, leave them there for a couple of weeks and monitor to see if the situation improves. Hopefully they open up more. If they do, try moving them even higher until you find the sweet spot for them.

 

[JNalley]

Forgot to say, I had some Zoa's remain closed and tiny for like 4 months because the lighting was apparently too high, it was only after I did an aggressive acclimation mode that they opened back up, and now they are back under that 'extreme' (read as 200-250 PAR) lighting and they're thriving... they share a rock with another colony that was unaffected by any of the changes and flourished the entire time, lol... Zoanthids just do whatever they want sometimes I guess

 

[ratzy82]

Forgot to say, I had some Zoa's remain closed and tiny for like 4 months because the lighting was apparently too high, it was only after I did an aggressive acclimation mode that they opened back up, and now they are back under that 'extreme' (read as 200-250 PAR) lighting and they're thriving... they share a rock with another colony that was unaffected by any of the changes and flourished the entire time, lol... Zoanthids just do whatever they want sometimes I guess

Yeah, they're tough. Every other zoa i have is thriving. I hear GMKs are more finicky. Go figure the expensive ones are harder to keep.