Zoas losing color

Mattyice572 · Mar 3, 2020

Hey guys just wanted to get some input on this. A few weeks ago i went to a local fish store and picked up a few different zoa frags and they all doing great except 1. It still opens fully and appears to be healthy, it isnf bleaching but its color is just fading. Anyone experience this and have a solution? Its a 90 gal tank with an eshopps 200 skimmer and a 40 breeder sump. I use filter socks and clean them every few days. I clean the collection cup twice a week. Salinity is 1.026 and i use tropic marin classic sea salt. For lights i have 2, ai 32hd pennant lights hung about 10” off the waters surface, and they are set on the david saxby setting. Ph is 8.2 ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate is below 15ppm I havnt tested anything else. The tank is fairly new been running since first week on january and i have 4 zoa frags, a branchjng hammer, and a red cap monti. All other corals are looking good. One of the pics is the day i got it, i revive dip anything going in. The other you can see the color fade.

TAttel · Mar 3, 2020

I might have had the same experience. Does it look like they lost color in certain areas of the polyp? I think this is due to something scratching them or brushing them. I saw this with mine after a water change where i used a toothbrush on the rock mine were on. I must have touched them accidentally in the process. Ultimately the color just came back on its own. You could dip them if you think it is getting worse or they start closing.

Another thought here is they maybe adjusting to your parameters and that can effect coloration too.

LegendaryCG · Mar 4, 2020

Those are alien eye antivenoms. I think they fade if they don’t get enough light.

Mattyice572 · Mar 5, 2020

TAttel said:
I might have had the same experience. Does it look like they lost color in certain areas of the polyp? I think this is due to something scratching them or brushing them. I saw this with mine after a water change where i used a toothbrush on the rock mine were on. I must have touched them accidentally in the process. Ultimately the color just came back on its own. You could dip them if you think it is getting worse or they start closing.

Another thought here is they maybe adjusting to your parameters and that can effect coloration too.

Havnt cleaned up the rock work since these went it, they stay open all day but again just slowly turning brown ill try target feeding and moving them up higher