Armor of God Paly (Again)

Hi Guys,

I asked a question about an armor of god paly that I got a few weeks ago. I thought that it was too close to the light since it had a dome shape to it. Everyone suggested that I move it lower from the picture I posted. I placed it about half way down and it didn't make much of a difference. I decided to place it on the sand bed beside my ricordia. The stalk is now elongated but it still has that dome shape. Does the elongated stalk mean that it is seeking stronger light? I decided to move it back half way. I gave it a good 4-5 days between moving it to see if it got adjusted to it. Is it possible that it simply has a dome shape? Any recommendations? I think it is a beautiful coral and would like to keep it if possible. I should say that I have several other zoas and palys and none of them are having problems in different places in the tank.

Thanks!!!!

Ivy

 

Honestly, palys don't need tons of light. I would suggest you leave it where it is for a while and let it get accustomed to your tank and to its new position. I might also consider feeding it a bit, perhaps with cyclopeeze or an equivalent product.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I have never feed any of my corals. Do you target feed them similar to a fish? I don't have any cyclopeze. Would they eat mysis? What is the best time to feed them? It stays open pretty much all of the time, but just has a dome shape. Thanks!!!!

 

Some of my palys will do this from time to time. They seem to do it after being fragged or moving into a new tank, so I think it's just stress. I wouldn't worry about it, and put them where you want them to be, because palys will thrive in about any lighting condition. I have them everywhere from shade at the bottom to about 3 inches submerged directly under my 250 halide. They keep great color no matter where I put them and reproduce like crazy.

 

my AoG does that dome thing too. it started doing this after I moved it further down in the tank by about 8 inches... but I'm not worried about it at all...

in fact, when it was higher up (and not domed) it did not sprout a single new polyp in about a year. after i moved it (and it domed), it has already sprouted a new polyp within about 2 weeks... so... I'm leaving well enough alone...

hope it helps

 

I think it's just a temporary stress/adjustment thing as well, some of my zoas do that occasionaly, sometimes I believe it's related to salinity and alkalinity (potentially pH) fluctuations. I would doublecheck your parameters with another set of kits and a calibrated refractometer, especially salinity, and make sure your tank isn't going through any major changes over the course of the day (if it isn't getting topped off enough and swinging the salinity a bunch or something like that).

Also FWIW I've found it sometimes takes weeks in a particular set of conditions for some coral to really get adjusted so I would just leave it alone for a while and see what happens.

 

higher flow will keep paly's smaller and shorter and give you more polyps

 

Thanks for the tips guys. I have been checking and double checking my params in the last few weeks and everything seems okay. No major swings in anything. I think that I will put it where I want it and see what it does. If it gets worse, I will move it again. Thanks again!!! It is a really beautiful piece of coral.

Ivy