unhappy zo's and mushrooms

Everything seems fine, params, lighting. I assume that they were open at the FS he got them from. The only thing I would suspect is param shock. Zoo's will sometimes stay in when a predator is lurking around the rock, like the polyp eating Heliacus areola snail. Or the Phestilla melanobrachia nudi. Eventhough they are reported to eat Tubastrea coral, I have seen it first hand, they will attack zoo's. Maybe they think it's Tubastrea, humm..

Another thing, I've noticed zoo's hate pest algae growing around them and around their tissue, if that's the case, try to control the problem before they kill off your colony. I've seen it first hand with an old zoo colony I had since day 1 it's almost completely gone.

 

Hello,
I would try moving the zoo's and mushrooms that are not doing well. Maybe there is something that is aggravating them ie. strong current, improper lighting or toxins from other corals. Also as far as the zoo's are concerned, I would try to entice them to come out by offering them brine shrimp etc. through target feeding!!! Try doing a water change again as well. I would do one change at a time so you will know what the problem was therefor you will be able to correct the problem in the future if it presents itself!!!!!!!
Good luck!

 

Oh, by the way, what is stray voltage? I know that this is a different thread category but it fits in with her thread.

 

Yes, you would test your tank water using a volt meter. if you get any kind of reading from the meter, then you have stray voltage. The biggest culprits are usually lights and u.v. sterilizers but it can also get into your system via powerheads, heaters, etc. Best way to be rid of it is to add a ground probe to your tank.

 

@ amcarrig: My husband tested the tank for stray voltage and it came out ok... No voltage what so ever in the tank.;D

@ rickzter: Yes they were open at the LFS. My husband knows the guys there pretty well and they are very up front with him. The only problem there having right now is a small flat worm outbreak in one of frag tanks. (The one that the zo's and mushrooms came from :-/). As for bad algae ive been fighting off hair algae for the past 6 months but there's no algae on the zo's or mush. rock as of yet.

@ coral reefer: My problem is that im running out of place in the tank so its hard for me to move stuff around. I originaly planed on putting the mushrooms and the zo's on the SB, its the only spot where i have some place. But since they didnt open then i moved them up thinking that they werent getting enough light. I might move them back down away from the other corals just to see.

What do you guys think about the light... 130watts of PC on a 20 seems enough to me right? Would they be ok on the DSB? The tank is 15" high and the PC's are 3" over the water line.

Thanks for all the help guys.

 

6.5 watts per gallon would be enough for most polyps, especially if they are placed higher up on your rock formation. you've obviously tested for stray voltage, your water parameters are fine...i'm still going to stick with the stress from moving into their new home (acclimation). i've had polyps close up for some reason or another(zoanthids and gsp) after they have been in my tank for several months. after a week or two, their polyp extension was back to normal. when it happened i did the same thing...testing, moving them around (which could cause more stress), more testing and everything i tested for came up normal. sometimes there is nothing you can do but wait....hth.

 

I have a 10 gallon with 65W CF/Actinic and two zoo colonies. One of the two is overgrown with green hair algae, yet it has multiplied from the original two to 13 polyps in about three months. It seems like every time I pull the hair algae a couple of new polyps are revealed! My other colony has three mushroom corals sitting on top of the polyps (when open). I got them like that at the LFS and they have been like that ever since...The zoos don't seem to mind! Zoos are strange..! I don't know what could be keeping yours closed. Mine will go closed for a day or two ocassionally, but they open up again with no changes in water parameters.