Ehh worth a try. Not sure.
What’s worth a try? A FW dip?
No, I meant checking them for predators.
we checked it out pretty good last night there wasn’t anything on there I just went down to check on them they are still closed up. There is 2 polyps that are slightly open.
do they have to much flow? could crabs/snails be climbing on them?
[quote=“bz350, post:25, topic:961”]
do they have to much flow? could crabs/snails be climbing on them?[/quote]
Not sure, I have recently added flow, but they started closing up before that and I hadn’t changed anything with the flow for awhile. They could be, but I haven’t seen any snails/crabs climb on them. The citron goby doesn’t even land on them like he does everything else.
Could it have any connection with those “baby snails” you discovered recently?
I had thought that. Thinking those baby snails might be sundail snails, but I haven’t seen them since and I looked over those zoas really well and can’t see anything on them. I looked at night the other night and didn’t see anything, but maybe something is preying on them at night?
Could try a dip in either Kent-D or SeaChem’s Reef dip to try to remove possible bacteria pests and then set them in slightly higher flow. Keep a lose eye for snails as there are multiple species that pray on soft corals as well as many other critters. I really have to write an article one of these days for soft coral pests. I am sure there are some out there though if you do some searching.
Speaking of pests on zoas…Check out my new post
or… they just could be napping. too much water flow on them?
[quote=“kaptken, post:31, topic:961”]
or… they just could be napping. too much water flow on them?[/quote]
They would be hibernating in that case.
For reference. 19 out of 21 of the polyps are now back open, time healed them up. I’m guessing breaking a light bulb into the tank effected them more than anything else in the tank.
[quote=“IanH, post:33, topic:961”]
For reference. 19 out of 21 of the polyps are now back open, time healed them up. I’m guessing breaking a light bulb into the tank effected them more than anything else in the tank.[/quote]
[quote=“IanH, post:16, topic:961”]
Ok, all you Zoa keeping experts.
I’ve got 5 different species/types of zoas/palys (3 def zoas, 1 button polyp, 1 zoa/paly unsure) in my tank. Recently one of my favorite had slowly started closed up and now only a few polyps stay open the rest (8?) stay closed. I can’t see anything on the zoas and all other zoas/palys are open. Any ideas?[/quote]
I had to reread this thread to check but when you first posted you never mentioned “My favorite Zoas closed after I broke the light bulb over the tank.” This would qualify as important info. T5 and Vho bulbs contain mercury as one of the ingredients. This is why when they do break the advise you leaving the room. The fact that only one coral was effected is awesome. Keep running carbon if you are not so already as it will remove some metals and pollutants.
It was AROUND the same time so I couldn’t necessarily point the finger at the bulb breaking at the time. After breaking the bulb, I shut off the pumps, pulled out the pieces, did water changes out of the sump (where the bulb broke), ran carbon, turned on the pumps again, did some more water changing. Luckily not much of the actual bulb bits went into the tank. T5s are actual more efficient and contain much less mercury, one of their advantages to other fluorescents. The fact that nothing else seemed effected led me to believe something else. Actually thinking about it, I think they started closing up a little before that incident.
And to be honest I was pretty embarrassed about the bulb breaking and didn’t want to mention it at the time!
You are correct that there is much less mercury in the T5s. They still add a small amount of elemental mercury to the tube to ionize and conduct the current. in itself its not that harmful or soulable, but anerobic bacteria convert it to a water soluable methyl mercury compound, which is readily taken up in all organisms(including us) and is very toxic. so you are doing good to use carbon. but i would also us poly pads, Chem pure, and perhaps even GFO, which removes heavy metals. all good things to use anyway.
Mercury is an old problem, recurring thru various industrial phases of human history. Roman metalurgy, to the California Gold rush, to our coal fired power plants today. Coal contains trace amounts of mercury, and it goes air bourne when it is burned. Then we all get to breath it in the air. and eat it from fish fed on the biological concentration food network.
here is a great presentation on mercury in the San Francisco bay estuary derived from old 1800’s mercury mines and the gold rush!
http://emsi-teacherworkshop.stanford.edu/pages/mercuryinbay.html
Yes, mercury compounds are very hazardous neurotoxins. and long lived. Aside from coal fired power plants releasing airbourne mercury compound pollutants, are you also aware that coal fired power plants also are the greatest source of airbourne radioactive contaminants?
Its true, coal plants emit hundreds, or thousands times more radioactive polutants as nuclear power plant do. If we put the same rad monitors on coal plant exhaust stacks that we monitor nuclear plants with, all the coal plants would exceed fed regs and have to be shut down.
Coal is a mineralized organic rock. it contains and has absorbed mineral radio isotopes of all kinds. Radio Isotopes of hydrogen, carbon, calcium, Iridium, strontium, Uranium and plutonium, to mention a few. when it’s burned these isotopes go airbourne in various chemical compound forms. things that can be absorbed by people. or things we eat.
We don’t monitor coal plants forthese things like we do nuclear plants. and so they are by far the hugest emitters and radioactive polluters.
I ramble. one thing leads to another. but that is the web of life in the world, in our selves and in our reef tanks. Everything is connected in one big Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game.
Can you spot the connection?
[quote=“kaptken, post:36, topic:961”]
Mercury is an old problem, recurring thru various industrial phases of human history. Roman metalurgy, to the California Gold rush, to our coal fired power plants today. Coal contains trace amounts of mercury, and it goes air bourne when it is burned. Then we all get to breath it in the air. and eat it from fish fed on the biological concentration food network. [/quote]
And, yet, we seem to continue to find new and creative ways to spread it around. When a car is improperly recycled (without removing the mercury switches necessary for air bag systems), we end up sending more mercury into the air.
I didn’t know coal contained trace amounts of mercury…would explain a few of the folks I know with coal stoves
Oh yeah, Why do you add coal based carbon to your filter? to absorb pollutants, and metals. it does the same buried in the ground for a 60 million years, filtering ground water. we dig it up, burn it and release all that stuff. including uranium, thorium, radon and other isotopes.
http://www.epa.gov/camr/basic.htm
http://energy.er.usgs.gov/health_environment/mercury/mercury_coal.html
a little goes a long way. like my silver/mercury amalgm fillings. oh but they all fell out. I feel better now.
dont eat top predator fish, like tuna.