Armor of God not opening

[dtd87]

All my other zoas are open and fine but my AOG looks like crap. I'm not sure why, tank is in good levels with everything, I was moved about 6 weeks ago. It was doing fine then just stopped opening all the way, it now partially opens and doesn't ever open all the way. What could be wrong, I've ran the system very clean for a long time so it doesn't make much sense to me.

 

[dtd87]

going to let light runs for an hour and will post a pic after.

 

[Faciosity]

Zoas and palys are weird creatures, and can act that way for several different reasons, and sometimes for no reason at all. First thing people are going to tell you is check all water perameters and check for pests and diseases. If there is no obvious reason, start looking into other factors: how much light/flow does it get, what is near it, how long have you had it. Sometimes zoas can close for a while to do the natural cleaning process, or when it has caught some food and is digesting. Is the mat still a good brownish to purple, or has it became dark or blotchy? That can be signs of pests or disease and is followed by melting. Several coral dips on the market can help, but I'm not an expert on those, and from my experience with zoas, sometimes there is just nothing you can do.

Try relocating it and inspecting it thoroughly, and post pics please.

 

[dtd87]

Pics here

 

[dtd87]

It has good flow and is near the top. It used to be about two inches lower on the right side of the tank.

 

[mfinn]

You said they were fine before you moved them?

Put them back.

 

[dtd87]

Well, what happened was, they got a good blast from the vortech and shot out of a hole in the rock I had them stuck into. So even when they were placed back into the original spot the looked like that. New rockscape also so it's not possible.

 

[mfinn]

I'd try and duplicate the spot with the same flow and distance from the lights. Maybe a mild lugols dip.
As long as they are still showing some color, there is hope.

 

[dtd87]

What is lugols dip?

 

[mfinn]

What is lugols dip?

Lugols iodine.
I will do a lugols dip when I have zoanthids that seem to close up for no apparent reason.
Usually 8-9 drops per qt. of tank water for 4-5 minutes.
If I thought there were zoanthid eating nudibranchs, then the usual lugols dip would be in freshwater.
But I would ONLY do the freshwater dip if I actually saw nudi's or eggs.
But the last few battles with the nudi's, I've used FWE with good success.

 

[dtd87]

Locals should have this then? Only thing i got somewhat similar is Seachems Reef Dip

 

[dtd87]

Or maybe it's not the same thing, I do have a little cup of iodine though.

 

[mfinn]

Locals should have this then? Only thing i got somewhat similar is Seachems Reef Dip

No it's not the same.

But I'd bet there is some iodine in it.
I don't think it would hurt them to do a mild dip with it.
Then find a place for them and try and leave them alone for a while.

 

[dtd87]

Sounds good, going to call a few places to see if I can track down the lugol's.

 

[krisfal]

When I needed it I found Lugol's at Blue Sierra in Issaquah

 

[dtd87]

I ordered the lugol's. Be here in 3 days. I may need to frag it though. It's on such a tiny plug.

 

[mfinn]

I may need to frag it though. It's on such a tiny plug.

I wouldn't do anything to stress them any more than they are.
In the mean time while you are waiting for the lugols, try using the Seachem product you already have.

 

[dtd87]

I'm going to try, I moved them, to a similar position. Hopefully I will se a recovery. when I bought it it was just 3 tiny polyps and really skyrocketed.

 

[dtd87]

I've done the furan-2 dip and Lugol's will no real changes.. I wonder if I should try and move around my flow or what to do. It's very frustrating.

 

[dawgwe1]

I recently picked up a frag of Armor of God and it stayed closed for two weeks before it started to open. I picked up a gobstopper frag the same day from the same tank and it stayed open from the day I got it... Armor seems to be a little picky to change.