Zoa issue...

Hi All,

I have a 1 yr old 38g reef tank. All seems to be fine until I started adding pickling lime powder into my top off water. All my zoas have stopped open fully, some of them even closed when the lights are on.

The reason I started adding pickling lime powder is because my cal lvl was at 380. Anyway, I figure zoas are probably reacting to the pickling lime, so I stopped dosing a few days ago. But the zoas are still closed are seem the colony started to recede on the rock. All my other corals are looking good in the tank as well as the fish.

Also I recently noticed excessive white sponge growth in the tank. They even started growing on the back of the tank. Some of the zoa rock has white sponges too. Are they chocking the zoas to death? I used tooth brush to scrub off the sponge on one of the zoa rocks, but the zoas are still stay closed on the rock.

Temp: 78F
Cal: 350
PH: 8.3

What should I do? I appreciate any input.

how are u mixing the kalk and how much used per gallon and how long are you letting it set after mixed ? i have 30+ morphs of zoa and been dosing kalk for years

I added 2-3 tea spoons of powders in 1 gallon RO/DI water. Shake the bottle vigorsely for about 15-30 seconds. I let the bottle sit for 12 hours before I pour a little water into the tank.

I'm afraid that pickling lime water may loss calcium once the water exposed to air. So I didn't add the powder in my top-off tank which it would be the best way to dose the tank (I do have auto top-off system).

Are you suspecting PH fluctuation cause zoas stopped open fully? But all my other frogspawns, hammer heads, torch, leather, GSP are all looking good. My torch extends so much right after I poured some lime water in the tank. It seems only the zoas that are not doing well so far.

I also forgot to mention my lighting system (Sundial T5- 4x39w, ATI bulbs about 2 moths old). HOB Aquafuge with lots chaetos. Nitrate is at zero.

truelly doubt the kalk didnt it, i use mrs wages also and dose it through my ato, pending how much u dumped could have caused a ph swing but the torch would be affected quicker then zoa's, check for zoa eating nudi's eithert after lights out couple hours or in the am use a flashlight to look for them

NYreefNoob said:

truelly doubt the kalk didnt it, i use mrs wages also and dose it through my ato, pending how much u dumped could have caused a ph swing but the torch would be affected quicker then zoa's, check for zoa eating nudi's eithert after lights out couple hours or in the am use a flashlight to look for them

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I didn't purchased any new corals for the past few months. Anyway I will check. THanks