Zoas and Frogspawn in trouble?

[MVIT]

For a few weeks now I noticed my some of my zoas not opening all the way or at all and my frogspawn not extending like it used to. Some days the frogspawn would slime a bit. Up until this everything was doing well,especially the zoas. They had very good extension and very long "edges". The frogspawn open only about halfway. The zoas that stay closed are very fat and I do not see any pests attacking them.

Params=
29 gallon tank
Salinity-1.025
PH-8.2
ALK-161ppm
Nitrate-0
Phosphate-0
Calcium-500
Mag-1260
Temp-79 F

I was running 2 65w power compacts but the bulbs were getting old and I wanted to upgrade to T-5 HO anyhow so I got an 2 tube T5 HO fixture and what a difference! I also thought a bit more flow might be helpful so I purchased a Koralia 2 powerhead. These upgrades were only in effect for 2 days and I don't see any improvment yet. My mushroom and GSP are doing fine(the GSP actually seems to like the T5s better). I am pretty sure the old fixture's spectrum was degrading although I did not have any algae or cyano blooms(but I do have chato in the sump).

Heres a pic of the zoas. Sorry for the crappy pic but my camera does not do closeups.
Do you think I should wait it out?
Do zoas close up if they are trying to expand the colony?

Thanks

 

[Moe_K]

Often when I'd disturb my GSP's, my polyps, or my frogspawn, they'd withdraw for a while. GSP's were the worst about it.
Your parameters look okay, but I didn't convert the alk measurement into mEq/L or dKH - so I'm not sure about that one.
If the alk checks out okay, then' I'd say they just need to get used to the new flow and lights. Give it time and they'll be back to normal. We're talking about pretty hardy corals.

 

[stingythingy45]

161ppm Alk is 9 DKH.
That's pretty much in the ballpark as far as Alk goes.
I would say you changed so many things so fast that the corals just got shocked and need to get used to the the new enviroment.

 

[MVIT]

The corals were acting funny before I upgraded. I thought upgrading would help them.

I know the GSP are real fussy but they seem to be doing just fine.

After I first saw the odd behavior (about 2 weeks ago)I tested water and everything was O.K. but alk was a bit low at 125ppm or 7dKh. So I very slowly raised it over 3 days with baking soda/RO and at last test it was 161ppm or 9dKh.

I did also notice the calcium stays pretty stable around 500ppm. The tank isn't using up calcium but thats probably due to the low bioload. I've got lots of corraline starting everywhere but it is not really pink.

The way the zoas looked before and how they look now is like night and day.
They had super extension and color.

I'm kinda stumped

 

[MVIT]

Just an update:
I did a hydrogen peroxide dip on the zoas just to be sure it was not a fungus or pest problem. The only thing that came out were about 6 baby bristleworms and the zoas began opening minutes after the dip but still not all of them and the mini colonies look crappy,not at all like they did. Some still stay closed and some don't open at all. They are pretty resiliant buggers.

I did not dip the frogspawn but I did pull it out and rinse off with a turkey baster. 2 or 3 heads expanded about halfway 2 days ago but they look only so -so now. They only expand to about a third of what they used to.

In the midst of all this the GSP (which from day one was my "fussiest" coral)has been doing marvelous, best color and extension since I bought it.

I have since cleaned my sump and ran a caniter filter fo 2 days just to pull out any particles and the water looks pristene.

Should I maybe try carbon?
Any other suggestions?

Thanks

 

[Moe_K]

Carbon won't hurt.
You sure about salinity and temp?

 

[MVIT]

Yes, temp is 79 and salinity is 1.025 by hydrometer just tested yesterday.

 

[JayM]

Like Moe said...the corals need to re-acclimate to different light and flow at the same time.....a lot of changes. give'em a few more days.