Can fish nibble on blue zoo-then die?

[manchester]

Can blue zoanthids be the cause of all my fish loses?

I've been losing a lot of fish for no apparent reason (water parameters ok; no 'clicking,' so assuming no mantis or pistol shrimp; no anemones; no agressive fish), and it just dawned on me that it started about the time I got a blue zoanthid cluster - very toxic. Almost all of the lost fish have been blue reef chromis, though I lost 1 coral beauty and one large cleaner shrimp.

Could my fish and shrimp have been nibbling on the blue zoo?

Any and all thoughts would be appreciated!

 

[cardgenius]

Havent heard of shrimp eating zoos. I have had fish nip on some zoos but they never died. Are there bodys or do they just disapear?

 

[manchester]

All but one completely disappeared. That one had been chewed on pretty well.

I've suspected a mantis shrimp, but have never heard any of the clicking I'm told I should be hearing.

Water params, etc., all ok.

Thanks.

 

[coralfarm123]

I doubt the zoanthids caused your fish deaths. I have heard of many people having the same problems with schools of chromis that die off one by one until most if not all are gone. Not sure what the problem could be with them, but I do remember seeing a couple different threads on the issue. You might try a search or maybe someone else can point you in the right direction. Good luck.

 

[surfnvb7]

yeah, seriously doubt a fish would die from eating zoas. angels and other fish eat soft polyps all of the time.

 

[manchester]

Thanks for the replies.

Are all zoa's toxic? The guys at the LFS stressed that this one is very poisonous.

 

[surfnvb7]

no, not all are toxic, but theres no way to tell which ones are and are not (or at least no scientist has documented and published any differences yet). so its better to take precautions against them all...........just in case.

some people prefer to wear latex gloves when handling them. some also prefer to wear some sort of eye protection just in case one decides to squirt you in the eye while you are fragging.

a biggie would be to not handle them with your bare hands if you have open cuts or wounds on your hands.

and i always wash my hands under hot water with soap after handling.

basically just use common sense

 

[manchester]

Thanks.

 

[Sk8r]

Something not everyone knows about sweet little blue chromis: the school dominant frequently picks on the weakest. When this fish dies, then the current weakest becomes the target. Eventually they will get down to 3. Sometimes they get down to 1.

Shrimp are particularly sensitive to salinity changes. If you've had any flux, that can do them in.

 

[manchester]

Thanks, Sk8r

 

[gflat65]

My rabbitfish went on a rampage and munched on many zoa colonies. If they are small fish that you are losing, I'd suspect something like a rock crab. I had a few that would eviscerate any small fish I put in the tank. Not sure how I killed them...

 

[manchester]

The blue reef chromis' were all pretty small, but I lost a moderate-sized coral beauty and a large shrimp.

I do have a rock crab or two, but the largest I've seen was less than 1 inch across. Do you think that could be the culprit?

Thanks for your reply.