Dying Zoas ???

[b16drag]

Alright zoa gurus, I lost a colony of zoanthid this week and now a zoa frag, I recently got from a LFS, is also doing the same thing. The polyps initially would invert themselves and never close up. They would subsequently start to die off. Some from the base up and some from the skirts and polyps down.

My parameters are as follows:

pH 7.85
SG 1.026
Ca 420
DKH 11.2
Mg 1300
NO2,NO3, & NH3, all 0
Temp 78-79F

10-15% weekly water changes with RC, and 24/7 Phosban in a Phosphate reactor.

The only thing I've shifted around in the recent week were the flow of the powerheads. I'm blowing some sand in the back of the tank... Hydro Sulfide? One night, I saw some very very tiny bugs running around on the zoa colony that was dying. But no nudis, nudi spiders, or any other culprit. I freshwater dipped them but no change.

Here is a pic

Anyone have any thoughts or input would be greatly appreciated

 

[audio101]

BIG water change.

 

[b16drag]

Why? My parameters are fine, I have SPS's that are still thriving and my other zoanthid colonies are fine.

If everything started to die or RTN'ing I would though.

 

[b16drag]

I mean to say "Why?" as in what is the reasoning behind it, and not in the tone of voice where I'm being a lil ***** going "WHY WOULD I DO THAT!?!?!"

 

[flyyyguy]

Sorry to hear of your troubles.

I dont have anythign to offer excepot for that I have seen that inverted head that preceded a slow meltdown once before.

It was on a shipment I got last fall and they showed up that way. Never did figure it out.

I would maybe suggest trying a furan2 dip on the afflicted. My experience with using furan 2 goes back a whole 4 days, but it does clearly work for pox, and I assume many other bacterial infections.

Im going tp update my pox trreatment thread here as soon as i get the camera out.

GL

 

[b16drag]

Hm... Yea I have no idea. I guess in my mind, it JUST does not make any sense. Anyone else seen this happen?

 

[Pufferpunk]

Mine sometimes looked like that before they melted. Haven't had that since I started dosing with Vitamin C.

 

[LoudProudNPunk]

when my ph dropped to your level i had palys, button polyps, and some zoas react negatively.

 

[b16drag]

That may be the cause loudproudnpunk. My pH has been hanging around 7.85-7.9 since winter started. It'll jump up to 8.0 at times but most of the time its in the 7.8.

Only thing is they have been growing great even when the pH has been 7.8... and now all of a sudden death and destruction. So I dunno what to think...

Trust me I've been contemplating that Vitamin C dosing...

 

[Pufferpunk]

Although the pH is a bit low, it is still within acceptable range. Lots pf folk's pH drops that low at night.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

 

[flyyyguy]

I dont think it has anything to do with the ph....and if it did.......the vitamin C drops your ph here and there while doing it.

have you ever done anything to try and figure out why your ph is low??

Do this drill:

1. measure the tanks ph

2 take a glass of tank water and stir it violently for a minute in the same room as the tank. measure its ph when done

3. take a glass of tankwater outside and stir it violently for a minute...then measure the ph

this will identify for you if its a surface agitation/gas exchange issue or simply a issue of not enough fresh air inside your house. Assuming all of your levels are where you say they are......one of the above is most likley the culprit

in the wintertime when we all have our houses closed up this can be an issue for many. it is for me. I solve it by plumbing my skimmers air intake to my garage. (which I dont keep cars and fumes in)

 

[Pufferpunk]

I had my window open all day today, it was 55 out! More snow coming tomorrow...

I haven't had any pH issues since using buffered C.

 

[b16drag]

Its the house. The pH goes up to 8 if I just leave the kitchen door open for an afternoon.

 

[njdevilsfan]

i am going trough this atm also
i did take 1 colony out and dip in lugos and hydrogen peroxide 1 capful
put back in the tank and now 1 by one the heads are starting to open not nearly as colorful but am hoping they will colr up soon

 

[b16drag]

Mine are both dead now so it doesnt matter, but for future reference why hydrogen peroxide?

 

[Skeptic_07]

I had some polyps do that exact thing when i accidently temperature shocked them. I had just got a shipment of zoos and the water was about 67 degrees. When i was trying to float the bags to equalize temp one of them sank and i didnt realize right away. The frag looked like that (closed up knobby or as-open-as-they-can-be and pointy polyps) for a couple of days and then died off. All the other frags made it.

 

[njdevilsfan]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11995836#post11995836 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by b16drag
Mine are both dead now so it doesnt matter, but for future reference why hydrogen peroxide?

not sure it was in a post on our local board
i wouldnt throw yours out yet i thought mine were dead but even today a new one is poped out and one of the first to come back is now the same color before all this happened

 

[Pufferpunk]

I thought a bunch of mine were totally gone & after adding the vitamin C, a bunch of them started popping up all over the place.

 

[b16drag]

They are actually in a frag tank or QT tank in the back room but the polyps are looking like poo and are disintegrating... They may be goners... Well see.

 

[b16drag]

Any new insight on this... I just got another colony doing this. Now its peeving me off!