Help... What's on my zoos?

[FLReefGirl]

I moved my zoos the other day and this is what I found.
What is it? Bad? What should I do?
It doesn't seem to be effecting them, They open up like usual when I turn on the lights.
Thanks.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/510/144240RC_Zoa_funk.JPG

 

[650-IS350]

wow,

spider or fungus ???

Have you tried dipping them in lugols solution or FURAN2 dip to see if they fall off.. even a FW dip

 

[aztbs]

Was that part buried or hidden by another rock? It looks like a sponge or tunicates that are taking over, especially if you look at the tubes in the top right of the picture.

Can you peel them away from the zoos? Does any of it move?

 

[FLReefGirl]

Have you tried dipping them in lugols solution or FURAN2 dip to see if they fall off.. even a FW dip

No, not yet. I thought I'd find out what it is first before I take action.

Was that part buried or hidden by another rock? It looks like a sponge or tunicates that are taking over, especially if you look at the tubes in the top right of the picture.
Can you peel them away from the zoos? Does any of it move?

That part used to touch the substrate.
Will this stuff kill the zoo? I haven't tried to remove it yet.


What should I do to get rid of this? Does FW dip remove everything?

 

[MUCHO REEF]

I agree with aztbs. I have never seen this before, but with anything, anything that ever shows up on your polyps, you want to remove it that very minute. Never, never take a chance and even wait a day. Some of those polyps looked incased by this film so to speak.

Take a soft bristle tooth brush, lay it side ways and very lightly rub this off your polyps. Be careful not to apply too much pressure which could harm the crowns. Used dedicated tweezers to remove any remnants that's left over. Rinse well with tank water, it doesn't seem parasitical, so I don't see a need to dip, but that's up to you.

If you can, just before you treat this rock, could you send be a better clear macro shot of this. You can forward it to my email addy, I would really like to check on this. Thanks and we wish you well with this. Please keep us abreast of how things go with this.

Mucho Reef

PS, just to clarify, when I say rinse with tank water, I meant take some tank water out of your tank and rinse this colony thoroughly in a bowl, not in the tank.

 

[FLReefGirl]

[ by MUCHO REEF
Take a soft bristle tooth brush, lay it side ways and very lightly rub this off your polyps. Be careful not to apply too much pressure which could harm the crowns. Used dedicated tweezers to remove any remnants that's left over. Rinse well with tank water, it doesn't seem parasitical, so I don't see a need to dip, but that's up to you.

If you can, just before you treat this rock, could you send be a better clear macro shot of this. You can forward it to my email addy, I would really like to check on this. Thanks and we wish you well with this. Please keep us abreast of how things go with this.

OK. Thank you.
1st - do you want me to pm you the pics?
2nd - the tooth brush didn't do anything. I had to use the tweezers to scrape the stuff into clumps then pull them off. It looks like tan slimy blobs when I pull it off. The webbing is not hard but it's not slimy to just be brushed off. I just like spider webs. You know they're soft but you have to keep brushing to get them off.
Now what should I do?

Here's before removal:

Here's After:

 

[MUCHO REEF]

I will just use the first pic in the post above, no need to PM.

Wow, the looks much better already. Don't you agree?

Now sit it in a bowl of tank water, just enought to cover the top. Place a lamp over the bowl about 6 to eight inches if you can. This light will help you see what you have to do next as well as to keep the water warm as you work. You must now take your tweezers and slowly remove each and every single piece of what is left. If you don't know what it is, chances are it will grow right back once you place it back in the tank. This might take a while but you can totally save this entire colony if you just take some time to remove every single piece of what is left. Don't worry, you can do this. I have done it many times with new arrivals. Be careful not to punture any polyps. When finish, swoosh in a bowl of fresh tank water, then do a fresh water dip with 3 drops of Lugols in soup bowl. Let it sit for about 3 minutes or so. Swoosh in another bowl of tank water, inspect it again and use an eye piece if you have one, place it back into your tank in good current. Current is vital as the colony will be stressed. The current will help slough off any discharge that may occur. I wouldn't allow anything to touch this rock until you are sure it is clean again. Great job doctor.

Mucho Reef

 

[FLReefGirl]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9591293#post9591293 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MUCHO REEF
I will just use the first pic in the post above, no need to PM.

Wow, the looks much better already. Don't you agree?

Now sit it in a bowl of tank water, just enought to cover the top. Place a lamp over the bowl about 6 to eight inches if you can. This light will help you see what you have to do next as well as to keep the water warm as you work. You must now take your tweezers and slowly remove each and every single piece of what is left. If you don't know what it is, chances are it will grow right back once you place it back in the tank. This might take a while but you can totally save this entire colony if you just take some time to remove every single piece of what is left. Don't worry, you can do this. I have done it many times with new arrivals. Be careful not to punture any polyps. When finish, swoosh in a bowl of fresh tank water, then do a fresh water dip with 3 drops of Lugols in soup bowl. Let it sit for about 3 minutes or so. Swoosh in another bowl of tank water, inspect it again and use an eye piece if you have one, place it back into your tank in good current. Current is vital as the colony will be stressed. The current will help slough off any discharge that may occur. I wouldn't allow anything to touch this rock until you are sure it is clean again. Great job doctor.

Mucho Reef

I agree, it looks a lot better.
Ok, I jumpped the gun and put it back in the tank already.
I spent about a half hour rubbing, scraping, and picking.
I kept swishing it in a bowl of tank water and squirting it w/ tank water. Then I rubbed, scraped, and picked some more. I rinsed and swished it around in Fresh water and put it in the tank. I looked it over and pulled it back out for more operating. Gave it another FW swish and put it back in the tank. The end result was the last pic above.
When it comes out of the water all the polyps shrink and I can't see the stuff. I kept using a picture to refer to.

 

[MUCHO REEF]

I would wait a couple days before touching it again, it probably has a headache by now from all of that trauma, LOL. Place it near the front of your glass on the substrate in your tank. If you have a magnifying glass, keep a very close eye on it. Just let is sit/rest and recovery. It's going to be fine.



Mucho Reef

 

[FLReefGirl]

Your wish is my command. lol
Actually, It's normal spot is right up front by the glass on the substrate. I'll have to get a magnifying glass to look closer.

Do you think you have an idea of what it is yet?

 

[cmsargent]

Hey guys,

I'm pretty sure that is a sponge. I have the same thing growing over some of my macros and rock. This sponge seems to crop in in may tank in areas of low light where detritus settles. It starts like this with thin runners and strands but will grow into a fairly large ball if left unchecked. Makes sense that the sponge would grow in the area next to the sandbed.

It brushes off pretty easily but will grow back from even small fragement. High light and flow seem to kill it so I'd suggest moving these zoas into an area that has both. It seems to thrive on detritus so keeping your zoas in high flow should help with that.

 

[FLReefGirl]

So it's a sponge!?
It looks like spider webs.

Before I moved it, this part of the zoos were facing and partially in the entrance to a cave and down on the substrate.
Now, it's front and center of the tank where there's lots of light and flow. It has been thriving since I got it. The polyps have even been spreading the last few weeks.

 

[mseferowicz]

I think I might have the same thing, sorry for the poor picture quality I will try to get some better shots.

I was feeding them today and noticed this on one of the polyps