Orange Zoos withering away

[raynist]

Were aout 1/4 inch across when I got them with nice long tentacles, now seem to be shrinking, less than 1/8 inch across and barely any tentacles. Every other zoo in tank is doing great and spreading. I tried them at the bottom of the tank and at the top. Have 150w DE halides on the tank (3). What could be happening to them?

I have looked for nudis and found none. I did a fresh water dip last night just incase.

I bought this colony in Nov. Started looking bad about a month ago. It looks like they are being pulled apart at the base. They used to cover the whole rock, but now are covering less than half.

Thanks
Ray Nist:

 

[johndawg]

How are your water parameters? I had a similar problem and it turned out I was overdosing my buffer and my alkalinity was off the chart.
HTH,
John

 

[raynist]

You know what, that might be the problem. This seems to coincide with when I started dosing my alk/Calcium.

I haven't checked it in few weeks.....

Thanks for the tip!

--Ray

 

[raynist]

Just checked ALk, it was 8.3

--Ray

 

[jjmcat]

I had some orange zoas do the same thing.They were the only zoas that did this.

This pic was taken awhile back and now their are 2 or 3 left.

 

[raynist]

Mine look much worse than that....

 

[jjmcat]

they are all gone now.

 

[RevHtree]

I had some like that do the same thing. All others were fine...

Sorry.

 

[Ludwigia73]

I moved alot of different zoos into my nano, with DX lighting. The oranges are the only ones that shrivelled up, and I had to move them back under mh quick.

 

[Reef Junkie]

Alk was 8.3!:eek1:

That's off the chart! Do you mean dkh?

 

[raynist]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6783350#post6783350 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Reef Junkie
Alk was 8.3!:eek1:

That's off the chart! Do you mean dkh?

LOL - Yep, dkh

 

[Reef Junkie]

Oh, then that's not really a problem. You're DKH is a little on the low side, but not bad. Not where it would effect the zoas.

If you suspect a critter is pulling them apart, try using a clear plastic (disposable) cup. Cut it in half and fill the bottow with sand. Then leave the cup (with the zoas in it) on the bottom of the tank. Observe them for a week and we'll see what happens.

 

[raynist]

I moved them to a different tank last night under T5 lighting. They opened a little. I will see how they look when I get home tonight.

--Ray

 

[MUCHO REEF]

Do you have a picture of them?

You mentioned they has long skirts, longer skirted zoos like a slightly high flow than mat ted zoos to medium ize polyps.

Pulled apart at the base, Hmmm, what kind of fish and verts do you have?

Mucho

 

[schristi69]

Having the same kind of problems with most of mine. I have one colony of very large zoos that have been closed up for about a week now. I did a dip two days ago. All of the water params are within reason except my alk/CA is on the high side since I dosed a few days ago. Have done a 13% water change and am running Chemi-pure and carbon just in case. Most of the other zoos are opening after the dip, but this one strain is still closed up. Today will be the first day the MH comes on since the dip. We shall see if that makes a difference and opens them up.

 

[MUCHO REEF]

What's their status now?

Mucho

 

[raynist]

They seem to do doing better, opening a bit.

 

[schristi69]

My colony is still declining. I moved them to the bottom since others I have there seem to be doing well. Through the magnifying glass it looks like they have patches of a bluish, milky substance on them. On some, these patches look like blisters on the tissue. Any suggestions?

 

[Chris Witort]

I have seen some parasitic slugs on mine. I haven't heard any discussion about them. They are small (a little bigger than the head of a pin, oval shaped). They aren't nudibranches I have seen those before. They feed at the base of the zoanthids most of the time but will also feed on the oral disc. They take on the color of the zoanthids they are feeding on. Anyone else seen these?

 

[Reef Junkie]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6836342#post6836342 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by schristi69
My colony is still declining. I moved them to the bottom since others I have there seem to be doing well. Through the magnifying glass it looks like they have patches of a bluish, milky substance on them. On some, these patches look like blisters on the tissue. Any suggestions?

Do the lesions look anything like this?
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=691978