Pods Eating Zoas

M

mattyg18

New member
I have a bunch of healthy zoa's in my tank. About two weeks ago I noticed a bunch of polyps on a rock closed up and didn't look too good. Waited a couple of days and they didn't seem any better. I've been watching at night and noticing these guys chomping away at it but only at night. After doing some research I think they are amphipods. Some people say they eat healthy zoa's and others say they only eat ones that are dead or decaying. I'm not sure if there is an exact answer to this but i've attached some pics of them going to town on the dead zoa's. Can someone please confirm that these are in fact amphipods. And if you happen to have any info or experience on them as far as eating zoa's i'd be curious to know your thoughts.

I already know these zoa's aren't coming back so thats that. Luckily i've got many more and hopefully they will continue growing. I just don't want these guys taking over and eating all of my zoa's. I'd guess its possible they didn't eat them and the zoa's died from something else but who knows.

Anyways thanks again!!
 

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i believe those are amphipods and im no expert but i have a lot of these guys playing around in my sump and ive seen them in my main display as well i havent noticed them touching my zoas at all then again i dont really have any that are dying. like i said no expert
 
Those zoas aren't dead.. Just not happy for some reason or another..
amphipods aren't the cause..
 
I don't really have any algae in my DT. Its pretty clean. The zoas that you see in the photo are actually fine. The photo was taken at night with the flash and during the day they open right up. I'm pretty sure the ones that have been closed up are dead only because they are shrinking up and some of them are completely withered away.

Can anyone confirm these are amphipods?

I guess i'll just keep my fingers crossed that whatever made these zoa's unhappy go away and don't bother the rest of the zoa's which happen to be doing great.

Thanks again fellas!!
 
amphipods dont eat zoas. if your zoas are dying its because of something else. i have had zoa go from 1 head to 10 to just melt in weeks. just make sure you test and stay on point. if your tank is small , changes can happen in a short amount of time.
 
anthonys51 said:
amphipods dont eat zoas. if your zoas are dying its because of something else.
Click to expand...

This is not necessarily true. There is an amphipod variant out there that does in fact eat polyps, although these rarely show up in our tanks. If you've got the time you might want to search the forum here on RC and on other sights for examples.
 
shadowmonster said:
This is not necessarily true. There is an amphipod variant out there that does in fact eat polyps, although these rarely show up in our tanks. If you've got the time you might want to search the forum here on RC and on other sights for examples.
Click to expand...

sorry like me rephrases that response. that amphipod doesn't eat zoas. its a good hitchhiker.

dont give the personm the 1 in a million chance, yes it is possible, but its also possible i might win the lotto, but just in case i am still saying for retirement ( or a new fish tank)
 
anthonys51 said:
sorry like me rephrases that response. that amphipod doesn't eat zoas. its a good hitchhiker.

dont give the personm the 1 in a million chance, yes it is possible, but its also possible i might win the lotto, but just in case i am still saying for retirement ( or a new fish tank)
Click to expand...

Whatevers clever trever...

Btw, I think you'll find that this does happen more often than you might think. One in a million, come on, at least get your math right. :rolleyes:
 
Not really... lol

So your telling me that if you were to line up 10,000 different threads all titled "Something is eating my Zoanthids," the Amphipod that I speak of would only show up once? That's strike three, in one thread no less. Your not doing to good here man. Just go do the research and put a bow on it.
 
the question was is that pod eating my zoa or just picking away dead stuff on it.
The answer is no. now i do not know about ever pod in the world. really dont care to know. all i know is why are you bring up what might be or could be wrong with the zoas. we really dont have enough information about matty tank to recommend why his zoas are not opening it up. people on here sometimes jump to conclusions without all the facts. all i am stating is that pod in the picture isnt harming your zoas or any coral out there period. if your stating differently thats your opinion,
 
My tanks parameters are good except my Mag and Ca are high. Not sure why. All of my corals, many of them zoas, are doing great and completely open and healthy and growing. I have no idea what happened to this particular one. Anyways i'm keeping my eye out. I thought maybe there was one of those zoa eating spiders crawling around but haven't seen anything other than those pods.

Not sure what else you guys need to know but fire away if think of anything else.

And Anthonys51 - I live right off Kings Park Rd BTW
 
I live off Indian head rd by key food. We are pretty close If your mag and calcium is high. What's causing it how are you dosing


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I'm not dosing at all. Everything was fine until I added some red cyano rx to clear up some cyano. the tank is only 6 months old. I have no clue why its so high.
 
Don't add those stupid things. If you have cryno try to solve the problem naturally not with this stupid short cuts. What salt you using How much and how often your water changes. What test kit you using


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mattyg18 said:
My tanks parameters are good except my Mag and Ca are high. Not sure why. All of my corals, many of them zoas, are doing great and completely open and healthy and growing. I have no idea what happened to this particular one. Anyways i'm keeping my eye out. I thought maybe there was one of those zoa eating spiders crawling around but haven't seen anything other than those pods.

Not sure what else you guys need to know but fire away if think of anything else.

And Anthonys51 - I live right off Kings Park Rd BTW
Click to expand...



Also you say levels are good. What is good to you and how often you test


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I realize that now. I'm using Reef Crystals. 15% WC's monthly.

Ammonia - 0
Phosphate - 0
Nitrate - 0
PH - 8.2
Ca - over 500 (off the chart)
Mag - over 1500 (off the chart)
Alk - 8.8
Salinity - 1.025

I test every week

Numbers were perfect before I added that garbage to the tank. I only had the cyano because my pump and skimmer were clogged with cheato which is another story.
 
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