Problem with Gold Mauls

[cloak]

I bought a single polyp about 8 months ago and while growth has been slow, within the last month or so all of the polyps have just stopped opening up. The tissue also looks a little pale as well. The tank is about 6 years old and everything else seems to be doing fine. (softies, LPS, sps) Any ideas what might be going on? FWIW I've had the same problem with the Blue Hornets, Purple Hornets, Red Hornets & the Rastas. They look good for awhile, grow slow, and then just wither away & die it seems. Here's a picture just to give you an idea. They've been it that exact same spot the whole time btw.

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0-12.5 mg/L
Phosphate ?
pH ?
Temperature 78-82
Alkalinity ~8
Calcium 410
Magnesium 1380

 

[organism]

Don't know what causes it but I have the same issue with those bigger polyp metallic palys, would love to be able to figure it out... I had some short success dipping in Furan-2, but it just kind of delayed the inevitable.

 

[cloak]

What about Hydrogen Peroxide? I don't have any Furan-2 on hand, but I'm willing to try anything right now. Is this worth a shot, or does it treat other symptoms?

 

[organism]

I tried that too, I think it made them look better for a day or two then right back to melting

 

[cloak]

Crap! Ok, thank you for the replies.

I might see if my LFS will hold them for a few weeks or so and see what happens. They did this to one of my Rasta frags and for whatever reason they started to make a comeback.

 

[121]

Do you have any other zoas/palys that are ok in this system?

 

[lviva003]

Maybe some type of critter is killing them. Check your tank at night

 

[cloak]

Do you have any other zoas/palys that are ok in this system?

Yeah, I have quite a few other Zoanthids/Palythoas that are doing great. I always seem to have problems with some of the more exotic varieties though. (Gold Mauls, Rastas, Hornets, etc)

 

[organism]

Yeah the hornets too! Those and fruit loops did the same thing. I haven't added any zoanthids in about a year and a half, didn't want to waste any more money until someone figured it out... The weird thing is all my other zoas grow insanely fast, from little polyp ones like UFO's up to big Sunny D's and purple/red deaths.

 

[cloak]

Well, I tried using some Hydrogen peroxide on Wednesday and things didn't turn out to good. Pretty much all of them turned to mush except for three. It looks like I still have the original polyp, along with two others that sprouted from that. These are still firm to the touch and have a little color to them. I popped the frag off the bigger rock and placed them somewhere else. Will see how it goes.

 

[organism]

That's weird, did you dip them in straight peroxide? Also out of curiosity are you carbon dosing at all? I dose vodka, but doubt it's got much to do with the issue.

 

[cloak]

No, it wasn't straight peroxide. I used a 1/3 ratio. I filled up one of those small Dixie cups that are sometimes used in the bathroom full of peroxide and then two cups of salt water. I swirled it around for three or four minutes and then put the coral back in the tank. They haven't opened up yet, but they have held together thus far.

I don't carbon dose btw.

 

[organism]

Oh, I just realized you meant that the peroxide didn't fix anything, not that it had melted them. It seems like we've got pretty different systems, there's gotta be a common cause... Is your lighting Windex blue like mine?

 

[reefwars]

No, it wasn't straight peroxide. I used a 1/3 ratio. I filled up one of those small Dixie cups that are sometimes used in the bathroom full of peroxide and then two cups of salt water. I swirled it around for three or four minutes and then put the coral back in the tank. They haven't opened up yet, but they have held together thus far.

I don't carbon dose btw.

While I know it's not your issue I'll point out what you did is a 1:2 ratio , you would need to add 3 cups of tank water to get the 1:3

Fwiw I do a 1:4 ratio of h2o2 to tank water and for 1-2mins max , I've done little experiments with zoas and dipping times and strengths for peroxid you'd be surprised what they can handle but none the less a smaller amount does the trick with less stress , at the ratio we use it seems to do all I need it to


You could try moving them around the tank first maybe they dont like their placement anymore for some reason but If I were in your shoes which I've been countless times I'll say this , that piece is a beautiful piece to cut apart , the spread is great between polyps and when I have polyps that get that small and close up to the point of stress I find separating the issue helps a lot , if you have separate systems or even separate places to place them would probably help .I had my piece of my clementines do this awhile ago , wouldn't open and got really tiny , i had good spacing so I cut them into 1 and 2 polyp pieces which ever was easiest , cleaned each small piece and back in the tanks , I lost 1 polyp while all the others opened right and then healed

As well I'll say when zoas start looking like that peroxide ime does more harm than good , it's a great tool for other things but it won't kick start a stressed zoanthid that has gotten tiny.

 

[cloak]

Oh, I just realized you meant that the peroxide didn't fix anything, not that it had melted them. It seems like we've got pretty different systems, there's gotta be a common cause... Is your lighting Windex blue like mine?

I think I may have have explained it wrong. Most of the polyps did turn to mush a few hours after the peroxide dip. Only 3 of them made it and these have yet to open up.

I think the picture above was taken with just the actinics on. When the MH bulb comes on the color turns to more of a 14K look. Every time I take a picture though they always seem to have that windex sheen to them.

 

[cloak]

While I know it's not your issue I'll point out what you did is a 1:2 ratio , you would need to add 3 cups of tank water to get the 1:3

Fwiw I do a 1:4 ratio of h2o2 to tank water and for 1-2mins max , I've done little experiments with zoas and dipping times and strengths for peroxid you'd be surprised what they can handle but none the less a smaller amount does the trick with less stress , at the ratio we use it seems to do all I need it to .

Yeah, I was lying in bed the other night thinking about that. The 1/3 ratio just didn't seem right, but I kept telling myself your ok, one out of the three cups used was peroxide. Jackass!

You could try moving them around the tank first maybe they dont like their placement anymore for some reason but If I were in your shoes which I've been countless times I'll say this , that piece is a beautiful piece to cut apart , the spread is great between polyps and when I have polyps that get that small and close up to the point of stress I find separating the issue helps a lot , if you have separate systems or even separate places to place them would probably help .I had my piece of my clementines do this awhile ago , wouldn't open and got really tiny , i had good spacing so I cut them into 1 and 2 polyp pieces which ever was easiest , cleaned each small piece and back in the tanks , I lost 1 polyp while all the others opened right and then healed

As well I'll say when zoas start looking like that peroxide ime does more harm than good , it's a great tool for other things but it won't kick start a stressed zoanthid that has gotten tiny.

Just out of curiosity, what causes those polyps to look the way they do in my picture after almost 8 months though? (shrink up/spread out) What would be stressing them out? I would love to to nip this in the bud if I can, but all of the other corals in the tank look great. It's just with the Gold Mauls, the Hornets & the Rastas where these situations occur.

 

[Tankssy]

Are you seeing any amphipods or other critters on them?

 

[cloak]

Are you seeing any amphipods or other critters on them?

No. My tank is literally about 3 feet from the foot of my bed, so I don't miss too much. I look at the tank almost every night with a flash light it seems. All of my other polyps look great, it's just these certain varieties that I can't seem to nail down.

 

[organism]

I forget where I read it, but when I use peroxide I put the frags into a cup with tank water and then slowly add peroxide until bubbles start forming, that way the ratio is right where it needs to be and nothing gets melted...

On a side note it doesn't matter where in the tank I put those kinds of zoas, they're definitely not melting because of location.

 

[Tankssy]

What fish do you have in your tank?