The mysterious melting zoas

[650-IS350]

I just keep up with my parameters, run a cooler system 76-77 when lights are on and around 74-75 lights off. Keep up with water changes, I went back to Tropical Marine Coral Pro, ensure my pH and Alk are up to par or maintained. Run a Phos reactor and bought a MP10 for more flow added to my 3 Hydor #2's. So far so good and not lost anything ( knock on wood since then ). Dip everything thoroughly and keep it for a while in a Quarantine tank for a couple weeks before I add to the main tank.

 

[bizzleb01]

I haven't added anything to my tank in months. All my parameters are good, but I don't dose anything and it started happening out of the blue. I'm going to get some lugol's this weekend and attempt to salvage what I can.

 

[zoadude]

I have had pretty good luck with zoas never really having a major loss. From time to time I will loose some new ones, seems to be the Steel blues and Japanese I have had trouble with.
I do dose iodine daily and have from the beginning of time it seems in all my tanks of the past. I believe it helps zoas and other softies no matter what anyone else says. I have a monster harlequin that I attribute to iodine dosing. Everyone that sees it and is familiar with them states it is the biggest they have ever seen.
I was dosing Vit C but have stopped. I was having a serious low ph throughout the day and night. I attributed it to high co2 but tonight all is as it usually is except it has been 2 days since Vit C dosing and ph has stayed up where it should. I do recall the ph problem started about the time I started dosing but I had not thought of the Vit C as the contributing factor rather alk, mag, calcium an so on. Now I am thinking different.

 

[zoadude]

If past notes are taken it might be good to revert to those conditions where everything in the tank seemed to prosper and flourish.
I myself tend to try new changes with equipment, salt, additives, new ways of doing things I read from time to time and find myself regretting it. Might not show right away, might be a month or two down the road, but I start to recall when I kept things a certain way, and that things were doing awesome, and though, mostly because of the cost for equipment/supplies/high-end salts that I have purchased might go to waste so I try to hold onto to the new regimen, I always revert to the way I did my reefs that was always successful for me.
That is what I am in the process of doing now. reverting to the old ways that worked for me and my systems.
I am phasing out the new things I have been doing. Growth has not been satisfactory for me but according to notes and old pics it seems that the way I used to take care and run my reef tanks growth and condition was always phenomenal.
Why do we always tend to change things when they are going just fine the way they are I wonder?

 

[650-IS350]

I had extreme issue with pH and Alk which made me loose pretty much most of the zoos I was able to rescue from my 100 gal that crashed which I placed in my 37 and a bunch of other SPS/LPS. I stopped dosing and haven't had problem since. Others had good results, some no results and some like me had really bad results. Too each to their own in regards to that treatment. I'll just stick with the ol' keep steady good parameters.

 

[Guygettnby]

so now that i have done an ungodly amount of water change and everything else i could possibly think of to solve my little problem... i have managed to slow it down. the worst thing is i have had to sit there and just watch it all happening and not be able to stop it.

there are still a few colonies that were never affected by what was going on and i managed to save a couple of frags from some huge colonies that i have had for years.

huge lesson to learn here is to leave well enough alone. dont mess with something that is working perectly. it usually ends up bad

 

[laurarca]

My theory on melting zoas =