What is happening to my zoas?

[luv951]

Any ideas what is going on with this zoa rock?

I got it maybe 2 or 3 weeks ago, and it was looking great when I brought it home. There was another rock I purchased at the same time with some different zoas on it. The other rock started immediately, this one took a few weeks to begin, but as you can see in the pic, on one side of the rock, the zoas dont open. As they continue to not open, they seem to slowly die and then the area that doesn't open moves back along the rock. this happened to the other rock until all the zoas were gone. Any ideas?

Ca - 350ppm
pH - 8.1-8.3
PO4 - 0
KH - 8.4
Mg - 1280
NH4 - 0
NO3 0
1.024
77 deg.

I know my calcium is low - I ran out of kalkwasser and just got more in...

Could it be that the lower calc is what is causing it?

If not, what else?

 

[luv951]

sorry for the bad pics...taken quickly with point and shoot.

 

[luv951]

anyone?

 

[agruetz]

Have you tried dipping them in revive or something similar. I have never seen what you are talking about but maybe some pest is munching on them or something?

 

[A. Grandis]

Probably bacterial infection.
Threat with Lugol's solution.
Please cut the infected part and discard it. Dip the rest of the colony using about 3 drops in a 8 - 10oz container with tank water or fresh water for about 3 minutes and see how things go from there. Act faster than the bacteria and you'll be able to save the polyps.
Normally one to two treatments is the way to go. Avoid to dip two days in the row. Let the colony rest a day, if possible. If after the dip you still see the rapid advance of the " melting" you need to dip again.

Good luck,
Grandis.

 

[luv951]

I have seen my yellow tang nip at the polyps when they are closed...never on the healthy side, but always the side that is closed. Could that be the culprit?

I will get some Lugols and try in in the meantime.

 

[A. Grandis]

I don't think the yellow is the culprit.
My purple tang tends to gently nip on some of my zoas after I feed them with coral food and they are fine for years. When new polyps are added to the system and have a little piece of algae on them the Zebrasoma really gets to it, but it's about the algae, not the polyp.
The yellow tang is probably eating the algae on the polyps and the fish is gently doing it, right?
If you see an aggressive pull off of a polyp that would be something to worry about. Yellows normally won't do that with zoas. It's going for the algae.

Try the Lugo's and you'll probably end the problem.

Grandis.