Zoa going south

shaggydoo541

shaggydoo541

New member
I have several types of zoas. Only one variety is declining. I have two colonies of the same variety in my tank. First the colony that is higher up stopped opening then the polyps began falling off, dieing and receding. It stopped in this first colony and now there are about 8 polyps left that appear fine and I am hoping will make a comeback.

Now the second colony of the same type is looking miserable. It has started to die off from the center and every day I suck off some kind of white material from the dieing polyps. I'd say its a sponge but its too light and 'airy'. On the first colony this white junk never appeared. All other zoa varieties are perfectly fine. What could this possibly be? I cannot dip due to the size of the rocks these zoas are growing on; is there anything else I can do?

I'm planning on just waiting it out on this second colony and hoping a few will survive like they did on the first one. I'm really confused on this one. Why only this one variety? Sorry no pics as my camera stinks and I couldn't get any pics that would help anyways.
 
Well that looks a little like what is happening. Unfortunately I cannot dip. Is there a danger of a fungus spreading to other varieties? It seems odd that it went from one colony to the other (same variety) and skipped colonies in between of other varieties. I've already faced nudis... I hope this doesn't become another tank wide issue.
 
I would test your water, is it possible that your salinty is too high, copper in the water or maybe low alk? Those can stress and kill.

Otherwise, it's strange that it's going tank wide. Try doing some water changes with Reverse Osmosis (R/0) water and your favorite salt.
 
Not really going tank wide... just tank wide in that one variety.

I have tested and my ca/alk is right on and my salinity as well. Copper has never been introduced. I have done a few water changes since this has started. It has been an ongoing issue for well over a month and I do bi-weekly changes.

I admit I am stumped but unless it spreads to other varieties I am not too concerned... just curious.
 
I can try to get one tomorrow. I am no good at getting those closeups... at least closeups that show helpful detail. I'll try but in the mean time has anyone ever had a similar experience? Maybe a very specific fungus? It seems a long shot but its the best explanation I can come up with.
 
I do not have a good camera anymore. My current camera does not take macro shots, but it works.

What I do is get as close as I can while still taking as clear a shot I can get. Then I crop the picture and resize it in photoshop.

Or...

Learn all there is to know about taking Reef Aquarium pictures HERE
 
All right I took a pic.

fungi.jpg


Its this white stuff close to the center. Believe it or not, if I had taken this shot a month ago the entire picture would be those green zoas. Now the center of the rock is bare and there is an atomic bomb type circle expanding from ground zero... crappy analogy but there you go.

The really odd thing is the first colony of these zoas that went down did NOT have this white stuff on it. And this white stuff has only appeared within the last week. The second colony had already almost halfway died off before the white crap began to form. I have syphoned it off a couple of times.

Overall the destruction is still limited to just this one variety (I have almost a dozen in my tank). Again I find this very very odd but lets hear what people think.
 
That's an excellent picture.
I'm slightly baffled.:confused:
Have you tried putting a Poly Filter pad in your tank to see what color it turns? Maybe there are heavy metals in the water and these particular zoas are sensitive to it?
 
Never heard of a poly filter. I guess heavy metals could be an options since I definitely haven't tested. What does this poly filter do and I am guessing my LFS should have some?
 
Well that is an option. I'll have to look for those next time I'm in a LFS. You would think if it was heavy metal poisoning the SPS or more sensitive corals would go first... but like you said maybe this variety of zoa is just extra sensitive. I haven't changed RO source or salt and am doing the same schedule of water changes as I have for over a year. More baffling pieces to the puzzle, but I have always heard others experiences with zoas mysteriously declining... I guess it was just my turn to experience this phenomenon.
 
im taggin along for the ride - had a similar thing happen to me in my last tank, and ended up losing the entire tank.

started off with one colony of zoos, spread to my other zoo colonies, then finally to the rest of my corals, until everything was dead.

i wish you the best of luck
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8140521#post8140521 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by supraeli
im taggin along for the ride - had a similar thing happen to me in my last tank, and ended up losing the entire tank.

started off with one colony of zoos, spread to my other zoo colonies, then finally to the rest of my corals, until everything was dead.

i wish you the best of luck
Click to expand...

Ahhh geez. Don't tell me that. Did you ever find out what the problem was?
 
Humm, now that you say you have SPS, I am even more baffled.
What do you use to replenish Alk and Cal?
Can you move the colony into a higher flow area?

Oh and how about a full tank picture and equipment list.
:)
 
Sure thing. Here is a fts taken this morning.

18Gs.jpg


It is kinda hard to see but the first colony of zoas affected is the green zoas below the candy cane in the top left. As you can see there are a few polyps there that are fully expanding and they are doing great while the rest of that batch is already a goner. The second colony is below the hammer and to the right of the red palys... and to the left of the merletti (below a similar but different variety of green zoas). You can kind of make out the bald spot in the rockwork where the second (bigger) colony is currently receding.

I dose with B-Ionic to keep ca/alk levels up to par.

Unfortunately I can't move the colony to a higher flow area but my tank has over 30X turnover so there really is no low flow areas (much to my hammer/mushroom displeasure). But these colonies started as tiny frags and grew to the size they were at in their present location before they went south. I haven't moved them (even an inch) for over 6 months and up until a month ago (approx) they were growing.
 
This is my advise, I have had zoa's with this fungusy or brownish slime that slowly kills them. What works for me is taking out the piece and pouring Hydrogen Peroxide 1.1 mixed with water 1 part RO water 1 part peroxide. Pour it over the colony wait 10 second and compleatly rinse off the peroxide then put them in good flow, and give them time to heal. This works for me all the time.

Hope it help, and good luck!

-Jc
 
Is it possible that your LPS Blastomussa and Frogspawn are stinging the colony at night?

You might be better off fragging off the infected part and dipping them.
 
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