Zoa melt ?

[ade]

In my 180 reef I have kept Zoas for quite some time. I have yet to have any problems with them until now. I came home from work the other day and all of the smaller zoas have about closed up and melted away. The larger polyps stay open. I lost blue purple and some pin wheels. Any one have any idea what happened?
Ade

 

[Reef Junkie]

Please, list your water parameters and equipment.
It might be something simple or complex, if you have any recent pictures, that would help.

Bill

 

[mfinn]

Another question for ya, have you added any new ones to your tank lately?

 

[ade]

Lighting 3x175MH 10,000k. 4x03 VHO.
Temp 76.5. Ph 8.18. No3 40ppm. No2 0. KH 250ppm.
Cal 350.
Skimmer Euro Reef CS180. 25watt UV. Kalk reactor for top off water. 10% water change everyother week. Wavemaker.

 

[ade]

Yes I added some the other week or so.

 

[ade]

I also added a sailfin.

 

[mfinn]

Well, if you just recently added some zoanthids, you may have brought in a zoanthid predator.

 

[Reef Junkie]

Params are good, ph is a little low, but not too bad.

So, you added new zoas? Have you seen the Sailfin picking on the zoas at all?

Got a pic?

 

[Reef Junkie]

Heh, Marty, you wanna field this one?

 

[Pazazz]

My Sailfin was found to be picking on some of my zoas... This weekend he is off the LFS for trade!!!

 

[mfinn]

I've had tangs go after zoanthids, but only after they have been in the tank for a long time. I tend to feed very lightly and that makes the few fish I have forage in places they normally don't.
If you just added the tang, unless he came from another tank where he learned to munch on zoanthids, I would think (IMO) that he wasn't the problem.
I would look for nudibranchs, or sundial snails. sea spiders are too hard to see. At least with my 54 year old eyes.

 

[mfinn]

Try and take pictures of the affected colony.
In the mean time, start checking all the colonies for the first sign of a problem. Use a magnifying glass and check em out carefully.
Nudibranchs are hard to see, but sundial snails are easier.
If you see egg sacks, scrub them off in a separate container. And I would start doing freshwater dips on any colonies that seem to be affected. You can do seach here for "zoanthid dip".

 

[schristi69]

I have lost several colonies the past few months with no apparent cause. They all just close up and slowly turn to mush. No snails, no nudis ..... did all kinds of dips and scrubing of the rock. No effect.

 

[ade]

I'll see if I can get a pic or two.

 

[ade]

I found the reason for the melt or what I thought was melt . I found my Rabbit fish and both my tangs eating the polyps. I have had my hippo tang for about 7 years and he/she has never eaten zoa's up until now. I think that the rabbit and the new desjardini has ben teaching him/her some new tricks. So no zoa's in the 180 from now on.
Thanks all for the input