jeffroberts1
New member
having a hard time keeping zoanthids they tend to disappear.
zoanthids
- Thread starter jeffroberts1
- Start date
Hello jeffroberts1, sorry to hear about your loss of polyps. First things first, can you share a bit more details. When you say
"they tend to disappear", that's kind of a broad statement. Can you narrow the scope and share what exactly is happening. By that I mean,
1. When does it happen, overnight, often, rapid loss?
2. Is it a new system?
3. What fish do you have?
4. List the inverts you have?
5. Have you always loss zoanthids when you add them?
6. Are any other corals disappearing as well?
7. List all of your parameters.
8. Water source?
9. Are the polyps detaching?
10. Does the entire polyp disappear or just fragments at a time?
There could very easily be 10 or 15 questions that can be added to the list above. If you can share with us everything about your system, it will help. I have a few ideas of what it could be but it would be premature to even begin to narrow the possible culprits. Nudibranchs of course is always a possibility but there are a host of other reasons. Hope we can hear from you soon my friend. Hang in there.
Mucho Reef
"they tend to disappear", that's kind of a broad statement. Can you narrow the scope and share what exactly is happening. By that I mean,
1. When does it happen, overnight, often, rapid loss?
2. Is it a new system?
3. What fish do you have?
4. List the inverts you have?
5. Have you always loss zoanthids when you add them?
6. Are any other corals disappearing as well?
7. List all of your parameters.
8. Water source?
9. Are the polyps detaching?
10. Does the entire polyp disappear or just fragments at a time?
There could very easily be 10 or 15 questions that can be added to the list above. If you can share with us everything about your system, it will help. I have a few ideas of what it could be but it would be premature to even begin to narrow the possible culprits. Nudibranchs of course is always a possibility but there are a host of other reasons. Hope we can hear from you soon my friend. Hang in there.
Mucho Reef
Eklikewhoa
New member
Maybe you are not providing a good home for them so they are running away.
jeffroberts1
New member
1. over a period of time
2. 3 years old and I have always a tough time
3.2 hippo, salfin, blue chin trigger, six line wrasse, maroon clown
4.brittl and serpant starle star, emerald crab, blue leg hermit, red leg hermit
5. I have always lost zooanthids
6. no loss of corals other than brain corals they always get picked at.
7. ph 8.2 kh 11 salinity 1.23, ca 400 phos .01 nitrates 10
8. ro/di water water change every 2 weeks 15%
9.entire polyp dissappears.
2. 3 years old and I have always a tough time
3.2 hippo, salfin, blue chin trigger, six line wrasse, maroon clown
4.brittl and serpant starle star, emerald crab, blue leg hermit, red leg hermit
5. I have always lost zooanthids
6. no loss of corals other than brain corals they always get picked at.
7. ph 8.2 kh 11 salinity 1.23, ca 400 phos .01 nitrates 10
8. ro/di water water change every 2 weeks 15%
9.entire polyp dissappears.
Very good clues you've listed to the questions above.
1. over a period of time
2. 3 years old and I have always a tough time
3.2 hippo, salfin, blue chin trigger, six line wrasse, maroon clown
4.brittl and serpant starle star, emerald crab, blue leg hermit, red leg hermit
5. I have always lost zooanthids
7. ph 8.2 kh 11 salinity 1.23, ca 400 phos .01 nitrates 10
9.entire polyp dissappears.
2 Hippos and emerald crabs? BINGO. Hippos are known for eating zoanthids. It is the very reason I removed my own hippos. I caught him red handed swimming by and plucking an entire polyp of red zoas off the rock. The same holds true for emerald crabs, they are voracious eaters They are great for controlling bubble algae and safe when their shell is less than the diameter of a quarter, but once they reach a size larger than that, CAUTION becomes the word of the day. Do a search in this forum and you will read countless stories of them eating zoanthids. Some will declare they are reef safe, to that I always say this. Maybe you’ve had them for 1, 2 or even 4 years with no loss of polyps, but one day, you will turn on your lights and catch them eating a colorful dinner. I’d remove them forthwith. Also, I'd bump your salinity slowly up to at least 1.025. Good luck my friend.
Mucho Reef
PS, there use to be tons of links with bad reports on emeralds, but my search only yielded a few. There was a discussion that the region/origin of collection might have something to do with some not eating polyps. With a tank full of polyps, I'm not willing to take that chance, thus my opinions on them. Here's the only worthwhile link I could find.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=958171&highlight=emerald+crabs
1. over a period of time
2. 3 years old and I have always a tough time
3.2 hippo, salfin, blue chin trigger, six line wrasse, maroon clown
4.brittl and serpant starle star, emerald crab, blue leg hermit, red leg hermit
5. I have always lost zooanthids
7. ph 8.2 kh 11 salinity 1.23, ca 400 phos .01 nitrates 10
9.entire polyp dissappears.
2 Hippos and emerald crabs? BINGO. Hippos are known for eating zoanthids. It is the very reason I removed my own hippos. I caught him red handed swimming by and plucking an entire polyp of red zoas off the rock. The same holds true for emerald crabs, they are voracious eaters They are great for controlling bubble algae and safe when their shell is less than the diameter of a quarter, but once they reach a size larger than that, CAUTION becomes the word of the day. Do a search in this forum and you will read countless stories of them eating zoanthids. Some will declare they are reef safe, to that I always say this. Maybe you’ve had them for 1, 2 or even 4 years with no loss of polyps, but one day, you will turn on your lights and catch them eating a colorful dinner. I’d remove them forthwith. Also, I'd bump your salinity slowly up to at least 1.025. Good luck my friend.
Mucho Reef
PS, there use to be tons of links with bad reports on emeralds, but my search only yielded a few. There was a discussion that the region/origin of collection might have something to do with some not eating polyps. With a tank full of polyps, I'm not willing to take that chance, thus my opinions on them. Here's the only worthwhile link I could find.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=958171&highlight=emerald+crabs
Last edited:
jeffroberts1, has the situation improved ?
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