Zoas dying by the colony, please help

[Freddie83]

It appears I have some sort of fungus or bacteria spreading from colony to colony.
The zoas will close up, shrink, brown dust will grown on top of them, detach from the rock and/or melt.

I've tried the following:
-Furan 2 dips
-Hydrogen Peroxide dips
-Fresh Water dips
-iodine dips

Tank has been established for 4 years. Parameters are as follows:
1.025 Salinity
440 Calcium
9 Alkalinity
.03 Po4
20 Nitrates

Everything else in he tank besides zoas is doing absolutely fine. Please see picture below.

 

[A. Grandis]

Please describe each dipping procedure and order of dips.
How long between dips?
Also, did you dip the whole colony on the rocks?
How long has the thing going on?
Anything added to the tank that you could think about introducing the pathogen.

That's a bacterial infection, if no predators.
Furan2 has to work!
More pics of other colonies, please!

Grandis.

 

[Jone]

tagg

 

[aguila88psi]

I've found that furan 2 is very harsh on zoanthids, corals open but the colors are deformed and it takes a while for the corals to bounce back.

Something that you should give a try is Chemiclean, it's mainly used for cyano bacteria removal but to me it seems to clean whatever funk is happening in the tank as well. Make sure to aerate the water heavily and your skimmer will overflow for a week but it'll be worth a try.

 

[A. Grandis]

I've found that furan 2 is very harsh on zoanthids, corals open but the colors are deformed and it takes a while for the corals to bounce back.

Something that you should give a try is Chemiclean, it's mainly used for cyano bacteria removal but to me it seems to clean whatever funk is happening in the tank as well. Make sure to aerate the water heavily and your skimmer will overflow for a week but it'll be worth a try.

I've never heard about Furan2 treatment for zoa pox (or bacterial infections) having such results on their coloration. The medicine needs to be used properly and I just can't see why it would have such results. I believe that happened, as you are saying, but would like more info from you as why and how that happened, please. Something to be aware of!!!

I've never heard about ChemiClean to be used to treat bacterial infections.
I don't know if that will really work because to start with ChemiClean doesn't kill bacteria, as far as I know. They claim that the product "won't kill the bacteria in your tank", but is effective on the cyanobacteria instead. So...

Have you used ChemiClean successfully to eradicate bacterial infections on zoas before?
Thanks for the post!!!! Very interesting!!

Grandis.

 

[aguila88psi]

Here's a quick pic of my candy apples after a furan 2 dip, the colors of the coral tend to mix but over time they heal. It only happened to a couple polyps but I do have a colony where they were all discolored. I'll have to remember to take a picture tonight.


Yes, I've used the chemiclean but for redslime removal and it seems as if everytime I use chemiclean all my corals especially zoas look much happier. I don't know what it does or how it works in making all my zoas open that were previously closed a few days to weeks ago. It's completely strange. I'm considering doing half a dosage every 1-2 months to keep all my corals looking happier.

I've come to the conclusion that zoas close up due to lack of flow leading to a build of detritus. The problem becomes more of an issue if you feed your corals, all the uneaten food just decomposes and iritates the corals. Also unwanted pests like spaghetti worms and pods grow like crazy and can irritate the corals. Adding flow and keeping the tank water clean has also cured the dreaded umbrella syndrome for me. So moral of the story, zoas don't like dirty water, they like to be in clean water and clean rocks. Hope I helped :thumbsup:.

 

[A. Grandis]

Here's a quick pic of my candy apples after a furan 2 dip, the colors of the coral tend to mix but over time they heal. It only happened to a couple polyps but I do have a colony where they were all discolored. I'll have to remember to take a picture tonight.
...
Yes, I've used the chemiclean but for redslime removal and it seems as if everytime I use chemiclean all my corals especially zoas look much happier. I don't know what it does or how it works in making all my zoas open that were previously closed a few days to weeks ago. It's completely strange. I'm considering doing half a dosage every 1-2 months to keep all my corals looking happier.

I've come to the conclusion that zoas close up due to lack of flow leading to a build of detritus. The problem becomes more of an issue if you feed your corals, all the uneaten food just decomposes and iritates the corals. Also unwanted pests like spaghetti worms and pods grow like crazy and can irritate the corals. Adding flow and keeping the tank water clean has also cured the dreaded umbrella syndrome for me. So moral of the story, zoas don't like dirty water, they like to be in clean water and clean rocks. Hope I helped :thumbsup:.

It's good go have the zoas closed for dips most of the time.
Were yours closed when you dipped and had that problem with Furan2 and partial/major discoloration?

Yep, they actually like clean water!!!

I appreciate your comments and recommendations.
Definitely something to keep in mind.
ChemiClean oxidizes the water. That's why it's important to have an air stone to replace the oxygen used during the process. I think what happens is basically the oxidation of organics.
I don't know how often and/or how much that would be beneficial to reef systems.

I believe the umbrella syndrome has lots of different reasons to happen and I've never thought about detritus and "dirty water" as one of them. Thanks for bringing that up. I see umbrella syndrome as a normal behavior when it happens periodically and only with individual polyps at a time. If they come back to normal in a day or 2 I'm not worried.

I use basically water flow to keep detritus off the zoas. With a good strategy of rock placement and pump directions we can have a pretty good constant detritus removal plan. Also, it's good to export detritus during water changes, from rocks and sand.

Did ChemiClean kill your spaghetti worms and "pods"?

Grandis.

 

[aguila88psi]

The chemiclean didn't kill anything, upping the flow kept the spaghetti worms and pods away from the colonies.

The corals were open, this is probably why they got damaged.

 

[A. Grandis]

Yep, they should be closed...

Grandis.

 

[CRW Reefer]

hmmmm following along to see if you come to a conclusion as to what the problem might be.

Happens at random in my tank occasionally but usually just to one type of zoa and several times has been several colonies and or frags but nothing else

 

[Jone]

I have the same problem with my zoas dying by the colony..just started the chemiclean med tonight,,right after a large water change..all the water param numbers are good..will update after 48 hours has elapsed..curious to know if it is a supplier problem or shipping stress problem that only shows after a couple of days or weeks syndrome..

 

[A. Grandis]

hmmmm following along to see if you come to a conclusion as to what the problem might be.

Happens at random in my tank occasionally but usually just to one type of zoa and several times has been several colonies and or frags but nothing else

Do your zoas look exactly like the first fixture when you have the problem??

Grandis.

 

[A. Grandis]

I have the same problem with my zoas dying by the colony..just started the chemiclean med tonight,,right after a large water change..all the water param numbers are good..will update after 48 hours has elapsed..curious to know if it is a supplier problem or shipping stress problem that only shows after a couple of days or weeks syndrome..

Let us know what happens...
Grandis.

 

[semi_butterfly]

furan2 dips are alright, they seem effective on zoapox put nothing else really, they are harsh if you do like 4 dips daily in a row. i use furan2 all the time to fix pox and its works great. but a HP dip dose wonders. also chemiclean is amazing stuff too.

 

[Jone]

Just got finished doing a 25% water change as per the chemiclean directions.
.I had to completely stop skimmer while the chemiclean was actively working.. No matter what adjustment I made to the skimmer,,even raising it 3" did nothing..The skimmer just went nuts overflowing..So I just unplugged it,,but kept vigoriously airated the water in the sump..I have to wait a couple of days to let the new activated carbon in my reactor removes the chemiclean,,so I can turn my skimmer back on...Skimmer is still going nuts even after the water change..
.Only took the snails out but left everything else in the tanks,,No casualties during treatment as of now..
I cleaned all sides of all tanks on the system,,plus took a turkey baster and gently squirted water along my zoas and other corals to dislodge any loose detrius stuck between polyps and such..Got to see some real loose dirt come out of corals along the rock surface...Maybe the chemiclean oxidised alot of built up organics within the corals..
So we will have to see if any improvement comes in the near future..Ill update as I get new info..

 

[DrexelLake]

Just got finished doing a 25% water change as per the chemiclean directions.
.I had to completely stop skimmer while the chemiclean was actively working.. No matter what adjustment I made to the skimmer,,even raising it 3" did nothing..The skimmer just went nuts overflowing..So I just unplugged it,,but kept vigoriously airated the water in the sump..I have to wait a couple of days to let the new activated carbon in my reactor removes the chemiclean,,so I can turn my skimmer back on...Skimmer is still going nuts even after the water change..
.Only took the snails out but left everything else in the tanks,,No casualties during treatment as of now..
I cleaned all sides of all tanks on the system,,plus took a turkey baster and gently squirted water along my zoas and other corals to dislodge any loose detrius stuck between polyps and such..Got to see some real loose dirt come out of corals along the rock surface...Maybe the chemiclean oxidised alot of built up organics within the corals..
So we will have to see if any improvement comes in the near future..Ill update as I get new info..

Did they survive?

 

[Jone]

yes they survived at first but still deteriorated after that..a rock garden now,,very little polyps left,,just a random few survived to today....

 

[Nor_Cal_Guy]

Is this the same as Chemiclean?
http://www.amazon.com/Ultralife-Products-Slime-Stain-Remover/dp/B0002DKB6S/ref=sr_1_5?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1420606376&sr=1-5&keywords=chemiclean