yauger April 4, 2008 April 4, 2008 Hey everyone wondering if anyone has some experience with this zoa problem of mine. As of Saturday last week I noticed my Aspen zoas started to bulge in the middle and the frills were withered. Within 24hours all the polyps of the zoa colony withered away. Next went a small colony of armor of gods near the apens. The same symptoms of bulging center with withered frills. One day later it affected 4 other zoa colonies with the same results. I immediately decided to do a water change of 30% to see if it would alter the course of the mystery problem. I checked my water quality and the results were as follows: pH: 8.2, Ammonia: 0.0, Nitrate: 0.0, Nitrites 0.0, Phosphate: 0.05, Spec Grav 1.026, Mg 1290. As you can see I don't think it is my water quality. Recently, I added three large acro colonies to my system on the same day the zoa problem began. One of the acro colonies died just a week later due to ,what I am presuming, the fact it was wild caught and did not acclimate to captivity. The other two are doing fine. Another change that occured 5 days earlier is that I began dosing Mg in my tank. I am using B Ionic Mg by ESV in the approriate dosing according the the instructions. My starting Mg level was 1100 ppm before dosing. I am at a loss of both wonderful corals and my mind. I would appreciate any help.
jamesbuf April 4, 2008 April 4, 2008 Do you have a microscope or magnifying glass? I'd take the zoos out and examine them for bugs. I know there are nudis that eat zoos. I'd contact Wrench to ask him how fought them off before. It could also be that one of your fish has taken a liking to them. I've read about some dwarf angels all of the sudden starting to attack zoos. It could also be those mini stars eating away at them. Take a look at your corals in the morning with the lights off and see if there are any stars on any of the zoos. Sorry, thats all I got. Hopefully more will chime in.
gmubeach April 4, 2008 April 4, 2008 What lighting are you running and what placement are they....normally when my zoos go bad its tempurature... they are normally pretty hardy... I've nuked them by shocking them with a metal halide too... but if they were growing fine before I'd look for bugs!
YBeNormal April 4, 2008 April 4, 2008 Does it look anything like this? http://zoaid.com/articles004.php
yauger April 4, 2008 Author April 4, 2008 Do you have a microscope or magnifying glass? I'd take the zoos out and examine them for bugs. I know there are nudis that eat zoos. I'd contact Wrench to ask him how fought them off before. It could also be that one of your fish has taken a liking to them. I've read about some dwarf angels all of the sudden starting to attack zoos. It could also be those mini stars eating away at them. Take a look at your corals in the morning with the lights off and see if there are any stars on any of the zoos. Sorry, thats all I got. Hopefully more will chime in. Thanks, I will take a look with the magnifying glass. I will keep you posted What lighting are you running and what placement are they....normally when my zoos go bad its tempurature... they are normally pretty hardy... I've nuked them by shocking them with a metal halide too... but if they were growing fine before I'd look for bugs! I run T5 bulbs and the Zoas were growing wonderfully until last Saturday. Does it look anything like this? http://zoaid.com/articles004.php Thanks for the website. But fortunately it doesn't look like zoa pox! I will try to post a pic of the problem ASAP.
flowerseller April 4, 2008 April 4, 2008 I know Howard has been over recently. Is it possible he dipped his hand in your tank?
yauger April 4, 2008 Author April 4, 2008 I know Howard has been over recently. Is it possible he dipped his hand in your tank? funny but no... I find it hard to even keep my hands out of the tank... I think I have the culprit... I saw amphipods climbing over the zoas last night and what appeared to be them not only irritating the polyp but also ripping a piece off for food... once I scarred them away the one polyp they were on is exhibiting the same behavior as the other lost zoas.... has anyone ever heard of this? and what is the best way to lower my amphipod population?? I literally have thousands in my tank (from what I witness last night)...
tygger April 4, 2008 April 4, 2008 I know Howard has been over recently. Is it possible he dipped his hand in your tank? Hahaha :D I've had this problem in past, but it would only happen to some of the zoas in the tank, not all. While some appear to be growing great, some just wither away for no apparent reason.
yauger April 4, 2008 Author April 4, 2008 Any idea on how to lower the population of amphipods? what fish can I add to a reef with an aggressive sohal tang...
magnetic1 April 4, 2008 April 4, 2008 Any idea on how to lower the population of amphipods? what fish can I add to a reef with an aggressive sohal tang... My Mandarin has decimated my pod population. From small to big.
tygger April 4, 2008 April 4, 2008 My Mandarin has decimated my pod population. From small to big. Same here
yauger April 4, 2008 Author April 4, 2008 My Mandarin has decimated my pod population. From small to big. yeah I have one of those already and it seems he only puts a small dent into my amphipod population... should I get another one? can you have 2 Mandarin's in one tank?
jamesbuf April 4, 2008 April 4, 2008 Any wrasse will also do a number on the pod population. I'd get a melanuras wrasse since they are also reported to eat bristleworms and Flatworms.
yauger April 4, 2008 Author April 4, 2008 Any wrasse will also do a number on the pod population. I'd get a melanuras wrasse since they are also reported to eat bristleworms and Flatworms. thanks James... will check that one out...
gastone April 4, 2008 April 4, 2008 IMO pods are opportunistic scavengers and will only eat/prey upon sick/dying corals, not healthy ones. I've had zoas colonies that were in bad shape directly adjacent to healthy zoas. I would witness the pods eating the sicks colonies, but they never touched the healthy ones. My guess is that they zoas were sick before the pods started eating. This doesn't mean that there are no pods in existence that eat zoas... G.
yauger April 4, 2008 Author April 4, 2008 IMO pods are opportunistic scavengers and will only eat/prey upon sick/dying corals, not healthy ones. I've had zoas colonies that were in bad shape directly adjacent to healthy zoas. I would witness the pods eating the sicks colonies, but they never touched the healthy ones. My guess is that they zoas were sick before the pods started eating. This doesn't mean that there are no pods in existence that eat zoas... G. this may be true however I did see with my own eyes those little roaches eating a healthy zoanthid polyp... i think I'm going to take out the rest of my zoas to see what happens to them in my frag system (far few pods)
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