zoa dying?

reefnoob616

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 3, 2013
Messages
143
Reaction score
0
Location
Jenison, MI
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I have a few frags that have been in my tank for about 3 months. They havent done any growing but just yesterday I noticed they were getting smaller. Only 2 frags are doing this. I have 2 others that are growing well. Also a a fuzzy mushroom that split 5 ways, frogspawn, torch coral and some green star macro algae and they are all doing fine. Is there anything I can do to help them? Tried moving them to diffrent position thinking that might help.
 

impur

GO DUCKS!!!
View Badges
Joined
Sep 22, 2006
Messages
1,393
Reaction score
64
Location
Eugene OR
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Can you snap a pic? Anything picking on them? What are your params? Have you added anything other than the zoas lately?
 
OP
OP
R

reefnoob616

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 3, 2013
Messages
143
Reaction score
0
Location
Jenison, MI
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I did add some pep shrimp and ive been using aiptasia x but I started that about a month ago. Paramaters are all good lfs checked 4 days ago. Ive noticed no change in water quality since. Ive added a phos ban reactor last week too. Before water tests. Just wonder why my oldest frags are having issues and my newest ones are growing. Also they were about 1ft apart on opposite end of tank.
 
OP
OP
R

reefnoob616

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 3, 2013
Messages
143
Reaction score
0
Location
Jenison, MI
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
1371595112098.jpg
1371595150998.jpg
1371595186185.jpg
1371595216820.jpg
1371595263619.jpg
 

impur

GO DUCKS!!!
View Badges
Joined
Sep 22, 2006
Messages
1,393
Reaction score
64
Location
Eugene OR
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Hmmm its hard to say, could be anything from them not liking the cleaner water after adding the GFO reactor, some aiptasia x might have landed on them, those asternia stars might be eating them, angels might be nipping them. Have you tried dipping the zoas that aren't doing well?
 

glb

7500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
May 12, 2013
Messages
8,129
Reaction score
3,364
Location
Miami
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I was thinking astarina stars too.


Sent Via the R2R Forum APP
12g Nanoreef. Zooanthids, Ricordia, Star Polyps, Acans and two clownfish. CF Lighting, 75% actinic blue, 25% 10,000k white.
 

jservedio

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
May 9, 2013
Messages
439
Reaction score
16
Location
Madison, WI
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I had two colonies of Zoas go in my tank the same way (except they were growing like mad on one side, and dying on the other) and it took me months to find the culprit: asterina stars. A LOT of things love to eat Zoas - dozens of types of fish, zoanthid spiders, zoanthid eating nudibranchs, asterina starfish, and various types of sicknesses they can get like zoa pox and other types of skirt diseases...

You need to get a red-flashlight and watch your zoas every night for about a half hour every day until you find out what is killing them. Also - you should be spending abotu the same amount of time during the day in case they are eating it in broad daylight.

Edit: If you don't have a red-flashlight you can use a camera flash. With all the lights out snap some flash pictures of the colony close up every minute or two and the instant lighting will not scare the predator away. That's how I caught the asterinas red handed. Every time I broke out the flashlight they hid. However, I was able to use my DSLR and Strobe Light to catch them in the act. You will want to get a "Rubber Hood" for your camera so when the flash goes off, it doesn't cause reflections off the glass. They are super cheap. External flashes work even better since you can point them from the top down and shoot through the side of the tank.

Here is a picture of my zoas in the pitch black - you can't see the stars in this picture though you can see the receding receding. This was taken using the camera method I described above and looks similar to the damage to yours:
receding_zoas_night.jpg
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
R

reefnoob616

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 3, 2013
Messages
143
Reaction score
0
Location
Jenison, MI
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
It honestly didnt look like anything was chewing on them. They just got smaller and smaller until they were gone. No nibble marks.
 
OP
OP
R

reefnoob616

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 3, 2013
Messages
143
Reaction score
0
Location
Jenison, MI
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Hair algae. And I just looked with a flashlight and I saw a ton of little critters all over the worst zoa. None really anywhere near good ones. Should I move it to a higher flow area?
 

Dylan J.

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jul 6, 2013
Messages
484
Reaction score
4
Location
Melbourne, Fl
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I had two colonies of Zoas go in my tank the same way (except they were growing like mad on one side, and dying on the other) and it took me months to find the culprit: asterina stars. A LOT of things love to eat Zoas - dozens of types of fish, zoanthid spiders, zoanthid eating nudibranchs, asterina starfish, and various types of sicknesses they can get like zoa pox and other types of skirt diseases...

You need to get a red-flashlight and watch your zoas every night for about a half hour every day until you find out what is killing them. Also - you should be spending abotu the same amount of time during the day in case they are eating it in broad daylight.

Edit: If you don't have a red-flashlight you can use a camera flash. With all the lights out snap some flash pictures of the colony close up every minute or two and the instant lighting will not scare the predator away. That's how I caught the asterinas red handed. Every time I broke out the flashlight they hid. However, I was able to use my DSLR and Strobe Light to catch them in the act. You will want to get a "Rubber Hood" for your camera so when the flash goes off, it doesn't cause reflections off the glass. They are super cheap. External flashes work even better since you can point them from the top down and shoot through the side of the tank.

Here is a picture of my zoas in the pitch black - you can't see the stars in this picture though you can see the receding receding. This was taken using the camera method I described above and looks similar to the damage to yours:
receding_zoas_night.jpg

Just wanted to put my input in on this cuz im having the same problem, but if you look at the two polyps that are just about closed just below them are some white dots around the base of the zoanthids. This is zoa pox. Once you get them they are a pain in the neck to get rid of. The best way I've had luck is fragging the infected ones out and either say good bye zoas and say hello to the freezer or QT them and dip them in fresh RO and let them sit for about 5-6mins each day. Even this solution doesn't always work but sometimes they will.
 

Building with glass and silicone: Have you ever built a tank or had a custom tank built?

  • I have built an aquarium.

    Votes: 9 13.0%
  • I have had a custom tank built.

    Votes: 15 21.7%
  • I have never built a tank or had a custom tank built.

    Votes: 42 60.9%
  • Other.

    Votes: 3 4.3%
Back
Top