Zoa problems

[davidt123]

Hello I have a one year old mixed reef system. Lately my zoas have been closing up some of them all the way closed some fine and others half open. My parameters are:
Salinity- 1.026
Alk-8.
Cal-410
Mag-1340
Phos-..02
Nitrate-10ppm
And ammonia nitrite 0 can
Does anyone have any ideas I’m assuming pests of some kind but not sure what to treat for

 

[McCarrick]

If you suspect pests, I'd remove the frags (if possible) and put in coral dip and see if anything comes off. Further you can try dipping thr whole rock that houses all the zoas

 

[Wasabiroot]

Yeah, could be something irritating them. Your parameters are perfectly fine and in line with reef tank parameters.

Zoas don't seem to like ultra clean water - have your nutrients been that way all this time?

Also consider calibrating your refractometer and double checking salinity.

A dip may be in order; zoas harbor many pests. Check during white light for a white dust (almost like ich) or for spiders/nudibranchs.

Lastly, any inverts that could be picking at them?

 

[davidt123]

If you suspect pests, I'd remove the frags (if possible) and put in coral dip and see if anything comes off. Further you can try dipping thr whole rock that houses all the zoas

Thank you for your reply any dip In particular I normally use red seas coral dip.

 

[davidt123]

H

Yeah, could be something irritating them. Your parameters are perfectly fine and in line with reef tank parameters.

Zoas don't seem to like ultra clean water - have your nutrients been that way all this time?

Also consider calibrating your refractometer and double checking salinity.

A dip may be in order; zoas harbor many pests. Check during white light for a white dust (almost like ich) or for spiders/nudibranchs.

Lastly, any inverts that could be picking at them?

Hello thank you for your reply. Yes my parameters have been that way for about 7 months the zoas started to close about 3 months ago. No lighting changes no flow changes. I recalibrate my refractometer monthly so it’s not that. I looked for Zoa pox and didn’t see any signs. If it was pests is there a certain solution I can use? I dip all corals in red seas coral dip. But my suspicion is spiders/ nudibranches? Just havnt seen one yet lol oh and no I don’t think it’s the inverts although that was my first guess was hermit crabs were annoying them but this happened all of a sudden 3 months ago and they were use to the crabs before.

 

[McCarrick]

H

Hello thank you for your reply. Yes my parameters have been that way for about 7 months the zoas started to close about 3 months ago. No lighting changes no flow changes. I recalibrate my refractometer monthly so it’s not that. I looked for Zoa pox and didn’t see any signs. If it was pests is there a certain solution I can use? I dip all corals in red seas coral dip. But my suspicion is spiders/ nudibranches? Just havnt seen one yet lol oh and no I don’t think it’s the inverts although that was my first guess was hermit crabs were annoying them but this happened all of a sudden 3 months ago and they were use to the crabs before.

If you suspect spiders/nudibranchs I would probably just re-dip the whole rock. If nothing comes off still, maybe consider moving them

 

[nkyreef]

I'd hesitate to dip for pests without clear evidence. You could stress them even more and it's a lot of work for something that could do little to help. Your PO4 is 0.02 which is in the margin of error for most test kits and could actually be zero. I'd try to get that number up a bit. Zoas do like a bit dirtier water.

 

[McCarrick]

I'd hesitate to dip for pests without clear evidence. You could stress them even more and it's a lot of work for something that could do little to help. Your PO4 is 0.02 which is in the margin of error for most test kits and could actually be zero. I'd try to get that number up a bit. Zoas do like a bit dirtier water.

Could swish/turkey baster it in some tank water in a white tub- knock things off instead of trying to treat immediately for pests

 

[SchrutesReefs]

I agree with the dip. Especially a less harsh version (coral revive, coral rx) zoas are very timid and need time. They don’t appear to be melting so that’s a plus. If you haven’t had a swing in parameters or change in flow and that many have closed, especially the majority of the ones on the rock and not on the frag plugs, I would dip if it were my tank.