Zoas shriveling up and some dieing, please help!

[sarno]

Morning all,

It's been a little while since I have been around these parts but I seem to be having a big problem with my Zoas. I have several different kinds in my tank and most of them are doing great. I have started them from frags and they are growing like crazy. However recently as you can see in the photos one set of them just up and died. They closed up first then disintegrated into nothing.

I have read here in the forums about possible predators but I have not seen anything in my tank. My water quality checks out fine, a little low in alkalinity but nothing major. Zero Nitrates or Nitrites.

In the photo of the ones that died the white areas on the rock is where they were covered in the zoas, there are few left but I'm not sure they are going to make it. Now my orange zoas are starting to close up. I'm really getting concerned about them as they are fairly expensive to replace and they were growing quite well. There is also an area in the middle of the green & purple ones that are closing up as well.

I was wondering if this could be caused by my lighting. There is a MH bulb above the orange ones and the green & purple ones as well. They could probably be changed out, I'd say they are about 2 years old.

My tank is a 125 with a 15 gal sump/refugium and I did a 35-40 gallon water change this weekend as well, trying to see if that might solve the problem.

Any help will be greatly appreciated, all of them were growing like weeds and then all of a sudden this is starting so I'm baffled!

Thanks!

[Skurvey Dog]

Hello Sarno, sorry to hear about your zoa colonies dying. How closely have you examined for pests? Have you added any new frags to your system that could have introduced nudis, spider or zoa eating amphipod/ do you dip your newly aquired frags or give a FW dip with RO/DI water? Has anything changed in your routine that could cause you to take a closer look at? Can't answer any lighting Qs as my knowledge is minimal at best. Your overall tank "looks" healthy and hopefully it's a simple solution of lighting, flow, or water imbalance. (Are all your water parameter readings good across the board with the exception of lower than normal alk? How about the calcium?) Zoas have been known to get the "pox" and also a "fungal" infection. Some species are more prone to these than others. Sometimes temp swings will cause them to become sick. It has been said recently by some zoa hobbiest that the reference "beginner coral" is not correct, as some species have been an ongoing trial to keep.

I have read some zoa hobbiest will start fragging off of colonies that are having problems in hopes of saving some specimens in a "worse case scenario". Not saying that this is something you should do by no means. I'll leave that up to the "Zoa Gurus" to advise you. You just mentioned that you had some greenbacks tied up in them. Just sharing some material I read with you so you can do further research on your own. And anything you can share would be welcome also.


Just Something For The Zoa Data Base
I ran across a bazaar thread in my surfing through zoa hobbiest and there was a thread on a dying colony which was pulled out of the DT for a closer inspection to find that the rock smelled bad, like rot. He had to frag the whole colony in an effort to save it. It never said what caused the deterioration of the LR. I don't know if it was caused by a baterial infection of the LR or exactly what the culprit was. Just found it interesting as it was very unusual.

[sarno]

Skurvey,

Thanks so much for your reply! I don't ever dip my new frags, maybe I should start. I just put them through a slow drip acclimation before adding them to the tank. As for the routine that's what so strange to me. I haven't changed anything, same water, same food, etc. I'm not a big fan of dosing so I just add the minimal things, like it to be as natural as possible. But I haven't changed anything in a couple years, and yeah only the alk was a little low. What is so weird to me is the speed at which the zoas crashed and burned. They were closing up for a couple days, I just figured it might have been a "stage" they were going through then all of sudden they just started disintegrating and the fish were then picking at them. There are a few left, maybe they will make it. And I will continue to examine them closely. I'm pretty anal about watching the tank. So I usually notice anything that's out of whack.

Since my post my orange ones seem to be doing a little better, some of the closed ones are reopening so I guess I'll wait and see. However the other ones in the middle of the green ones are still closed.

Like I said in my first post. The rate at which all of them have been growing led me to believe all was well. And the ones that died were my first zoas, so it's strange to me to think that they just got "sick" and died.

Also I haven't added any corals in quite some time, except for a ricordia frag (just one polyp). And I didn't notice any extra critters hanging on. I think this weekend I'm going to change out my MHs, it's time anyway. Maybe that will help.

I think that's a great idea to maybe frag some off the colony to try and save them. If the orange ones start going south I'll start fragging.

Thank you again for the advice and help! It's greatly appreciated, I'll try and contribute however I can to these forums more but I still consider myself a big time rookie. Still can't get my clownfish larvae to live very long, I have a mated pair laying eggs on a tile, but can't keep them alive. Maybe after that I'll bump myself to "experienced rookie"

[lReef lKeeper]

try blowing them of with a turkey baster full of water. sometimes they get irritated by algae or something growing in between the polyps or just on the rock. i have to blow mine off in the frag tank every month or so.

[Skurvey Dog]

Excellent idea Bobby!

And Sarno, we all are learning something new everyday. Thats' what makes this hobby so enjoyable...... it is a challenge, as well as being rewarding. Never a dull moment. Right when you think you've got things figured out... nature throws a curve ball! We all learn from each other. "Reefers School Together!"

[CarmieJo]

Hi Sarno,

I would even consider pulling them out and giving them a fresh RO water dip. They can be dipped for quite a few minutes. Look closely and see if any critters fall off. The predators are pretty tiny and tend to blend in with the zoas.

[phunkie99]

I'm no expert by any means but in the second pic it looks like there are little white spots on them possibly "Pox" this link might help CoralPedia.com! :: The definitive repository for named Corals!

I am having similar problems (not pox but zoa unexplainably "melting away) and feel your pain

[CarmieJo]

Hello phunkie99 and to TR.

Thanks for jumping in with such a useful link.