Zoanthids on there way out???

[felix27]

heres a pic, got a nice rock (50+ polyps) at a LFS about 2 weeks ago, i thought they were all green when i purchased them but lately i have been seeing some brown pop up, so are they dying?, too much light?, any info would be great, thanks guys!

 

[bjohanson1234]

It looks to me that there were brown ones (or one) and they are just starting to multiply.

 

[dcantucson]

Or maybe they were closed up and hiding below the green ones. I have never heard of them completely turning a different color.

 

[yote]

Aint nothing wrong with those zoas.:D Those brown are just a different color morph.
And they look great.

 

[Melosu58]

How about some water test results so we can rule that out.

 

[RyanG]

Just a word of caution, a lot of paly's and zoa's will fight hard for territory. Unfortunately it sounds like the brown ones are stronger and will eventually take over the green ones. Might want to frag them out, Just my .02

 

[felix27]

ill get some test results and put them up tonight, as far as fragging goes.... anyone have a good reference site or "how to" pages?? thanks again for all the responses

 

[yote]

To frag em,just take a good sharp exacto hobby knife and work it between the zoas mat and the rock.Then you can slowly work them loose,tho you'll probably have to scrape some rock off with the mat.Then just place the ones you fragged on some rubble and let em attach.
Also DO NOT frag them without eye protection and rubber or latex gloves.The toxins they produce can kill you.

 

[felix27]

Also DO NOT frag them without eye protection and rubber or latex gloves.The toxins they produce can kill you.

Good to know, im a bodyman by trade so i have face shields etc... Thanks for the heads up, would have never thought it

 

[RyanG]

I think there are some videos on youtube that show zoanthid fragging. As Yote said palytoxin can kill you and at the very least make you very very ill. We had a member here get some in her eye and it put her in the hospital. Has anyone heard from Michelle lately?

 

[yote]

Sure hadnt Ryan.
I been wandering about her myself.

 

[Bifferwine]

Those brown ones were always there (or at least, one was). They are two totally different zoanthid types, so like others have said, you should probably thin out the ugly ones!

 

[Brian_G]

yeah i have heard of people pulling a zoanthid out and walking away and a cat coming up and licking it and dying within a few days. so they are pretty powerful toxins.

 

[felix27]

the readings i got tonight are as follows
ammonia= 0 ppm
nitrite= .1 ppm
nitrate= 10 ppm
phosphates= .1 ppm
calcium= 400 ppm

 

[yote]

I'm guessing that the nitrite reading is the kit being off a little bit.
But other than that,I dont see anything wrong with parameters.
Whats your salinity?

 

[felix27]

salinty is at 1.024, only have a oldschool floating hydrometer tho so its probably not that accurate