Zoas almost dead (other corals just fine)

[sen5241b]

This is an earlier pic of them when they started dying. The ones in the foreground closed, got some flaky white crud on them, withered and died and then they all did. I tried dipping them in Furan-II daily for 3 or 4 days (for Zoa pox) but this did nothing to stop them from dying. Of 30 some polyps there are now half a dozen left. When basting them with a turkey baster some crud did come off them and now I've put them right under a nozzle.

 

[bjohanson1234]

Sorry to hear about your loss sen.

Hopefully, those 6 or so will make it

 

[Gdbyrd]

Man, I figured those things couldn't die. Not sure what it is, but I've talked to a handful of people in the past week that have lost a lot of zoas.

Really sorry for your loss, I hate losing anything : \

 

[yote]

Hate to hear that Sen.
Have tryed giving them a bath in Lugols Solution?

 

[sen5241b]

Hate to hear that Sen.
Have tryed giving them a bath in Lugols Solution?

No. Has anyone seen something similar with their Zoas?

 

[dcantucson]

On another thread someone was talking about a Zoanthad plaque that was killing zoos. Can you frag some of the good ones?

 

[yote]

I've never seen anything like that with my zoas,or even the ones at the store.
It might be worth it to let em soak in some Lugols for 15 or 20 minutes.
Heres what I just found in my book "Aquarium Corals by Eric Borneman"
Zoanthid condition 2 is characterized by zoanthid polyps closing up and becoming soft and mushy.Most often,there is a white "cheesy" deposit or film that appears on the outer surface of the polyps.This almost invariably results in the death of the animal and is almost certainly caused by Beggiatoa sp.A new disease of Palythoa caribaeorum (which may be the same as this condition) has been described and positively correlated with higher temperatures,low salinities,freshwater inputs (sediments) and maximal gonad development.No pathogen has yet been found.

Hope that helps ya out.

 

[bjohanson1234]

Damn gonad development:grumble:

So in other words, make sure the water quality is good?

 

[yote]

Pretty much.

 

[sen5241b]

I've never seen anything like that with my zoas,or even the ones at the store.
It might be worth it to let em soak in some Lugols for 15 or 20 minutes.
Heres what I just found in my book "Aquarium Corals by Eric Borneman"
Zoanthid condition 2 is characterized by zoanthid polyps closing up and becoming soft and mushy.Most often,there is a white "cheesy" deposit or film that appears on the outer surface of the polyps.This almost invariably results in the death of the animal and is almost certainly caused by Beggiatoa sp.A new disease of Palythoa caribaeorum (which may be the same as this condition) has been described and positively correlated with higher temperatures,low salinities,freshwater inputs (sediments) and maximal gonad development.No pathogen has yet been found.

Hope that helps ya out.

That explains much but it sounds like its not a cure. My other corals are just fine. Last night I held the Zoas under light and used tweezers to pick the "cheesy" film off the polyps. Some were definitely "soft and mushy" and I scraped them off the rock.

Trates are zero (by API tests).
Salnity is .026
Temp 77 to 80 (I have seen temp change by a couple degrees in a few hours)
At times it did seem like there was a little detritus settling on them. I now have it right under a nozzle.
When my ATO switches on you can see a 5 second blast of freshwater diffusing in the tank but I can't believe that would hurt them.

At this point I'm just trying to do a post-mortem before I buy anymore Zoas. Is my tank permanently infected?

 

[Kwater]

Well this happened to my zoos. Twice actually.I HATE killing anything that lives in my tank so I did rwsuech and fixed the problem. It was a light problem. All my zoos are now less that 4 inches from my metal halide and I have personaly never seeen healthier zoos. Those ones that u have are really nice. If u are ever intrested in selling them just tell me. Probably not but thought I would ask. I moved my staghorn so I have room right under the surface of the water.

 

[yote]

I dont know that there is a cure Sen.

 

[sen5241b]

Well this happened to my zoos. Twice actually.I HATE killing anything that lives in my tank so I did rwsuech and fixed the problem. It was a light problem. All my zoos are now less that 4 inches from my metal halide and I have personaly never seeen healthier zoos. Those ones that u have are really nice. If u are ever intrested in selling them just tell me. Probably not but thought I would ask. I moved my staghorn so I have room right under the surface of the water.

Could be it. I started them on the bottom and moved them up very slowly --maybe too slow. Also, as I moved them around they did not always get strong flow.

 

[sen5241b]

Here's a theory:

Somebody said they watched over sized pods eat away at Zoas when they had NO pod eaters in their tank. You have to figure that predatory fish are more likely to eat coral pests and leave the corals healthier. I haven't any big pod eaters (like wrasses and damsels) in my tank in a couple months.

Diverse Fish Reduce Coral Disease | Coral Reef Alliance

 

[yote]

Couldnt hurt.

 

[dcantucson]

Mine have always liked medium to lower flow and close up if they get too much.

 

[project5k]

wow, i have some of that white cheasy stuff on one of my rocks in my tank... wonder if its the same stuff, cause i have no corals yet...

 

[bjohanson1234]

I think what you have is some form of encrusting sponge

 

[project5k]

perhaps, i dont know, i just know that it looks just like the transluscent white stuff on the bottom half of the zoos in the picture above....

 

[yote]

There are some sponges that look like that.But they normally stay on the back side or under the rock out of the light.