Help me with my dying zoas?

Yeah, the more I read and think about it, the more confused I get. I'm really not sure why the pods love the zoas, nor what is causing the zoas to lose their heads overnight. Just wish I knew how I could stop it!

Still not convinced the pods are not to blame - there are just so many species, and some sound rather nasty. (Hoping I don't have cirolanids too!) It very well could be something else too though... Would be nice to figure it out so that I can begin adding beautiful zoa colonies to my tank without knowing that I am simply buying expensive pest food!
 
Update with water parameters and some pictures :)

Alk: 7.0 dKH (I'm slightly overdue for a water change, it is a bit lower than expected though)
Ca: 475
Mg: 1380
pH: 8.0
Temp: 80
Salinity: 35 ppt

And some pictures - for reference, all of the frags essentially had their bases fully covered, with the exception of the one on the tile, but even then it was mostly covered. The palys on the rock do not seem to have been overtly affected yet, but I am not positive - they still look nice and full though, in contrast to the zoa patches.

View attachment 15500View attachment 15501View attachment 15502View attachment 15503View attachment 15504View attachment 15505

Like I said, not really spectacular zoas by any measure, but I don't want to lose them regardless. Apologies on the poor iphone pictures, and dirty tank / glass, wish I had more time to fix it all up!
 
its sounds like predation one way or the other, rather than trying to figure out the cause you need to dip and move to qt. these things all eat zoas


zoo_spider_pycnogonid.jpg


sundial.jpg


dc_nudibranch_tb.jpg
 
Is that what zoa pox looks like? I wasn't sure, as I'd read that they tend to incorporate the substrate into their bodies, so I figured it was sand...? Lol, the assumptions of a noob :)

The only ones I notice the spots on are the ones resting on the sand bed, and two of the ones with spots don't exhibit any reduction in size, but if they have pox, I'd like to cure it nonetheless. How quickly does pox kill off a head?

As for removal / dip / QT - definitely a solid strategy for saving them, but I need to clean the tank of whatever is preying on them? Or just stay away from zoas and palys I suppose... I'll try and move them out soon, that does make the most sense. But I need a light for them :( at least I'll have a coral QT setup by the time I'm done I suppose, lol.
 
i can see it in the first pic also but lets wait till someone with hands on experience with pox comments ..

and yea all white spots isn't pox.
 
Palys draw parts of the substrate and rock into their mat and structure. I do not believe those are zoa pox, but I don't have any specific experience with those except that all of my palys look like that.
 
Hmm, my very brief (only one site so far) reading of zoa pox indicated that there is anecdotal evidence that palythoas aren't affected by zoa pox? I need to do a lot more reading.... The first picture has little sympodium hitchhikers growing along the base, which due to the low resolution, may look like spots, but when i get home I will check again. I am worried, the big head on that frag is noticeably thinning at the base this morning....

And I think that's a regular bristle :) (I think there are two separate worms in the picture) At least, I sure hope so... They're relatively thin, and their bristles aren't clumped closely together. I did however spot a huge worm that I'm pretty sure is the nasty variety the other day.... This thing was about 1/4 in thick, long, and fuzzy looking... But not overtly fuzzy, just fuzzier than my "benign" bristles... My cleaner shrimp was also attacking it surprisingly (or poking it at least)! But the worm just drifted into a hole in the rock... I wasn't quick enough to pull it out, unfortunately.
 
did you change or increase your lighting lately? I am having a similar issue with mine running from the new bulbs I just put in. They got a lot better when I reduced the photoperiod, but they're definitely still looking a little unhappy. Just wondering if that variable could be impacting.
 
Herbie said:
did you change or increase your lighting lately? I am having a similar issue with mine running from the new bulbs I just put in. They got a lot better when I reduced the photoperiod, but they're definitely still looking a little unhappy. Just wondering if that variable could be impacting.
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+1
about to ask the same question ..
 
I've been slowly upping my new ai Vegas over the last 2 months, and everything in the tank was good until they hit 82% and the temperature spiked the first warm day up to 82 degrees! I think it was heat the made my corals lose it, but as it resulted in some sps bleaching, and my plate mildly bleaching, I have since turned my lights down to 60%, and anytime I try and push it beyond 63% the corals in the tank look mildly unhappy. So, beyond setting it at 60% and leaving it, I haven't done anything lighting-wise in the last 1 and a half weeks. Good call though, lighting could be implicated...

Still curious. I may have to just throw in the towel and go with random night-predator that I cannot see, thereby cutting me out of any cool zoas! :( I hope not though, zoas really are so cool looking, lol!
 
that "fuzzy" worm may need some additional research as well. Even if it's a fireworm or something, if it's big it might be bothering things as it travels around at night (or it might be nom noming things). Maybe do a redlight scan or get a pest trap to see if that is a factor as well.
 
tkh said:
I've been slowly upping my new ai Vegas over the last 2 months, and everything in the tank was good until they hit 82% and the temperature spiked the first warm day up to 82 degrees! I think it was heat the made my corals lose it, but as it resulted in some sps bleaching, and my plate mildly bleaching, I have since turned my lights down to 60%, and anytime I try and push it beyond 63% the corals in the tank look mildly unhappy. So, beyond setting it at 60% and leaving it, I haven't done anything lighting-wise in the last 1 and a half weeks. Good call though, lighting could be implicated...

Still curious. I may have to just throw in the towel and go with random night-predator that I cannot see, thereby cutting me out of any cool zoas! :( I hope not though, zoas really are so cool looking, lol!
Click to expand...

80% percent on a vega isnt that high light .. well unless its a shallow tank .. i used to have 80% white and 100% blue on my kessil which is lot more intense ... but still changes to lighting do affect them .

hope we catch the cause ..
 
Yeah, it wasn't terribly intense lighting, I think that it was the combination in heat (82!) and the higher lighting. Despite the rep for not having deeper penetration due to the lenses used on the Vegas, most people (from what I've read) still cannot use them at 100% at 6-8inches above water level, from what I've read at least. In terms of providing ample lighting, I think I am ok so far, and will likely try upping it 1% every week or two weeks to see how the coral reacts.

The fat worm did concern me, I was shocked to see it!! (And happy my trusted cleaners were jabbing the thing...) I do wonder if it is making a small buffet of my limited corals...?

Any tips on where to buy a red light flashlight? Trips to target only lead to me finding red bulbs. I could throw the red LEDs onto 1% during the night I suppose.
 
tkh said:
Yeah, it wasn't terribly intense lighting, I think that it was the combination in heat (82!) and the higher lighting. Despite the rep for not having deeper penetration due to the lenses used on the Vegas, most people (from what I've read) still cannot use them at 100% at 6-8inches above water level, from what I've read at least. In terms of providing ample lighting, I think I am ok so far, and will likely try upping it 1% every week or two weeks to see how the coral reacts.

The fat worm did concern me, I was shocked to see it!! (And happy my trusted cleaners were jabbing the thing...) I do wonder if it is making a small buffet of my limited corals...?

Any tips on where to buy a red light flashlight? Trips to target only lead to me finding red bulbs. I could throw the red LEDs onto 1% during the night I suppose.
Click to expand...

You should be able to find a head lamp with a red light setting at target home depot or a sporting goods store. They're about $20 and mine has a "sportsman's blue" setting as well. I use it on my tank all the time and it's waterproof too!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4 Beta
 
Heh, thanks for all the flashlight tips!! :) Well, if nothing else, at least I can now buy a proper night light for the tank, lol. I think the zoas in the first pic are about toast. I got in late last night, and they were covered in pods. This morning one more head is gone, the biggest remaining head looks pretty shabby, and the whole thing remains closed. Sad day for the poor zoas :( I'm hoping whatever is preying on the zoas only has a taste for zoas, and not for palys or other corals....
 
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