Losing Colonies

[Cheesus]

Hey All,

Just wanted to try and get ahead of this and stop any further loss. I have lost my Utter Chaos and Aphrodite colonies. They just close up one day and slowly melt away.

I didn't try anything on the utters, but on the Aphrodite's I did an Iodine dip. It did not seem to help. I don't see any spiders or nudis. Everything else in the tank is fine. So far it has just been those two colonies.

I just got my ATI test back, everything looked pretty decent. That tied in with other more sensitive corals being fine I do not think it is a water quality issue.

Just curious if anyone had any other ideas/things I can try if this continues to spread.

TIA!

 

[Ranjib]

if they are new in the tank, slowly acclimate them for the light and dont expose them to high intensity from the get go

 

[Cheesus]

if they are new in the tank, slowly acclimate them for the light and dont expose them to high intensity from the get go

Hey thanks for the reply! They sat in the sand bed for a month before they were moved. They have been in their current spot for about 3 months.

 

[littlebigreef]

Happen to have some pics of the colony as they sit? Higher detail the better. Zoas will do random group melts but often it can be tied back to some changes in the system or a bacterial infection which is more common than people would think.

 

[Cheesus]

They are completely gone now. But if it happens again I will for sure get pics and post them. I was really leaning on bacterial being the issue.
Any advice on how to avoid that in the future?

 

[littlebigreef]

They are completely gone now. But if it happens again I will for sure get pics and post them. I was really leaning on bacterial being the issue.
Any advice on how to avoid that in the future?

Sorry to hear that. Zoas can be very forgiving but sometimes this stuff comes up and short of immediate action an infection can devastate a colony in short order.

 

[Cheesus]

I appreciate that. I tried dipping them. I don't think I caught it soon enough. They are in a lower flow area. I wonder if that allowed the bacteria to build up.

 

[JohnA26]

I appreciate that. I tried dipping them. I don't think I caught it soon enough. They are in a lower flow area. I wonder if that allowed the bacteria to build up.

I have had what sounds like the same issue. I am new to this and it is an established reef from a friend(over 2 years). Silly question, as they melt and break or fall off, do you scramble to clean them out? I work 12 hour days and am getting crazy trying to get every little piece out of the tank. Or is it ok to just wait until the weekend and do water changes and vacuums?

 

[Cheesus]

I have had what sounds like the same issue. I am new to this and it is an established reef from a friend(over 2 years). Silly question, as they melt and break or fall off, do you scramble to clean them out? I work 12 hour days and am getting crazy trying to get every little piece out of the tank. Or is it ok to just wait until the weekend and do water changes and vacuums?

Personally, I try to keep my hands out of the tank, if a zoa frag falls, I usually leave it. Most of the time for me they grow wherever they fell.

Of course if when things die they add nutrients to the tank. So as long as they don't get out of control I would say you are okay to wait.

 

[JohnA26]

Personally, I try to keep my hands out of the tank, if a zoa frag falls, I usually leave it. Most of the time for me they grow wherever they fell.

Of course if when things die they add nutrients to the tank. So as long as they don't get out of control I would say you are okay to wait.

Great, I wanted to be sure it wasn’t toxic to the other corals, fish and clean up crew

 

[Timmtom49]

When I turned my uv light back on I noticed a large amount of my zoas close up and I have seen them open up yet

 

[littlebigreef]

Great, I wanted to be sure it wasn’t toxic to the other corals, fish and clean up crew

It's fine. They will sometimes catch on else where and reestablish. Most zoas post almost no risk to you outside of a few very specific things YOU might do when working with them.