Oldest Zoa Colony Melting

[Beej1254]

I've tried a few things and haven't had much success in figuring out why this is happening. The Zoanthids I'm about to show you have been in my tank for over a year now and started from a 5 polyp frag. They used to be positioned front and center in my tank which is a slightly shaded area and I can honestly say that after redoing my aquascape multiple times I never moved them until recently. The reason for this move was due to the zoas looking like they were melting. I felt like maybe the lighting in this area of the tank wasn't quite right for them anymore because they seemed to be shading each other and melting.

Here is a picture of the zoas from maybe a month ago

And here they are from yesterday in their new position about 3 inches from the old spot and the rock is now angled so the whole colony gets light. The picture was from yesterday but they have been in this spot for 3-4 days.

Just yesterday (after the picture) I tried dipping the zoas in CoralRX to see if any pests came off and didn't notice any. I've also literally sat infront of my tank with my face on the glass looking for pests. My flow hasn't changed much. There WAS a mushroom close to this colony but not anymore. I do have vermetid snails in my tank but I've been actively trying to completely crush them whenever they are near my corals.

My tank has been experiencing larger daily PH swings lately. Some days it goes from 8.1 - 8.49. During the winter and fall it pretty much hung out in he 8.2-8.35 range. Today I recalibrated my probe and saw the ph drop from 8.35 before calibrating to 8.08 after. So maybe my ph has been really weird lately?

Other parameters

Temp: 78-79 f
Nitrates: 5-10ppm
Phosphates 0.25

Tested an hour ago:
Calc: 430
ALK: 9 dkh
Mag: 1400

I usually like to keep
Calc: 420
ALK: 10
Mag:1400

I don't see anything that to me looks like Zoa pox either.

I'd really appreciate any of your help. Thanks.

 

[twilliard]

When they umbrella like that there is still no clear reason as to why they do that.
I feel when they do that it is stress.
I had 1 species do that in my tank while all my other species are fine.

 

[Tautog]

I had something like that happen, but didn't kill all of mine. I never found out what seemed to destroy it

 

[Beej1254]

Thanks for the reply. Another possibility I am considering is my newer yellow Corris wrasse. I bought him for 2 reasons 1. I like the way he looks 2. Rumors they eat vermetid snails. I'll have to catch it on tape because I do believe they eat these snails...BUT only if they are quick enough to catch them before the snail retracts and hides. My yellow Corris wrass regularly overs closely to this Zoa colony and you can see its eyes searching for something. I removed a good amount of vermetid snails from the colony as well. Maybe when the wrasse is picking it's stressing these zoas??

 

[TheEngineer]

Have you lost any? They look annoyed but not like they are dieing.

 

[Beej1254]

Yes unfortunately I've lost at least a couple right in the center on the frag plug. I've been watching 2 polyps specifically because they haven't been opening and slowly look like they are a shrinking and turning to goo. I'd say at this point I've probably lost less then 10% of the colony as a rough estimate from observation.

 

[TheEngineer]

@twilliard gave me a great suggestion some months back to try a round of chemiclean when I had something similar happening. It really works. Might be worth a shot.

 

[twilliard]

@twilliard gave me a great suggestion some months back to try a round of chemiclean when I had something similar happening. It really works. Might be worth a shot.

Oh ya I remember that!
Yes it is a good option for zoanthids

 

[TheEngineer]

Oh ya I remember that!
Yes it is a good option for zoanthids

Peroxide seems to be having the same effect actually

 

[twilliard]

Peroxide seems to be having the same effect actually

Oh ya it should!

 

[Beej1254]

What was your method in using either Chemiclean or peroxide? I've never added anything to my tank other then calc, ALK, and mag. I don't run anything extra and haven't needed to use meds or chemicals..yet? My system is just straight up circulating water through bio media and water changes. Plus a single filter sock which has for the past year been great. I always told myself I didn't want to use chemicals. But then again I can understand it for the benefit of a sick fish or coral.

 

[TheEngineer]

I follow the on package directions for chemiclean. I don't like chemicals either but in the case of treating a disease or parasite I don't mind as much. Peroxide I dose 1mL per 10g of volume. Be warned, your zoas will look ticked off from the peroxide but they bounce back in a few hours. Peroxide needs to be dosed daily for a while. I haven't figured out how long yet.

 

[Harry_Y]

when was your last water change?

 

[Beej1254]

Thank you for the information. If I get the chance I'll head to the LFS and get some. I'll do anything to save these zoas. Will Chemiclean harm anything else in the tank?

I do a 10-15% water change every Monday anytime between 6 and 10 in the morning.

 

[Wiz]

I have a bunch of zoa colonie side by side in the sand on the bottom of my tank also in a shaded area. Recently My ked reds close up for about 3 days I did a furan 2 dip and then about an hour later and iodine dip. They came back out in about 2 days.the colony of red hornets decided to close up And slowly melt off similar to what you're saying. I tried furan 2 and iodine. No help. i tried chemi clean dip. Nothing stopped it they all disappeared about thirty polyps. Then my teals started to close and I got very upset so I treated the entire tank with chemi clean. Although the teals have not opened back up they are not melting like the Hornets did. I have my fingers crossed. No idea what caused the one colony to die off the rest all look great. The only thing I can say that I noticed by examining them was some of the closed polyps seemed to have a light lime green coating on the top. Not cyano and not easily brushed away. Almost as if the flesh turned green. I'm still waiting on the teals to open back up. Teals are bottom left. Hornetswere in between the rastahs and tubbs blues. Good luck with yours

 

[Beej1254]

I follow the on package directions for chemiclean. I don't like chemicals either but in the case of treating a disease or parasite I don't mind as much. Peroxide I dose 1mL per 10g of volume. Be warned, your zoas will look ticked off from the peroxide but they bounce back in a few hours. Peroxide needs to be dosed daily for a while. I haven't figured out how long yet.

Just out of curiosity...I found the instructions to Chemiclean on the website. Do you think it's best to leave the zoas in the DT and treat? Or remove them to another tank? What about for peroxide?

 

[TheEngineer]

I leave them in the tank and treat the whole tank. It is slow acting. For peroxide I'd do the same. Albeit the peroxide method isn't really a method at this point. Just a correlation.

 

[Beej1254]

I have a bunch of zoa colonie side by side in the sand on the bottom of my tank also in a shaded area. Recently My ked reds close up for about 3 days I did a furan 2 dip and then about an hour later and iodine dip. They came back out in about 2 days.the colony of red hornets decided to close up And slowly melt off similar to what you're saying. I tried furan 2 and iodine. No help. i tried chemi clean dip. Nothing stopped it they all disappeared about thirty polyps. Then my teals started to close and I got very upset so I treated the entire tank with chemi clean. Although the teals have not opened back up they are not melting like the Hornets did. I have my fingers crossed. No idea what caused the one colony to die off the rest all look great. The only thing I can say that I noticed by examining them was some of the closed polyps seemed to have a light lime green coating on the top. Not cyano and not easily brushed away. Almost as if the flesh turned green. I'm still waiting on the teals to open back up. Teals are bottom left. Hornetswere in between the rastahs and tubbs blues. Good luck with yours

Thank you for your post and information. I'm sorry to hear about your zoas melting away and I hope the rest of yours stay healthy. I appreciate you sharing your experience

 

[Beej1254]

I leave them in the tank and treat the whole tank. It is slow acting. For peroxide I'd do the same. Albeit the peroxide method isn't really a method at this point. Just a correlation.

Great I'll give it a shot

 

[TheEngineer]

Great I'll give it a shot

Good luck!