Please advise-GHA on Zoa

[Charlie G]

Hello. I have a red people eater zoa frag on a rack that I purchased in July. Was doing well until about 1 week ago. I noticed one of the polyps not opening well. In fact the tentacles and oral disc started drooping downward instead of upward like the other polyp. I took a closer look the other night and did notice a buble algae on it which I removed. Because it was out of the tank it was hard to discern anything else on it. I thought that would help it. It's still turned downward (I will post pics of what it looked like before and now). Tonight when I came home and my white lights were on I noticed that the polyp is surrounded by GHA. Could that affect the zoa in that way?

I am concerned that I may damage the polyp if I try to pick it off with tweezers. Any recommendation regarding the best way to deal with this? Pick it off with tweezers or maybe peroxide? If peroxide can anyone recommend a safe technique. Thanks.

 

[Dan_P]

Hello. I have a red people eater zoa frag on a rack that I purchased in July. Was doing well until about 1 week ago. I noticed one of the polyps not opening well. In fact the tentacles and oral disc started drooping downward instead of upward like the other polyp. I took a closer look the other night and did notice a buble algae on it which I removed. Because it was out of the tank it was hard to discern anything else on it. I thought that would help it. It's still turned downward (I will post pics of what it looked like before and now). Tonight when I came home and my white lights were on I noticed that the polyp is surrounded by GHA. Could that affect the zoa in that way?

I am concerned that I may damage the polyp if I try to pick it off with tweezers. Any recommendation regarding the best way to deal with this? Pick it off with tweezers or maybe peroxide? If peroxide can anyone recommend a safe technique. Thanks.

Off topic. What is all that brown fuzzy growth on the rocks in first photo? That might bee a bigger issue.

 

[Charlie G]

Off topic. What is all that brown fuzzy growth on the rocks in first photo? That might bee a bigger issue.

That was GHA I was dealing with. At least that is what I thought. I have been manually removing and continuing with weekly water changes and watching my feeding. The fist pic I am adding is in June and the second pic of the same area is tonight.

 

[Charlie G]

That was GHA I was dealing with. At least that is what I thought. I have been manually removing and continuing with weekly water changes and watching my feeding. The fist pic I am adding is in June and the second pic of the same area is tonight.

 

[Charlie G]

That was GHA I was dealing with. At least that is what I thought. I have been manually removing and continuing with weekly water changes and watching my feeding. The fist pic I am adding is in June and the second pic of the same area is tonight.

Some more pics of my aquarium now.

 

[Jekyl]

Looks like a young tank. Maturing is to solution. For now, remove excess by hand, manage parameters, ensure proper CuC and dose live phyto. For the stuff on your zoas just get what you can safely. It will grow back anyway.

 

[Charlie G]

Looks like a young tank. Maturing is to solution. For now, remove excess by hand, manage parameters, ensure proper CuC and dose live phyto. For the stuff on your zoas just get what you can safely. It will grow back anyway.

Yes. Thank you. The tank is about 10 months old. A have a couple of Astrosnails. A trochus and Nerite. They don't seem to do much as far as the gha. I did earlier on have Mexican turbos (before my GHA bloom) and they seems pretty effective for overall cleaning. They eventually died. I hesitated putting them in again because I am concerned they can push around some rock that is not secured. Not sure if that would be an issue. I also avoided urchins for similar reasons. Btw this is a 32g Biocube.

 

[Charlie G]

Yes. Thank you. The tank is about 10 months old. A have a couple of Astrosnails. A trochus and Nerite. They don't seem to do much as far as the gha. I did earlier on have Mexican turbos (before my GHA bloom) and they seems pretty effective for overall cleaning. They eventually died. I hesitated putting them in again because I am concerned they can push around some rock that is not secured. Not sure if that would be an issue. I also avoided urchins for similar reasons. Btw this is a 32g Biocube.

For the zoa do you mean even after removing what I can the algae will grow back anyway?

 

[TokenReefer]

I bought a zoa frag covered with gha; dipped it for 2 minutes (exactly) in hydrogen peroxide; it killed the algae and the zoas opened about an hour later. I cannot speak to how yours will react but that's the experience I had and since yours are on a rack and removable...might be an option..

 

[Charlie G]

I bought a zoa frag covered with gha; dipped it for 2 minutes (exactly) in hydrogen peroxide; it killed the algae and the zoas opened about an hour later. I cannot speak to how yours will react but that's the experience I had and since yours are on a rack and removable...might be an option..

That's what I was thinking as I have seen some videos in the past explaining that some coral should be able to handle peroxide and it can be quite effective. Wasn't sure if that would work on Zoas.

Did you dip the whole frag?
Did you dilute the peroxide?

 

[TokenReefer]

I put the whole plug in yes; no I did not dilute it; straight 3% from the bottle

 

[Charlie G]

I put the whole plug in yes; no I did not dilute it; straight 3% from the bottle

Great. Thanks. I may try that tomorrow as I have some time.

Appreciate all the input from you and Jekyl.

 

[littlebigreef]

I'd like to add one caveat to @Token_Reefer 's suggestion. I generally avoid dipping in hydrogen peroxide as I believe its rough on the zoa. However, I've found the zoa is less affected if the polyps are closed when dipping. I also only dip at 1:4 peroxide to water mix but I imagine full strength gets the job done quicker. He's exactly right on the 2 mins as well. Less is more in this case.

 

[Wrassenaround]

Looks like a young tank. Maturing is to solution. For now, remove excess by hand, manage parameters, ensure proper CuC and dose live phyto. For the stuff on your zoas just get what you can safely. It will grow back anyway.

As far as live phyto goes I have used @AlgaeBarn's OceanMagik and its has been phenomenal. It slowly withered away GHA I had in my old nano tank and i'm currently using it in my new 90 gallon tank and 1 month after initial dose my algae is disappearing. Not only is it good for nuisance algae but corals love it also.

 

[JoJosReef]

Do you have an active conch in your sand bed? I have one that cleans my shrooms and zoas when they get GHA growing on/between them. It gets bad sometimes. I put the plug in the sand bed and give it a few days. Cleanest they'll ever be.

 

[Charlie G]

I'd like to add one caveat to @Token_Reefer 's suggestion. I generally avoid dipping in hydrogen peroxide as I believe its rough on the zoa. However, I've found the zoa is less affected if the polyps are closed when dipping. I also only dip at 1:4 peroxide to water mix but I imagine full strength gets the job done quicker. He's exactly right on the 2 mins as well. Less is more in this case.

Thank you.
I was reading other threads on the topic and some suggested 50/50 or other ratios of peroxide to water. Some suggested not dipping but dabbing the area with a a-tip or using a syringe as well as brushing the plug. I am not in a rush so may use some combination of everyone's advice. Maybe some dilution, scrubbing the plug, dab or dip no more than 2 minutes. I'm not in a rush and the frag is not glued to my rock yet so I can take my time on that.

 

[Charlie G]

As far as live phyto goes I have used @AlgaeBarn's OceanMagik and its has been phenomenal. It slowly withered away GHA I had in my old nano tank and i'm currently using it in my new 90 gallon tank and 1 month after initial dose my algae is disappearing. Not only is it good for nuisance algae but corals love it also.

Thanks for the advice. I have not heard much about live phyto. Is there any downside to nutrient parameters or livestock?

 

[Charlie G]

Do you have an active conch in your sand bed? I have one that cleans my shrooms and zoas when they get GHA growing on/between them. It gets bad sometimes. I put the plug in the sand bed and give it a few days. Cleanest they'll ever be.

I don't have an active conch. Will it clean the sand Ed as well if any detritus? Does it help keep nutrients down?
What kind do you suggest? I have a 32g Biocube. Is there a size requirement for the tank? My other concern is do they push around rock? Any downside with them?

 

[littlebigreef]

Thank you.
I was reading other threads on the topic and some suggested 50/50 or other ratios of peroxide to water. Some suggested not dipping but dabbing the area with a a-tip or using a syringe as well as brushing the plug. I am not in a rush so may use some combination of everyone's advice. Maybe some dilution, scrubbing the plug, dab or dip no more than 2 minutes. I'm not in a rush and the frag is not glued to my rock yet so I can take my time on that.

That’s great that you were researching further, not nearly enough of that these days.

You may have been looking at my buddy @Grossman90 ‘s post. The q-tip dabbing is the most conservative approach, he’s used it to treat hydroid-like things growing on the zoas but same method works for gha. He also figured out zoas fare better when closed during treatment.

Whichever way you decide to go best of luck!

 

[josh1591]

I bought a zoa frag covered with gha; dipped it for 2 minutes (exactly) in hydrogen peroxide; it killed the algae and the zoas opened about an hour later. I cannot speak to how yours will react but that's the experience I had and since yours are on a rack and removable...might be an option..

+1 on the peroxide dip. Best thing that works for zoanthids and green hair algae. If you want a less invasive approach, you could add reef flux (it's reef safe) and in a few weeks it should be gone. I see you have it on your rocks, it would work for those spots as well.