What to do with dead zoa frag

[Kapachuka3]

Pretty sure my fire and ice zoa is dead, do I move it out of the tank or something? I don’t want it to hurt any of my fish or inverts.

 

[Kapachuka3]

Here’s a picture.

 

[JCM]

That's not dead.

 

[aSaltyKlown]

Doesn't look dead to me - very unhappy, but not dead. What are your parameters?

 

[Jekyl]

Not dead. Just really upset. Zoas and palys can come back from a lot worse

 

[gbroadbridge]

Where there is life there is hope.

Do you know what is making it unhappy? Too much flow or too much light normally

 

[Jekyl]

Parameters and lighting will help us figure it out

 

[PicassoClown04]

Dead zoas means they’ve completely melted away. It will look like there were never zoas on that rock if they were dead. I see some algae growth on the polyps so an H2O2 dip would probably be good for you. Like others have said, listing your perams will help us figure out why they aren’t happy in the first place

 

[Kapachuka3]

Dead zoas means they’ve completely melted away. It will look like there were never zoas on that rock if they were dead. I see some algae growth on the polyps so an H2O2 dip would probably be good for you. Like others have said, listing your perams will help us figure out why they aren’t happy in the first place

How do I list parameters? I want to bring these back how do I do that? And what is H202?

 

[Jekyl]

How do I list parameters? I want to bring these back how do I do that? And what is H202?

What are your tanks parameters? Alkalinity, phosphate, nitrate at least. H2O2 is hydrogen peroxide

 

[Kapachuka3]

What are your tanks parameters? Alkalinity, phosphate, nitrate at least. H2O2 is hydrogen peroxide

I don’t know for sure cause I don’t have a testing thing. But if I dip it should I just put it back In the tank once I’ve dipped it in H202? Would the peroxide hurt fish or anything?

 

[gbroadbridge]

H2O2 is hydrogen peroxide. You can buy it at any grocery store.
Zoas handle a 5 min dip in a 1 part to 9 part RODI water to kill pests.

I think flow or lighting is probably the problem. When did you last do a water change?

Low Alk or Ca could be an issue if not above 7dkH/380 ppm

if you cant test, just change water until the zoa is happy

 

[Jekyl]

I don’t know for sure cause I don’t have a testing thing. But if I dip it should I just put it back In the tank once I’ve dipped it in H202? Would the peroxide hurt fish or anything?

Getting some tests of your own or having your LFS test your water is step one. I would say get your own tests like salifert before buying any other coral.

 

[MaxTremors]

I don’t know for sure cause I don’t have a testing thing. But if I dip it should I just put it back In the tank once I’ve dipped it in H202? Would the peroxide hurt fish or anything?

People generally use 10ml of 9% peroxide per liter of water, leave the coral for 5-10 minutes. It will usually bubble up a little bit on the flesh of the coral. Rinse in some tank water (in another bowl) and then put back in tank.

 

[Kapachuka3]

H2O2 is hydrogen peroxide. You can buy it at any grocery store.
Zoas handle a 5 min dip in a 1 part to 9 part RODI water to kill pests.

I think flow or lighting is probably the problem. When did you last do a water change?

Low Alk or Ca could be an issue if not above 7dkH/380 ppm

if you cant test, just change water until the zoa is happy

I changed water about 3 weeks ago

 

[vetteguy53081]

Important to know the water quality provided in safe range AKA parameters. Test kits are a must to monitor tank. . .. Fish dont talk - Test kits DO and stay away from API kits.
I would highly suggest taking a water sample to a trusted LFS that does NOT use API kits and see what numbers/readings they come up with.
There are a number of factors why zoas close up especially water movement/flow as zoas do not require the consistent high flow conditions that SPS corals do. I would consider running moderate flow which is ideal but Zoa can adapt to low or high flow. In high flow, you will typically see polyps grow closer to the rock with shorter stalks.
Another is lack of feeding and food as infrequent feeding and low nutrients can lead to an entire colony melting down. You dont need to target feed as zoas are photosynthetic. It is generally found that target feeding zoas always provides mixed results when a food falls onto their polyps.

Back to parameters, good water quality is a must.
dKH: 8.0 - 11.0
Calcium: 400 - 440
Magnesium: 1300 - 1350
Iodide: Maintained via regular water changes or manually at small dosages
Temperature: 78-79 degrees
pH: 8.1-8.3
Phosphates: .04 - .06
Nitrates < 10

Asterina stars, little tiny tiny spiders and nudibranchs also will make them miserable to point of death as will aptasia, worms like spinoids or vermetid snails. A few things to look for. Hope this helps

 

[Kapachuka3]

Tha

Important to know the water quality provided in safe range AKA parameters. Test kits are a must to monitor tank. . .. Fish dont talk - Test kits DO and stay away from API kits.
I would highly suggest taking a water sample to a trusted LFS that does NOT use API kits and see what numbers/readings they come up with.
There are a number of factors why zoas close up. Some are water movement/flow as zoas do not require the consistent high flow conditions that SPS corals do. I would consider a moderate flow environment ideal but Zoanthids, like most corals, can adapt to low or high flow. In high flow, you will typically see polyps grow closer to the rock with shorter stalks. Another is lack of feeding and food as infrequent feeding and ultra low nutrient conditions can lead to entire colony meltdowns. Target feeding is not a requirement as Zoanthids are photosynthetic. I have found that target feeding Zoanthids always provides mixed results, when a food particle falls onto the polyps.

Back to parameters, good water quality is a must.
dKH: 8.0 - 10.0
Calcium: 420 - 440
Magnesium: 1300 - 1350
Iodine: Maintained via regular water changes or manually at small dosages
Temperature: 78-79 degrees
pH: 8.1-8.3
Phosphates: .02 - .03
Nitrates < 5

Asterina stars, little tiny tiny spiders and nudibranchs also will make them miserable to point of death as will aptasia, worms like spinoids or vermetid snails. A few things to look for. Hope this helps

Thabk you very much

 

[Gtinnel]

How long have they been in your tank? Were they happy and then closed up, or are they new and have never opened?
I agree with everyone else that your first step should be testing your parameters, but if they're newly added to the tank it could be that they're not happy with the amount of light/flow. When I first put rasta zoas in my tank I had to move them several times until I found a place where they were happy.

Also, I would never pull a zoa frag if it died (which yours have not at all) because there can be so little tissue left that its not noticeable and it can potentially grow back from it.

 

[Kapachuka3]

How long have they been in your tank? Were they happy and then closed up, or are they new and have never opened?
I agree with everyone else that your first step should be testing your parameters, but if they're newly added to the tank it could be that they're not happy with the amount of light/flow. When I first put rasta zoas in my tank I had to move them several times until I found a place where they were happy.

Also, I would never pull a zoa frag if it died (which yours have not at all) because there can be so little tissue left that its not noticeable and it can potentially grow back from it.

My frag was opened but it closed up about 2 months ago and I don’t think it was the lighting or parameters cause I have a pincushion urchin and he’s doing fine. I think it’s just a algae problem.

 

[Gtinnel]

My frag was opened but it closed up about 2 months ago and I don’t think it was the lighting or parameters cause I have a pincushion urchin and he’s doing fine. I think it’s just a algae problem.

If it was happy in that spot before then you're probably correct to rule out light/flow. If there is algea constantly touching the polyps then it will absolutely cause them to close up. I'd still strongly recommend getting at least some cheap test kits (not API) to test the more important parameters.