whats eating my zoas

[Double J]

just added my first frag to my tank on Sunday, on Monday i noticed 2 or 3 of the polys were completely gone.
thank is 50 gallons and has been up and running for about 8 months.
all parameters are in check.

I've been searching the forums but cant seem to find an exact answer but have some possibilities.

Theory 1: camel shrimp- haven't seen him even go near them, opposite side of tank from where he hangs out

Theory 2: reg legged hermit crabs: were added the same day, saw one crawling on the zoas but not for long.

Last night I tried to catch the shrimp but no luck. I did manage to catch the 5 reg legs and relocate them, to a glass cup inside the tank. didn't see any more damage this morning. I didn't get a good picture of them after due to a snail being too close and they closed up, but you can see in the bottom picture that toward the top of the frag there is a bare spot now.

Any ideas? and if its the shrimp and good ways to catch it?

 

[Chris Adams]

I am not sure you are missing anything.
From the first pic I count about 18 or 19 polyps from what I can see
If you count them closed up looks about 20 hard to see

I just think when opened and extended it appeared there were polyps on the bare spot? Maybe

 

[Double J]

I am not sure you are missing anything.
From the first pic I count about 18 or 19 polyps from what I can see
If you count them closed up looks about 20 hard to see

I just think when opened and extended it appeared there were polyps on the bare spot? Maybe

I would agree when you count them in the picture, maybe i can find another picture of them closed when i got them that shows better, do you see in the closed polyp picture the polyp top left of the "gap" it looks like the base is half eaten through? or am I seeing things?

 

[jboone82590]

just added my first frag to my tank on Sunday, on Monday i noticed 2 or 3 of the polys were completely gone.
thank is 50 gallons and has been up and running for about 8 months.
all parameters are in check.

I've been searching the forums but cant seem to find an exact answer but have some possibilities.

Theory 1: camel shrimp- haven't seen him even go near them, opposite side of tank from where he hangs out

Theory 2: reg legged hermit crabs: were added the same day, saw one crawling on the zoas but not for long.

Last night I tried to catch the shrimp but no luck. I did manage to catch the 5 reg legs and relocate them, to a glass cup inside the tank. didn't see any more damage this morning. I didn't get a good picture of them after due to a snail being too close and they closed up, but you can see in the bottom picture that toward the top of the frag there is a bare spot now.

Any ideas? and if its the shrimp and good ways to catch it?

I don't think they would eat zoas.

 

[Chris Adams]

I think I see what you are talking about but tough to see.
So you see nothing on the polyps themselves correct? Not white rings or anything?

Could be the camel

 

[Double J]

I think I see what you are talking about but tough to see.
So you see nothing on the polyps themselves correct? Not white rings or anything?

Could be the camel

dont see any white rings, just not sure, I have been told camel shrimp can eat coral, so i plan on rehoming it, just havent found a place yet. and after looking online I saw that red leg hermits are listed as reef safe with caution. I wanted blue leg hermits and the lfs was out and said these were fine. I got the zoas and hermits together as well as some more snails, a feather duster, and a serpent star.
the zoas look really good, they opened up in less then an hour, not bad after a 2 hour car ride to get home!

 

[Darth George]

More often than I like I'll get a new frag and a few pop off from not being glued down properly. Just a thought.

 

[Darth George]

I've never had any trouble with the scarlet hermits.

 

[Double J]

I've never had any trouble with the scarlet hermits.

I believe the ones i have are dwarf red leg, if that makes a difference? Also, how does everyone attach these to the rock? mine is on a plug and i just have it resting in a crevice, but i have seen the snails and hermits bump it around while cleaning around it. I wasnt sure if i should epoxy it to the rock?

 

[wowkingjames]

You can use super glue as well.

 

[Darth George]

I like loc tite. You can leave them on the plug, they'll grow over it. If I can get them off safely I glue them straight onto the rock. Sometimes my trochus snails shave off a polyp or two accidentally.

 

[Darth George]

Dwarf red legs and blue legs can be jerks. I really like the scarlets.

 

[Double J]

I have the red legs caught, should i just get rid of them? my plan it to have mainly zoas, shrooms and get a couple more dusters. not sure what else i would add, i want to leave room for everything to grow, planning to get a zoa pack and mushrrom pack from live aquaria, so thats 5 more groups of zoas and 7 mushrooms. what do you guys think would go well? dont have a ton of light right now but plan on adding more.

 

[Luis Spinola]

I guess that amphipods...check them with a flash light at night, and dip them in revive, I lost two small colonies due to this critters!

 

[MT. Reefer]

Dwarf red legs and blue legs can be jerks. I really like the scarlets.

I also like Scarlet crabs. They never seem to bother anything.

 

[Double J]

@Chris Adams I looked tonight once home, they were closed again due to another snail bumping them, I counted 24 polyps, waited a few minutes and they opened back up and no more gap! I must have not noticed it at first in all my excitement of getting my first frag. So I let the red legs out of the cup and will keep an eye on the shrimp, but plan to get him out as soon as I find him a home. Also planning to add a 36 watt reef light, should help out with the spectrum of colors and growth, I hope!

 

[Chris Adams]

Very cool!
Any crab, shrimp, and snail will crawl across them and you will noticed them closed up.
Zoas and paly can be weird!
Also if no one mentioned to you zoa and paly have what is called palytoxin. Don't get all freaked but just do some research as some can be quite poisonous. You want to use same care in handling, no open cuts etc..
Those are nice addition they look great

 

[Double J]

Guys not sure if my zoas are "melting" or just ticked off. What do you think? Seems like they are shrinking and haven't been open much the last 2 days.
Water test was:
pH 8.2
Calcium 360ppm
Kh 179ppm
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5-10ppm
Phosphate 0
Temp 77F
Salinity 1.023