Zoa flaking off tissue...

[Arthroverts]

Hello all, I was super excited when we got our first two corals on Saturday; a 20+ polyp mini-colony of Whammin' Watermelon's and a 2 polyp frag of Armor of God Zoas that was thrown in as a freebie (gotta update the build thread).
However, the Armor of God's were really long (approx. 1") because they were stretching for the light when we got them; they have now shrunk down since their in better light, but one polyp has the tissue sort of peeling off in long shreds. Ironically, this is the one that is sort of open (but not normally, the mouth is extended past the main disc, and the skirt is sort of shrunk; not sure how to say it), the other being completely closed.

I am at loss for what is happening; water parameters are perfect (PO4=0, NO3=around 5PPM), no pests visible other than a micro aiptasia nem' growing on the underside of the frag plug (it can't reach the zoas) that is going to be taken care of by a peppermint shrimp shortly, and the other zoas are doing fine. They are in higher light and higher flow as compared to the shop however. Do zoas normally lose tissue like this when they shrink back down?

I will try to get a picture soon with a good camera. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[Arthroverts]

The zoa has recovered completely. Both polyps are open, and it is shorter now by about a 1/3. It seems it was getting rid of extra skin from shrinking down.

Just figured I needed to leave this here for posterity's sake. So, if you see your overextended zoa losing skin, don't panic. It's just shrinking down to size.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[BeardPoseidon]

Thanks for the posterity comment. The two Zoa polyps I have on a frag are currently closed up and one of them looks like it’s peeling it’s skin off, it’s weird.
At first I thought it could be brown jelly disease but it doesn’t look like that. It’s like a clear film is coming off it, and that polyp is a bit open but mostly closed.

The zoa has recovered completely. Both polyps are open, and it is shorter now by about a 1/3. It seems it was getting rid of extra skin from shrinking down.

Just figured I needed to leave this here for posterity's sake. So, if you see your overextended zoa losing skin, don't panic. It's just shrinking down to size.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[Tonyreeffish]

I have kept a lot of zoas and sometimes they "shed" a little skin, even when perfectly healthy and open. I sometimes brush it off with a small soft paint brush or makeup brush and all is good. Unless the flesh is falling apart your zoas are still alive.