Zoa Frag from Hell - Help

Another Newbie Reefer · Jan 9, 2020

I got a few Zoa frags a couple of weeks ago from a local LFS for really cheap. I dipped when I got home, properly acclimated, and everything was all good for about 10 days. For the last few days one of the frags was completely closed and I finally got some time to thoroughly investigate. First thing I noticed was the aiptasia on the back of the frag. I'll drop a dab of glue on it, no problem. I also noticed the dark purple stuff, but I can't figure out what it is. I never noticed it before as the zoa was completely open. It looks like cyano, but it doesn't move at all when turkey basted. Could it be a head that's melted?

tupes · Jan 9, 2020

Zoas are one of the most finnicky corals for some. Sometimes they will stay closed for several days. It very well could be the aptasia aggravation that is causing them to close. When you say dark purple, the only purple I see in the photo is coraline algea. unless you are talking about toward the bottom center which looks kind of brown in the photo. Not sure what that could be. Possible it's the dead tissue like you assumed.

Another Newbie Reefer · Jan 9, 2020

tupes said:
Zoas are one of the most finnicky corals for some. Sometimes they will stay closed for several days. It very well could be the aptasia aggravation that is causing them to close. When you say dark purple, the only purple I see in the photo is coraline algea. unless you are talking about toward the bottom center which looks kind of brown in the photo. Not sure what that could be. Possible it's the dead tissue like you assumed.

Thanks for the quick response. I assumed the aiptasia was the cause for irritation, it was just the purpleish/brownish stuff that threw me off. Hopefully it's just dead tissue and nothing more sinister. I agree the light purple is coraline.