Zoa help

[mikel218]

Hi had my zoas a good few months and they usually look great, recently they seem very to be acting up, some are open some are closed? All other corals seem fine and I haven't moved anything to unsettle them.

 

[glb]

Can you take out the rock and dip the whole colony? I've had this problem and things to look for are zoa eating nudibranches, zoa spiders, certain small snails, a fungus along their mat, crabs or something else irritating them. I've dipped mine in Coral Rx and Lugols. My problem ended up being water quality but you certainly want to rule everything out. You can look at them up close while they're in the dip for any critters or eggs you might find. Use protective eye gear and gloves! Good luck!

 

[A. grandis]

That urchin certainly could be one of the reasons.
Check your water parameters, water flow and light. please post the info here.
Please give us more info about your system, so we could try to see what's going on there...

Grandis.

 

[tuna_bullet]

water change and dip and +1 on the spiny critter

 

[mikel218]

I do a water change and test parameters weekly, water is fine no issues there and all other corals (zoa frags, toadstool, hairy mushroom and duncan) look better than ever. The urchin was only there for the photo doesn't hang out there and both have been in 3months. Don't think its that. I did pull a nudibranch of the back glass last week so possibly that?? Will try moving the coral to another location

 

[mikel218]

Ok so moved the rock and as I was doing so I found bunches of shiny green balls, looked it up and think its bubble algea. Now to tackle that issue

 

[fernb]

When this happened to my large gorillas nipples colony about two months ago I eventually discovered I had zoa eating nudigranhs. With diligent hand picking of the nudis and inspection for eggs I now have it under control. The nudis will fluoresce under blue lights. I turn on blues after the lights have been off for a while. The polyps will be closed but the nudis will be active and easier to spot.
I don't think the bubble algae is connected to your zoa issues. It is an incidental finding but need to be addressed as well. When I found out I had bubble algae I hand removed all bubbles making sure not to burst in the process and I purchased an emerald crab who has done a great job in eating any small bubbles that appear.

 

[mikel218]

I've pulled two nidibranches of the back glass the last two weeks then as I was pulling off the bubble algea I found another actually on my zoas this time. They are driving me mad