zoas and palys questions.

TCK Corals · Sep 9, 2009

I was just wondering what will just make some zoas or palys to melt away or just close up and die. I have quite a few zoas and palys but some just seem to be doing ok and other will just die and melt away. What are the parameters that they like?

roshi719 · Sep 9, 2009

Unfortunately even the most experienced zoo keepers will tell you stories about colonies that had been growing well for months up and melting on them. I personally have watched some zoos in a tank do awesome while others just inches away melt on me. Some people have said it is seasonal. could be something to do with their source water changing seasonally, not really sure.

Cuda · Sep 9, 2009

Some are like weeds and you can't kill them and others just are moody.
When water is perfect some issue still come up. I think it could be seasonal also maybe to do with chemical releases in the water from other corals.

aerius007 · Sep 9, 2009

Cuda said:
Some are like weeds and you can't kill them and others just are moody.
When water is perfect some issue still come up. I think it could be seasonal also maybe to do with chemical releases in the water from other corals.

So would you say running carbon would help keep those toxins in check? I too deal with zoas melting away from time to time while other thrive.

TCK Corals · Sep 9, 2009

I use to be a big time zoas and palys collector and i lost my collection slowly and never could figure out why they just die. So that is how i tumble upon the chalice bug. I just started to collect them again and some of my most beautiful ones are just dying for no reason and i can not figure out why. This is a love hate relationship.

FateX8 · Sep 9, 2009

i hear ya
i wish there are more studies being done for the aquarium then just the wild
it would help us keep corals longer decreasing wild collection right...
one only dreams

Letsgotothezoo · Sep 9, 2009

I heard "Low Flow" makes the Zoa to melt. Is that true ?

xmjxflipx · Sep 9, 2009

ktar what palys do you have.....and any pics??

TCK Corals · Sep 9, 2009

I have Black PPE, PPE, and some other no namers. But they don't seem to thrive in my tank.

xmjxflipx · Sep 9, 2009

hit and miss sometimes.....i had purple hornets but couldnt keep those sopranos that i got from aquasd......they did fine for like 4-5 days and then just melted on me..........My mohawk colony was doing good then about yesterday one polyp had this white crap all over the polyp, prob some bacterial or fungal infection dnt know how it got it since its been growing for over 5 months pretty good.........well just to play it safe i had to frag the good remaining polyps off........-_-..........at least with chalices..they are expensive but man they survive and grow no matter what in my tank.......i had a low alk reading and ph when i went on a week vacation, killled my hornets but all my chalices loooked fine.......

TCK Corals · Sep 9, 2009

I have hornets and mohawk and they both grow like weeds. I just can get the other ones to do good. I have PPE and they are crap out. Black PPE are not opening up for some reason.

dtpollard · Sep 9, 2009

I think zoas are tempermental. Each one likes what it likes. However if you have multiple ones giving you problems all of a sudden I would look for pests, and I would look carefully. Do a dip on some of the closed ones and see if there is anything that could be a suspect left in the cup. If you are sure it is not a pest then I would play with the flow. My zoas seem to be more like GSP in that they will live with less flow but don't multiply and flourish. Too much flow and they die. If the stalks look long like they are reaching it may be not enough light. Last but not least check your Mag. My zoas like it to be on the high side. They don't really grow without the mag levels being maintained for me either. Hope my rambling helps.

AcansUnlimited · Sep 9, 2009

the white suff is probly poxs and a fern 2 dip helps well. its common when ur water temp changes and goes up and down.My ph had poxs and i did a dip for 5 days and now its great.

xmjxflipx said:
hit and miss sometimes.....i had purple hornets but couldnt keep those sopranos that i got from aquasd......they did fine for like 4-5 days and then just melted on me..........My mohawk colony was doing good then about yesterday one polyp had this white crap all over the polyp, prob some bacterial or fungal infection dnt know how it got it since its been growing for over 5 months pretty good.........well just to play it safe i had to frag the good remaining polyps off........-_-..........at least with chalices..they are expensive but man they survive and grow no matter what in my tank.......i had a low alk reading and ph when i went on a week vacation, killled my hornets but all my chalices loooked fine.......

Cuda · Sep 9, 2009

No because you will filter out the good stuff that makes the other ones grow like the weeds.

aerius007 said:
So would you say running carbon would help keep those toxins in check? I too deal with zoas melting away from time to time while other thrive.

ahayes13 · Sep 9, 2009

this is definetly an interesting question, and there really doesnt seem to be any real evidence as to why they do melt away.
one example i started with maybe 10 polyps of beautiful rainbows from one of the vendors here. they were doing great. half way up the tank, with medium flow. and started growing rapidly. went from 10 to maybe 40, within a short period. then all of a sudden within a few days period, they all melted away. i did try to do an ioding dip but nothing worked.
i also had a large colony of candy apple greens that did great for a long time and again within a few days melted all away. so upsetting.
keeping in mind there were no changes in parameters or anything during these episodes.
i told my bf that i wish when i had some melting i could send them to some sort of a lab for analysis, would be nice to know what is going on with them as to what causes the melt.

Cuda · Sep 9, 2009

Because things could always go South. I try to frag my good frags into 2 different tanks, completly separate systems. That way I can always have one to regenarate the possible loss. If you don't have another tank find a buddy and just give each other frags as an insurance policy.