Zoas are taking a dome shape?

[CompletelyJim]

For some reason zoas from multiple frags are taking the shape of a dome, rather than being open like normal. Any idea whats going on, or why they do this?

 

[Clayalaleona]

They're not happy. Usually when they do that I end up losing them

 

[BoneXriffic]

Try moving them up towards light for a few days? I had a frag in the bottom do that. Moved him closer and it was happy

 

[CompletelyJim]

Hopefully I don't lose them! Something must be going on

 

[Kidreefer37]

I used to think they were looking for light... Not the case for me, zoa spiders, look them up, they sit on zoas and lay eggs in the mouth, thus causing that shape and killing them, hopefully it is not that.

They are easy to get rid of though, "Coral Rx" dip kills them in one usage for me.

 

[CompletelyJim]

I used to think they were looking for light... Not the case for me, zoa spiders, look them up, they sit on zoas and lay eggs in the mouth, thus causing that shape and killing them, hopefully it is not that.

They are easy to get rid of though, "Coral Rx" dip kills them in one usage for me.

I'm not looking for nightmares.... haha

 

[Jgomez324]

Mine do that when I broadcast feed.

 

[CompletelyJim]

Well after a iodine dip they still do not look much better. I dipped all my zoas just to be on the safe side. Waking up this morning it seems the zoas had another change to them, their stalks started to swell. I have never seen this before either. All the levels are near perfect in the tank and the lighting hasnt changed.

 

[Staggs]

Following this, but I have some that are the same.....some have been like this for a couple weeks and are still developing babies. I use TLF Revive when dipping, but so far hasn't made a difference. I did try lower light but they still did the same thing on the bottom of my tank.

 

[CompletelyJim]

Here is my update for today.
After an Iodine dip it seemed to have little to no affect.
The zoas that have had the dome shape seem to be getting worse and their mouths are becoming more exposed.
If anyone has had experience with this please note!

 

[Staggs]

@joshporksandwic - Hey Josh have you ran into this before? Myself I have one frag like this that I've been trying to figure out.

Thanks for your time and help!

 

[CompletelyJim]

Finally found some information regarding this zoa shape. It is called the "umbrella syndrome". The causes of this is completely unknown. Some claim it is due to to much light, to little light, and/or incorrect flow. Alot of people have claimed their zoas have been in a location for a long duration and the syndrome still happens. People reccomend dipping them if pests have been spotted (check first at night time), or if they appear to have an infection.

Other then dipping for pests, I came across multiple posts claiming that adding vitamin c in the correct dosage can help zoas that have taken this shape and better their overall health.

Lastly, another option was to use chemi clean. Chemi clean has shown to help improve zoas health by aboloshing harmful substances in the tank.

 

[BigJohnny]

Ime it is directly related to too much light, every time.

 

[Psiber_Syn]

Finally I see some wwc Gaias in someone else's tank mine done this umbrella thing for a while but only 1 or 2 of them here's mine doing it

 

[Psiber_Syn]

@CompletelyJim how long have you had the Gaias what's your take on them placement etc etc
Mine are close to bottom have had them month or two grows pretty fast for me already jumping the frag plug on both sides what's your experience? Add some pics of them and any info in the zoa id database I made a thread there a while back on them please

 

[CompletelyJim]

@Psiber_Syn they were gorgeous. I believe they are on their last leg today, I doubt they will recoop. Personally I started with just one polyp, in a couple of weeks it duped. I have them in moderate flow and at the bottom of the tank as well.
I just recently added a large amount of zoa plugs into my tank and something must of came with them.(got passed the dip) At least 5-6 plugs are doing this umbrella syndrome and after 4 days they are beginning to die.
Nothing like sitting, waiting looking at all of your zoas look like junk haha...

 

[CompletelyJim]

@Psiber_Syn they were gorgeous. I believe they are on their last leg today, I doubt they will recoop. Personally I started with just one polyp, in a couple of weeks it duped. I have them in moderate flow and at the bottom of the tank as well.
I just recently added a large amount of zoa plugs into my tank and something must of came with them.(got passed the dip) At least 5-6 plugs are doing this umbrella syndrome and after 4 days they are beginning to die.
Nothing like sitting, waiting looking at all of your zoas look like junk haha...

I have had them for about a month now.

 

[Psiber_Syn]

I seen some of yours not looking very good :-( they are pretty resilient hopefully they bounce back

Have you changed anything else moved them lighting change flow etc etc there has to be something do you see any pests anywhere

Also do you run carbon or dose anything?

 

[CompletelyJim]

Well a couple days ago i decided to iodine dip all of my zoas to be on the safe side. I moved the frags to slightly lowerlight, but the same type of flow. I have started dosing vitamin c, because I have heard a lot of good things about it. Now today I have done a peroxide dip to help get rid of algae and cyano so they are no longer irritated.
I have looked for pests many times throughout the day, I even busted out a flashlight a couple times to try to get a glimpse at one.
I just took the carbon out for I am going to run some chemi clean tomorrow, to help rid this cyano.
Lastly, I just moved the ones I believe are at the point of no return to even less lighting to see if that has any effect.
So a decent amount of changes for them, I may even be stressing them out more by doing all of this.
After the chemiclean I will be leaving them be because I have covered majority of the bases.

 

[Psiber_Syn]

It does seem to cover all bases hope it comes out in the good