Zoas mysteriously withering

[Alvaro_Spain]

I sometimes use the little brush that comes with the electrical shaver (obviously one new) to clean the zoas even though I don´t see anything on them. When they are closed. Just to take away anything I can´t see with my eye.

It´s a very soft brush and it doesn´t bother them much

 

[littlebigreef]

@Alvaro_Spain ditto, I have a super soft tooth brush I'll use to knock loose any detritus. I'll also remove any polyps that look really messed up. My reasoning is that they're all connected so if you have necrotic tissue on one it can affect others in the colony- basically triaging the situation.

 

[mcdrichj]

Zoa spiders and nudi eggs can survive a dip.

 

[bigdrew]

Wish I had some insight for you. I’m following along. I have a bunch of zoas. I have not faced this challenge yet. Hoping to learn from you on this one.

 

[mfollen]

Will provide an update later today on how the dipped zoas look. No pests in this tank 100%. This is related to some unidentified issue, hoping it is bacterial or something is learned. Thanks all

 

[IslandLifeReef]

Will provide an update later today on how the dipped zoas look. No pests in this tank 100%. This is related to some unidentified issue, hoping it is bacterial or something is learned. Thanks all

As I stated earlier, I would eliminate water issues first. Your ICP test showed that your home tests are off by around 20% on equivalent items such as Ca and Mg. Most salt mixes don't mix that low.

I would like to know how you measure salinity and if you have had that verified by a separate, independent source such as an ICP test or a very good LFS.

 

[mfollen]

I’m lowering phosphates & nitrates through carbon dosing and water changes, but slowly.

water changes will help increase CA & MG levels. Otherwise I don’t see any water issues, especially with any specific deficiencies that are linked with zoanthid health.

salinity is tested with a calibrated Milwaukee digital seawater refractometer.

thank you for your help.

 

[mfollen]

Well it’s been two days and it seems to be spreading again. The furan dip didn’t do anything for the infected zoas.

Other than doing a large water change (which will just dilute or relieve the issue) I really don’t know what to do. I know I want to lower nutrients, but I need to do that slowly.

does anyone else have any remaining advice? This is really hurting hard as it’s now impacting my prized palys....

I may try an iodine dip with lugols...

thank you all. I fear this may go from a bad situation to a very bad situation soon.

 

[clm65]

salinity is tested with a calibrated Milwaukee digital seawater refractometer.

when you say calibrated, are you referring to the steam distilled water used to establish the “zero” point? The reason I ask is that I recently set the zero point on mine with the steam distilled water that came with my Milwaukee refractometer, and then checked it with some 1.025 reference fluid, and it was off. Not by a whole lot, but is not as accurate as I expected. May have nothing to do with your zoa issue, but may be worth looking into.

 

[mfollen]

Thank you @clm65 im looking for any answer as this is costing me $$$ and loss of rare palys. I want to keep these animals alive so I appreciate any help at this point as I’ve done extensive research. There are threads on r2r with people with similar problems with no answer or solution...

I’ll have to get calibration fluid... all other coral are thriving. LPS growing. Mushrooms, dropping babies. Acros growing quickly...

 

[mfollen]

Anyone else with any ideas?? Any zoa masters out there who have seen this issue???

I am losing polyps overnight. A colony of 12 nice zoa are now 2. This is turning devastatingly bad.

 

[littlebigreef]

Anyone else with any ideas?? Any zoa masters out there who have seen this issue???

I am losing polyps overnight. A colony of 12 nice zoa are now 2. This is turning devastatingly bad.

Are you continuing to do Furan 2 dips?

 

[mfollen]

Discontinued furan, I only dipped once with no improvement.

After correct calibration I realized the refractometer was slightly off. Salinity was 1.027 which is enough to close zoas..

after discussing further, a couple other reefers felt that the stressed zoas were overtaken or impacted by a bad bacteria introduced to the system but fueled by carbon dosing.

course of action is to slowly lower salinity to 1.026 into tomorrow. I also changed the dip regimen. 5 minute dip in revive followed by - 15 minute lugols iodine dip as a broad antibacterial treatment vs furan 2.

will report progress. I am curious to see if many reefers have had negative impact on zoas following carbon dosing. They seem to do well eating the bacteria, fluffing up healthy, but can also be negatively impacted easily by other certain bacteria strains.

 

[Lebreton33]

Try a yellow coris wrasse. I had a similar issue, zoas closed suddenly and wouldn't open. When I added him the issue went away. Was some kind of pest that he properly mowed down.

 

[mfollen]

Thanks, other than little copepods and vermetid snails there are no agitators. I have a mystery wrasse as well, not as good as a yellow citrus tho for pest control, but he’s got an eye out

 

[ReeferBean]

I have a fairly large zoa collection and occasionally deal with similar issues, ie withering, not opening, looking thermo shocked. Idk if its a reaction to alk swings, bacterial or fungal issues. My remedy is is furan-2 baths followed immediately by a mild lugal's bath and then back into the tank. I'll go 4 days on, 1-2 days off and then another 4 days on. That usually knocks out the issue and then the zoa is back to being happy.

I noticed a sharp decline in this happening once I started dosing vitamin C again. Its not a variable I'd add to the mix right now but maybe something to consider down the road.

Curious how much Vit C you add, how often and how large is your tank?

 

[mfollen]

180 gallons. No vitamin C dosed.

 

[Tyler Miceli]

I believe the joy and frustration in this hobby mainly comes down to the fact that everybody's tank is different. Every tank is an ecosystem of it's own. Theres so many opinions and theories that it gets frustrating because we all try to chase certain parameters and never focus on what made our own ecosystem work, function, and thrive. I've let my tank go without doing water changes for months and everything ended up fine, zoas actually grew and euphylia started to regress. It was a nightmare to clean, but I'm back to weekly water changes and live rock cleaning and my tank is taking off and everything is happy. Just focus on every aspect of your ecosystem, husbandry, maintenance, and figure out if something has changed drastically. I dont know a whole bunch about the hobby as I've only been doing it for 2 years, but I do know patience is key and some people have no luck with zoas. Just keep on keeping on, keep learning, be patient and happy reefing man!

 

[littlebigreef]

Curious how much Vit C you add, how often and how large is your tank?

I dose about a table spoon once a day for 340 gal with a target of 5ppm which is the low end. A friend of my that has great success with zoas doses twice daily for a target of 10ppm.

I’d posted and received the equation in the zoa forum previously if you want to go hunting.

IMO it works... however, on larger volumes you have to dose more which can lower nitrates/phosphates.

 

[bigdrew]

For whatever it’s worth, I dosed Vit C for the first 6 months of my tank’s existence, until I ran out. Best zoa growth I’ve ever had. I haven’t dosed since I ran out and the last 6 months of zoa growth has been stagnant. There could be other factors impacting the zoa growth that I’m not directly aware of, but figured it might be worth sharing.

Good luck! I’m rooting for you.