Zoas changing?

So - I tried searching for this online and couldn't find anything. I have a weird problem going on with my radioactive dragon eye zoas. I've had them about a year now, and there are barely any left. This was a big like 7" rock covered in them.

They are being replaced by huge brown guys that look like palys. Are the zoa heads themselves transforming into this? Or is something else going on?

Thanks!

 

Do you have any asternia star fish?

I had one asternia that ate only my green zoanthids over 1 year he ate them all, very slowly. I just did not have the heart to starve him.

 

is it possible that the Palys are killing of the zoanthids in order to take the territory

I have recently been reading about palytoxins and it seems they are not just reserved for making reef keepers who want to frag, lives difficult

interspecific aggression is common it seems in various zoanthid and paly situations
Steve

 

I only have a couple asterina in there, but I've never seen them on the zoas. And the zoas aren't just dying and going away, they are turning into something else. So I don't think that's it. Good suggestion tho!

I wouldn't be able to starve the lil' guy either!!

This is what I was wondering...maybe the rock had a paly on it when it arrived and the palys are taking over.

I really don't like them but they are like intermingled with a big green kenya tree coral and some other zoas. UGH.

Maybe I should get rid of that whole thing. I wonder if the LFS would take the mess of them. lol

I do worry about the amount of palytoxins in the palys, so I don't really like them in my tank. I don't want to have to worry about fragging them in the future.

 

I have the exact same thing happening to me. i got a small rock with the radioactive dragon eye zoas and now they are all a dark green/ brownish color. i fragged as many of the dragon eyed zoas as i could, to try and save what was left, but the new brown ones are spreading like crazy.

 

After looking at a lot of pictures online, mine are definitely some type of brown palythoa taking over. So irritating! I'm going to remove the rock with them on it. Unless I frag this stuff off (I probably won't), I'm going to lose -

a huge, beautiful neon green kenya tree,
whammin' watermelon zoas,
radioactive green dragon eye zoas,
and a pulsing xenia.

But I really don't want the palys spreading anymore! And I don't want them in my tank since they take over so fast.

 

Heres what mine look like. you can see 4 of the original radioactive dragon eyes on the right. Im suprized thoes 4 are even open, I havent seen them open in weeks because the palys keep taking up their space

 

I've got a mixture of 2 zoas, and 1 large green paly, all on one rock, and have been keeping close watch to see what happens in such close quarters.

 

tattooed, I don't see any palys in your pic, just zoas.

 

+1 They just look like they are morphing to me.