Zoa Issue

So I have no idea what I'm doing wrong here, parameters are all good and my GSP hasn't changed at all during this issue. NUVO 8, been running since beginning of May 2013. All I have in the tank is my GSP frag, Zoa frag, and Black Ocellaris. That livestock was added in June 2013 and I haven't had any losses (so I must be doing SOMETHING right).

My Zoa's were awesome when I got them, then over time they lost some of their great color. Now they haven't been opening at all for like 3 weeks and I'm not sure what's happening. Here are pics of everything to hopefully help with getting some suggestions. I've already dipped in CoralRx and as I mentioned, my GSP has been great throughout this entire period.

New:







4 weeks ago




past week oldest to present (dipped after first pic)

 

zoa pocs?

 

Following:

I lost my zoanthids the exact same way. No pest, no pox that I could see, no fungal growth. Mine just slowly stopped opening and slowly died off.

A couple questions though: Did you try different place and by that I mean different lighting intensity?
Did you try any other remedies like Vit. C?

 

Zoa Problem - possible Nudibranchs?

Hi - sorry to see you are having a problem with your Zoas. We just went through similar scenario. Had to do extended, strong dip in CoralRx, blasting with baster and wiping off nudi eggs with tweezers. Next day still spotted nudi and had to redip colonies again. Now all seems good.

I blew up your second picture - see what you think - it may be a nudi. Also see this youtube, this person made an excellent video of the nudis. FYI the nudis we found were green like this video, and there were orange ones on our orange color zoas.

Zoa Eating Nudibranch 1 of 2 - YouTube

See CoralRx site, they show what the eggs look like: Zoanthid Eating Nudibranchs - Treat Zoanthid Eating Nudibranchs|Treatment for Zoa Eating Nudibranchs|Zoo Eating Nudibranchs - CoralRX

Good Luck!

 

Oh it's a Nudibranch alright fishywomen. Good eye, I looked and looked and did not see one.

 

Sorry, should've explained that. The second pic is a nudi, that was when i first got the zoas and they closed up. That pic was more just to show how healthy the polyps looked when they were closed. I also did a strong dip (timed for 10 min.) in a solo cup with recommended dosage of CoralRx. Towards the bottom of my post I showed pics of the day after I dipped. I basted with baster the entire 10 min. to ensure thorough cleaning. I've done dips before and could see the nudi's and i even think spiders at one point. I could see all the pests fall off and crawl around the bottom of the cup (previous times). This time I checked the cup with a flashlight and there was NOTHING that fell off the frag.

I also moved the frag to slightly more light, slightly more flow and haven't touched it in 3 days (they would usually open within a day after moving previously). Still nothing. Here is pic of prior location, and pic of current location. The lighting and flow and everything are all the same in both pics... just appear different because of different camera's used in both shots.

Old Location:




New Location

 

Maybe they just don't like my tank and I've gotten all the life out of them I'm going to get?

 

Don't underestimate yourself Corailline! As I mentioned, that was an old pic from when I first got the frag... and you were the one that spotted that nudi when I originally asked about why they were closed that time!



From before lol:

 

Ahh yes lol I remember.

Wish I could be of more help, but like I posted my zoanthids all did the same thing a slow death for no apparent reason. I am thinking it might be some type of viral pathogen. If it only happened to wild collected pieces I would not have been surprised but even old stand bys bit the dust.

If you have any Furan I would try that next just to see.