Zoas Melting

So, I have many varieties of zoas I've collected in my time in the hobby and they all had been thriving, and spreading rapidly. However, recently I have seen colony by colony start to melt.

First it was a whole colony of Ked's reds, then some Fire and Ice, now my Tubs blues are starting to disintegrate polyp by polyp. So of course in thinking something is eating these. However, I have checked at least 3 times a night for several weeks now and never seen anything on, or near the offending colonies.

This is really starting to irritate me as I cannot seem to find a solution. The SPS in my tank is thriving currently so I feel I can assume it is not a water quality issue. I am at a loss.

Any input would get great.

Thanks!

 

Check your phosphates. I noticed just one of my frags start receeding. I tested the water and everything was fine (I didnt have a phos test at the time), I added some chemi pure elite as it was already on my list of things to do, and they are all doing great.

I've only lost one polyp and that was a single magician paly that got mowed down by my urchin for some unknown reason, but its never done it again.

 

This does suck, zoas are so fickle... If they were mine I would get the worst colonies out of there and do a furan-2, iodine and coralRX dip. With zoas I treat pretty aggressively. they can close up to protect themselves and are pretty hardy. I have saved melting "for no reason" colonies this way.

 

I would love to pull em and treat, but most have started as a single polyp and have spread directly onto my rock. There really isn't a way to pull em out without taking down the reef.

I check PO4 every 3rd day, and it currently sits at 0 according to my salifert kit.

Thanks to both of you for the advice!

 

If they're all slowly disappearing, I just can't help but think something is eating them. Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it's not there.

I hate linking to other forums, but this may be useful to you: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=1154238

It's not exactly the same topic, but it is related and might point you to some things you haven't looked for.

 

Check your Phos they usually melt when your water is poor, your lighting is poor and though through your temperature.

 

If your problem persists, I'd take Heidimi's advice. The Furan2 will stop infection.

 

thanks everyone! this thread is exactly what i needed
i've been having similar probablems but didnt think it could be my amphipods
imight finally be able to stop looking for spiders or nudis

 

The Furan 2 dip is very safe for Zoas and Palys. I didn't use the Coral Rx or iodine with it like heidimi did, but it wouldn't hurt IMO. I only had random issues, but after dipping them, all of them did better. Even ones that seemed like they were doing OK opened up more and grew faster.

 

If you haven't already, you can try giving the zooanthids a bath with an Iodine solution like TM Pro Coral Cure or similar product. The iodine will act as an antiseptic and hopefully kill prevent the spread of the tissue necrosis. I also think that zooanthids benefit from elevated iodine levels in the tank at around .06ppm. Be sure to test for supplements that you add to your tank.