Why don't some zoo's seem to like my tank?

[shin00bi]

Hi everyone. Ive heard that Zoanthids are strong corals, but only some of them live in my tank. The brown ones with pink centers or tan centers and long tentacle yellow ones seem to do well, but the really colorful (gold, bright pink, bright yellow) seem to slowly discintegrate. Can anyone give me some insight on why they die? I have a 175W MH light with 2 45W VHO atinics on my 60 gallon tank. I have 1 small powerhead and a fluval 404 for flow also in the tank. Ph is where it should be and sG is 1.24. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
-Jeff

 

[msd2]

my limited understanding is that zoo's to do well requires fairly intense lighting and moderate flow. I dont know what kind of turnover you have but that could be a place to start.

 

[kpk]

Some of the more bright nice looking ones could be wild caught and some wild caught zoos can be "infected" or something like that and slowly deteriorate. Do they just melt away?

 

[shin00bi]

well sort of, they slowly die. the colony recedes like a balding guys hair line i guess. They open up somewhat until there are no more left. The ones on the edge dont open.

 

[kpk]

do they just shrink till they are gone or turn to "goo" and look nasty

 

[crm13]

I'm gonna jump on this thread too because I had a colony of zoos do the same thing. It's like they just slowly begin to not open up. They're all there, but it just seems that more and more of them just become stumps that just won't open. And it seems your other coral are doing well, right? I couldn't figure it out. My water is right on, and it's like they did well for like 5 months in the exact same spot they are deteriorating. Does that sound like your situation, too? I hope someone might come up with something.

 

[shin00bi]

yeah its exactly as you described. they slowly lose numbers. no goo or anything like that. all my other corals seem to be doing fine, except for a pulsing xenia which has melted some over the last couple days.

 

[cadbury]

I have the same problem too, I have a 180 and "Everything" is doing great in it except that I can't keep zoo's and xenia? Its a 3 year old tank well established and everything else seems to be flourishing? Can't quite understand?

 

[smickied]

I'm going to jump in too...I as well have the same problem...My browns, greens and red centers grow great but all the yellows dissapeared and a rock with a varity on it did great for a while but now is slowly disappearing!!

 

[cadbury]

SO is it that we need more light, whats the problem?
I have a 180 tank with 4 six-foot VHO's which everyone says its more than suffiecient for softies?

 

[sailfin]

I had the same problem. Mine were wild caught. Maybe there is a connection there? :notsure:
The little things just dissappeared.

 

[rob1116]

You might want to check out this post I made yesterday:
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/132627/something-so-small
I'm not suggesting this is the problem, but if any of these specimens are wild caught there is always a chance... from what it's almost common to find these guys.

 

[crm13]

I had considered an unfriendly critter of some sort. I did the red lens flashlight thing but didn't see anything unusual. But, did the zoos that were victim to the snails show signs of being eaten? Mine are entirely intact except that they just don't open. I don't know, but it seems that nobody really knows. Hopefully, someone will read this thread that has figured it out.:help:

 

[shin00bi]

i have lots and lots of white mystery starfish with 5-7 legs. i thought they were the ones doing it at first but they really dont seem to bother anything. Do you guys do consistent water changes? Im starting to change out 10% a week from now on.

 

[rob1116]

crm13: My zoos showed no signs of trauma... whole polyps would just disappear.
The best way to find these guys is to wave your hand very near the zoos to make them close up tight and shrink... you should be able to see the little bugger easily then. He's small enough that you might not see him when they are extended.
Again, your problem may/probably is something totally different... just giving you one more thing to rule out.

 

[crm13]

Thanks for the suggestion. I may just keep checking to see if anything is bothering them. I don't really have any polyps missing nonetheless. In fact, some of the ones that have not opened for quite some time now are actually still there but have algae growing on them. It's just the weirdest thing. I triple checked my water chemistry and eveything looks good. Temperature and salinity never swing more than a couple degrees, and all my other coral are a-okay. Even the anemone is doing well, and I would figure that would be one of the first things that would show signs of water problems. :notsure:

 

[crm13]

An update on my zoos. They are bouncing back. New ones are growing in at a decent clip, and some of them are starting to open up again. Here's the kicker... I did nothing to the coral. If I figure out something less obvious that may have changed, I'll let you guys know.:notsure:

 

[thisistodd]

i seem to have the same problem alot. do high nitrates affect zoos? i have been fighting my nitrates for some time now.

 

[streetdoc]

I had the same problem and my Ricordea weren't doing so hot also. I'm nt sure what turned the around but all my zoos and ricordea are going nuts now. Not sure if it is a coincidence or not but the turn around seemed to happen after I slowly raised my tank temp to 80f +/- 1 and adjusted my SG accordingly from a chart I found online (there is a nice one on this board that I saw posted a few weeks ago also). Not sure if that was it or if it helps anyone else but everything in the tank seems to be doing better. Just thought I would throw that out there.

 

[j-cal]

At night look for little black and white snails. They almost look like a closed zoo during the day but they hide well anyway. You can do a search on them--sun dial snails. They eat zoos.