ZOAS disappearing....why?

[mikeyjer]

If your going to dip zoos, you should do the Iodine dip instead of FW dip!!! Lugols would be a good choice. After dipping, you should leave only the Actinic lights on for the rest of the day as it encourage the zoas to open back up. There are numerous issues why zoas would close up and disappear on you. What kind of flow are you placing them?? I find that with the newer colony of zoas, I have to place'em in high flow until they're adjusted to my system before moving them else where. I find them have a higher survival rate if placed around medium-high flow areas, not to the point where they're being blown down. I don't remember the mesurment of a 100g tank, isn't it pretty deep? You may have to look into the lighting as well if your tank is pretty deep. Just depending on where your placing your zoas, also did you acclimate them to your lighting? :happyfish

 

[milomlo]

They were just fine with my lighting (or so I thought) I did try to move them up and down and all around to figure out what was going on. Now since the fw dip they don't look so hot. So I figure they are doomed now for sure. I will keep everyone posted. Thanks so much for your help.

 

[dragonladylea]

No offense to anyone but I Freshwater dip all of my Zoa and Palys. Never had any die yet and I have a nice collection.

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by Dragonladylea
No offense to anyone but I Freshwater dip all of my Zoa and Palys. Never had any die yet and I have a nice collection.
FW dip isn't 100% effective to rid the parasites, iodine dip would be a better choice, even after dip, the colony should be placed back in the QT tank in case it was infected with nudibranch, if the eggs hatch, then you'll have a problem. NO FW dip nor iodine dip will kill the eggs!!! Repeat treatment in one week. IF FW dip been working for you, go for it! :happyfish

 

[dragonladylea]

Do any of you Zoa show signs of Zoo pox? White raised lesions on the base of the polyps? Or are they being "coated" by brown algae?

 

[milomlo]

Originally Posted by Dragonladylea
Do any of you Zoa show signs of Zoo pox? White raised lesions on the base of the polyps? Or are they being "coated" by brown algae?

NO to both of your questions. They look completely fine. Then over a course of a few days they go from being open wide to slowly getting smaller until they close up completely. Then the polyp disappears.

 

[puffer32]

i just went through the same thing with a colony. They stopped opening the closed polops got smaller and smaller then they were gone. i used an iodine dip on them twice, forst one about a week after they stopped opening, but the polops were still there, just closed, 2nd dip aweek later when the polops were smaller. Te iodine dips have worked in the past for me, but not this time.

 

[uberlink]

I was having this problem for a while until I installed an automatic top-off system. I found that fluctuations in salinity really stressed out my zoanthids (not to mention everyone else in the tank). What is your salinity, and how do you maintain it?