Zoa's disappearing

kiefers

Active Member
I have this Zoa rock that was once full of different color Zoa's. Yesterday my wife pointed out that many of the Zoa's were missing and or gone. They do seem to be shrinking and some appeared to be letting go of their spot on the rock. I have no idea what is happening, any thoughts?

in this picture, the zoa rock is on the bottom right side. i have no pic now but the entire middle is gone and 95% of the bottom.
At a loss here?
 

jerth6932

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kiefers http:///forum/thread/386946/zoa-s-disappearing#post_3401169
I have this Zoa rock that was once full of different color Zoa's. Yesterday my wife pointed out that many of the Zoa's were missing and or gone. They do seem to be shrinking and some appeared to be letting go of their spot on the rock. I have no idea what is happening, any thoughts?
I had a hitchhiker crab that would pick them off for fun..... Did a late night light turn on and found him doing it...... Could be that! I lost 100's of dollars worth of zoas that way!
 

kiefers

Active Member
Oh and to add insult to injury here,... my blue tubbs are the same, but there is a sponge growing in the middle of those.
 

btldreef

Moderator
+1 on the hitchhiker. I've also had asterinas slide over them and they detach from their plug. Never had one actually eat it, but they've caused their demise.
My latest issues with keeping zoanthids in my tank:
1) blenny perches on them and slowly beats them to death
2) my blonde naso has decided that frag plugs, specifically those with zoas or small chalice frags are her personally toys that she may pick up and move around the tank as she pleases. Today she took a frag plug with some new zoanthids across the tank for a ride, dropped it in front of the MP 40, and the flow was strong enough to knock the zoanthid loose. Still haven't found it. I randomly find zoas growing in my rock work. Some make it, but most don't. I've given up.
 

kiefers

Active Member
I do have this meat eater snail (Gary) from the ocean last summer, he would sleep right smack in the middle of the zoa's. as far as the hitchiker, I haven't added any nre rock or anything in the tank for almost a year, I moved everything over from my Biocube.
 

btldreef

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kiefers http:///forum/thread/386946/zoa-s-disappearing#post_3401554
I do have this meat eater snail (Gary) from the ocean last summer, he would sleep right smack in the middle of the zoa's. as far as the hitchiker, I haven't added any nre rock or anything in the tank for almost a year, I moved everything over from my Biocube.
Don't want to frighten you, but I ended up with a mean little Xanthid crab as a hitchhiker. He was in a tank that didn't get rock added to it for over a year and somehow was still in there.
It could be Gary, (love that you named him!).... Do you have any fish that might do it like a dwarf angel?
 

kiefers

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by BTLDreef http:///forum/thread/386946/zoa-s-disappearing#post_3401602
Don't want to frighten you, but I ended up with a mean little Xanthid crab as a hitchhiker. He was in a tank that didn't get rock added to it for over a year and somehow was still in there.
It could be Gary, (love that you named him!).... Do you have any fish that might do it like a dwarf angel?
I'm currently starting over...... I now have a single wild caught clown fish (Marley), which has been being hosted by a frogspawn, and a multicolored angel who well,,,,, I haven't seen it picking at all. she just cruises in and out of the rock work not bothering anything or anyone, and Draco the pipefish. So..... 3 critters
 
C

coral guy

Guest
could it be amphipods the killed my blue hornets and a polyp of darth maul ?
 

slice

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kiefers http:///forum/thread/386946/zoa-s-disappearing#post_3401613
awe man......that would just throw me
Well, its my fault. Both the LMB and I liked the same spot and he doesn't have a training collar yet, so I should have known better. In fact, its dumb that I have not moved them yet. I should do that this weekend and try to salvage what I have left.
Last man standing

Quote:
Originally Posted by coral guy
http:///forum/thread/386946/zoa-s-disappearing#post_3401622
could it be amphipods the killed my blue hornets and a polyp of darth maul ?
I know that amphipods can irritate zoas. I had 2 frags that stopped opening. I took the advice of the person I bought them from. I gave them a good Revive dip and swish followed by a temp and pH adjusted FW dip and swish. A lot of small and not so small amphipods came off. That was about 3 weeks ago and they have been fine since.
 

mproctor4

Member
I was looking at the zoa rock closer today and noticed that it is only one type of zoa that is dissapearing. Ironically it is the zoa that was growing the fastest and overpowering the other zoas. I don't know what it is called but in the above picture the zoas that are almost gone now are on the center of the rock, they are orange with green skirts. It looks like spots or discoloration on the stalk/foot of the zoas (not sure of the term--hopefully you know what I mean) Keifers does have a hitch hiker crab. Haven't seen it in a while but a few months ago it was a little more than a 1/2", came on a piece of live rock. Wouldn't you think that it would eat all the zoas and not just one kind? Tonight we need to get out the flash lights and magnifying glass and take a closer look. Haven't seen Gary in the zoas in several weeks, he is spoiled by being feed scallops and shrimp so I really don't think he is eating them. Kiefers does however have HUNDREDS of tiny little snails that come out every night.
Too bad, cause the zoa rock was beautiful. Luckily fragged some starts off of the zoas and put in my tank a year or so ago. See babe..............by stealing them from you, I might have actually done you a favor cause now you can have some back! lol
 

kiefers

Active Member
Last night I was checking out the zoa rock and did notice a few white spots on the stock of the coral. I noticed them when I got done picking spongy material out of my blue tubbs and turqois zoa's. Right now I am dealing with these red spots all over my neon candy canes and nuclear grean zoa's. Whill have to take them out and give them good rincing huh? Lol..... never ending saga.
 

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Identification: One of the most recent
"pests" who have now become prevalent
is a very small crustacean that looks like
a mite and appears to prefer most
species of Acropora corals. This
crustacean is yellow in color with a red
dot, approximately 1/2 mm in length,
and is very difficult to see without a
magnifying glass. It has been theorized that red bugs are either a parasitic form of copepod or micro-amphipod, though very
little research has been done and their true identification is not complete at this time.
Symptoms and signs: It has been speculated that the crustacean feeds off of the slime and
waste products produced by the Acroporas. If you have an established colony of Acropora sp.
that begins losing coloration and stops showing normal polyp extension, take a closer look at
the tissue of the coral for any small yellowish/red specks. It is oftentimes easiest to distinguish
these pests on the shadowed underside of a branch. An infected colony of Acropora
will
typically show poor or no polyp extension, and will slowly lose coloration over time. As at>
result of this infestation, it has been found that the growth rate of the colony is seriously
affected, and may even result in death to the coral itself.
It is not clear why these bugs prefer certain species of Acropora over others, nor is it clear
why they are not found on other SPS corals such as Montipora, Pocillopora, or Seriatopora.
Treatment: Several methods of treatment - from introducing natural predators to medications -
have been tested with various levels of success.
Introduce Dragonface Pipefish (Corythoichthys haematopterus
) to the quarantine
or display aquarium. Once the fish are settled in and adjusted to the aquarium
conditions, the small pipefish will anchor themselves on the branches of Acropora

and begin to feed on tiny crustaceans as well as red bugs.
Dip the Acropora
into a concentrated iodine and aquarium
water mixture for approximately 15 minutes using a clean
plastic container. Lugol's solution is the preferred iodine base
for this procedure, along with other commercially available
coral dips, such as Reef Dip by Seachem.
The last method, developed by Dustin
Dorton at ORA, involves treating the
aquarium or quarantine aquarium with
Milbemycin oxime. This chemical is the
active ingredient in Interceptor, a
heartworm preventive and de-worming
medication for dogs only available by
Reef Aquarium Pests and Parasites
 

kiefers

Active Member
Wow Joe, could you have made that font any smaller? Lol......don't. please. Thank you for the info. I do indeed have a pipe fish and he seems to really enjoy picking at things, so who knows. Good to hear from you and thanks again.
 

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Wow Joe, could you have made that font any smaller?
You sound like meowzer she always says my font is small
 
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