zoas dying please help

freddyinca

freddyinca

Member
some of my zoa colonies have started to die off. I have looked for pest but done see any. It started with 1 colony but has spread to two others.
Here are some pictures hopefully someone can help.

 
1guydude

1guydude

Well-Known Member
so much going on in the pics IDK.... hard for me to tell
water qualitys good yes and lighting sufficient?
 
freddyinca

freddyinca

Member
yes water and lighting are good. I caught my toby puffer nipping at some of the zoas yesterday, but the problem with the zoas started before I got him. Any way to deter them form nipping at the zoas?
Not nudis or sundials because I have had them before and I don't see any now.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Just curious as to what your water parameters are and what test kits your using, how old? The palys look a little shriveled, which means it could be water quality. I just want to rule this out, as your other corals look fine.
I still think it's a nudi. That's almost exactly what a colony will look like after a nudi goes through it, and if you've had them in the past, you could very well still have them.
As for the puffer nipping, keeping him well fed is all you really can do, some behave, others don't.
 
freddyinca

freddyinca

Member
will test water again shortly.
I read soemwhere online that Asterina Starfish can eat zoas. I have had the starfish for years in my tank and never had a problem but I noticed that there were a few in on of them on one of the damaged colonies. You guys think they are the ones eating them and if so any suggestions on how to deal with them ?
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
It's possible, but IME the asterinas that do eat zoanthids are not that common. If you want to get rid of them and don't have any other types of starfish (brittles are okay) and don't have shrimp eating fish or a coral banded shrimp, you can get a pair of Harlequin shrimp. Mine have done a fantastic job at cutting down the population of starfish.
If you do get the harlequins, try to look for ones that haven't been in the store for too long. The ones that sit in the store for long are usually more accustomed to eating chocolate chip starfish and tend to ignore the asterinas.
 
freddyinca

freddyinca

Member
ok, I just pulled out 14 asterinas by hand out of my tank to be on the safe side. About half of them were on my zoas so that looks a little suspicious.

I currently have a percula clown, 6 line wrasse, and a toby puffer(which I am thinking of getting rid of because I have seen him pick at my zoas and acuporas).
 
S

smartorl

Guest
They are opportunistic feeders and a part of the cleanup crew meaning that it is more likely they are drawn to the "scene of the crime" and will clean up remnants but that doesn't mean that they were the perpatrator. I agree with BTLD that it is a nudi.
Do you have moonlights? I would check the tank through the night for a while.
 
freddyinca

freddyinca

Member
pulled out another 10 start fish today and brought my toby puffer back to the lfs, sad to see him go cuz he was a cool fish but eating corals is unacceptable. I am going to continue to monitor for other pests and hope for the best. Any supplements you guys recommend to help my zoas recover? I just dozed with some Kent coral accel hopefully that will help.
also had my lfs test my water and they said everything looked good.
oh and no I don't have moonlights
 
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