Zoo's Jumping Off of Rock

[euphoria]

Hi everyone.
I've been successful w/ my reef tank so far, except I've had bad luck w/ zoo's. It seems that anytime I buy them, a few months later the zoo's just leave the rock they're on. i find individual pieces or small colonies scattered elsewhere around the tank or just dead behind my live rock.
What makes them leave the rock they're on?

 

[wax32]

Sickness or crabs/fish.

 

[euphoria]

Originally Posted by wax32
Sickness or crabs/fish.
I don't have crabs in the tank, except for my hermit crabs. As far as I know, anyone who has a reeftank w/ zoo's in it has crabs and fish in them, so it can't possibly be the animals.

 

[puffer24/7]

well i gotta tell u somethin how would u feel if u lived in the same house forever it gets a little boring right? well they are pretty much just going to a new home ie:somewhere else in the tank it sounds stupid but they never stay in the same place plus u want them to move and be happy so they can multiply i got chills there multiplien i had to say that good luck

 

[euphoria]

Originally Posted by puffer24/7
well i gotta tell u somethin how would u feel if u lived in the same house forever it gets a little boring right? well they are pretty much just going to a new home ie:somewhere else in the tank it sounds stupid but they never stay in the same place plus u want them to move and be happy so they can multiply i got chills there multiplien i had to say that good luck
Well how come other tanks I've seen always have these big chunks of zoo's on a rock? How come theirs just doesn't jump off

 

[wax32]

They aren't "jumping" off. They aren't like mushrooms. They don't move. If they are off the rock, something happened to make them come loose. Water conditions or physical damage.

 

[fishieness]

Originally Posted by puffer24/7
well i gotta tell u somethin how would u feel if u lived in the same house forever it gets a little boring right? well they are pretty much just going to a new home ie:somewhere else in the tank it sounds stupid but they never stay in the same place plus u want them to move and be happy so they can multiply i got chills there multiplien i had to say that good luck
ummm.... they dont leave because they are bored.... they leave to find more suitible conditions weather this be better water quality, lighting, ect..... but not bordem......
once i acclimated to halides i had some mushrooms move all around and some leave. But for zoos to mulitply, they split and spread, but dont "jump"
what are you water conditions and lighting?

 

[puffer24/7]

first of all u cant spell whether and yes they do move for that reason

 

[puffer24/7]

your words they leave to find more suitible conditions weather this be better water quality, lighting, ect which means basically bored

 

[fishieness]

Originally Posted by puffer24/7
your words they leave to find more suitible conditions weather this be better water quality, lighting, ect which means basically bored
bored? bored is an emotion!!! Something that you need a brain for. SOmething that simple corals lack. When people moved out of the path of hurricane katrina, i assure you they didnt do it because they were bored. They did it because the environmental conditions werent suitible.
and even if i cant spell, im giving at least SOMEWHAT correct information.

 

[fishieness]

Originally Posted by puffer24/7
your words they leave to find more suitible conditions weather this be better water quality, lighting, ect which means basically bored
oh yes, and second of all you cant spell "whether" either

 

[euphoria]

come on guys, this is a fish forum, not a spelling bee championship. Who cares, as long as we get the point.
Anyveyzzz, I mean anyways my water conditions are as follows
Ammonia and nitrite = 0
nitrate = 10-15
phosphate = 0
Lights are 260W PC lights and the zoo's are placed in the mid part of the tank, so they get good light.
I've kept harder to keep corals, and I know zoo's are not that hard to keep alive. I love zoo's and it sucks that I keep losing them.

 

[fishieness]

yeah....... this is just the second confrontation with this person.... im just a little annoyed is all.
hmmm..... your lighting is most likely sufficient. Judging by the lighting im guessing you have either a 55 or a 75. both are okay as far ad depth. some types of zoos need higher lighting but they will survive with lower lighting.
do you have any hitchicker nudies that could be adgitating them? look in now that your lights are off with a flash light. they are actualy very hard to sport. next time you do a water change try taking out the area where the zoos are disapearing and put it in the bucket of water you are about to dump. shake the rock a few times and see if anything comes off.

 

[acrylic300]

I have some palys that like to move around (slow crawl). I don't think anything is agitating them. The rock your zoos are mounted on could be bad--or they could be freshly mounted and not stuck on very well. If something is agitating them to the point that they are falling off it could be another coral close by or the Nudi's mentioned.

 

[ctgretzky9]

I once had an anemone that was depressed, by the way. He left the tank to seek psychiatric evaluation.

In any event, zoos will "disconnect" periodically from the LR. This is a way for them to spread around the tank. Mine drop off periodically, and reestablish in other parts of the tank...but it sounds like yours drop off the rock a lot more. My main colony (the original) is still going strong.
Things zoos wont tolerate:
stray voltage
high alkalinity (or low)-and relate this to the calcium
high salinity (or low)
Wide shifts in pH
What are your readings for these? Test your pH at night and in the morning.
Light seems adequate for them. I noticed my zoos looked like crap when my alk was high, and looked great shortly after alk/calc was stable.