I got many zoa colonies in my tank. One colony which is a 6" long colony full of radioactive grn zoas looks stressed half the time but blossoms the other half. I've had this colony for about 4 months and been always good. This week its been looking weird and I've noticed there are less polyps. I'm thinking that they might be some pest thats eating the zoa colony. At night I've seen starfish that looks like worms and I see alot of white spots inside the rock of the zoa colony. Is there any known bugs that will eat zoas? If not, it could just be my hermits eating them since they walk on them most of the time but the zoas will come back up quickly. Now it stays closed =I
zoas concern
- Thread starter Hungriee
- Start date
Did you dip the colony when you got it to make sure there were no pests on it?
There are a number of different things in a tank that will eat zoas...zoa eating Nudi's, Sundial snails, some starfish (very small & usually have a 'color' to them.)
Do you have a pic of the colony?
Are any of your other zoa colonies having any issues?
Do you have any Lugols Solution? (you want to have a bottle of that handy if you're into zoas
)
Pic of Sundial snail
There are a number of different things in a tank that will eat zoas...zoa eating Nudi's, Sundial snails, some starfish (very small & usually have a 'color' to them.)
Do you have a pic of the colony?
Are any of your other zoa colonies having any issues?
Do you have any Lugols Solution? (you want to have a bottle of that handy if you're into zoas
)Pic of Sundial snail
Yep I did do a dip with my small bottle of Lugol's solution. THe other colonies don't look affected.
I do have this nudibranch in my tank but not sure if eats zoas. I've had it for just as long as I had this colony. http://www.bohol.ph/pics/large/nudibranch08.jpg
Is this nudi not reef safe? AHHH
I do have this nudibranch in my tank but not sure if eats zoas. I've had it for just as long as I had this colony. http://www.bohol.ph/pics/large/nudibranch08.jpg
Is this nudi not reef safe? AHHH
DontXtripNfall
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hopefully u dont have any of these good luck...
http://www.zoaid.com/index.php?module=Gallery2&g2_itemId=384
http://www.zoaid.com/index.php?module=Gallery2&g2_itemId=384
Could you narrow down where on that link please?
(lovely place!!)Keep this in mind..if you do have Nudi's, they turn the color of the zoa that they are eating at the moment.
Trying to find another pic that might also be helpful to you.
(thanks for the link to zoa ID Steve!!
)Thx Steve. I did once seen one of those mini asterina look alike stars in my tank before. Actually near the zoas. In fact iwas green but not sure if its relevant to being the predator. I'm having posting a pic of the colony since my pic is over 2Mb.
Could you narrow down where on that link please?
Keep this in mind..if you do have Nudi's, they turn the color of the zoa that they are eating at the moment.
Trying to find another pic that might also be helpful to you.
(thanks for the link to zoa ID Steve!!
KathyC,
The link I used is just an example of what I have but this is a cool link.
If you go to the toolbar and drop down from photo galleries> underwater, the second or third page has the pictures of nudibranches. I have a blue/yellow one. It hangs out mostly at the top of the tank on the glass all the time.
Would you guys recommend me fragging the the colony and keeping the pieces that are not affected yet or should I just toss the entire colony? The rest of the tank looks fine but the colony is making me lose slp lOl
I dont want the pest to spread.. For now its def on the zoas.. and not sure where to start to exterminate.
I dont want the pest to spread.. For now its def on the zoas.. and not sure where to start to exterminate.
No. No point in it. If it's anything that lays eggs, they could be anywhere in your tank, even on the 'good' part of the colony.
If you have the Lugols, make a mix and dip it and see what falls off
If you do find out what the culprit is, you'll need to dip all of your zoas, and then you'll be done with it (hopefully
)First issue is to identify it...keep in mind that zoas can be finicky and shrivel up and die, or look like heck for a while, for no reason that we can figure out. You may have moved a p/h and suddenly it doesn't like the flow, or something is walking on it more than it used to, or it rained on Tuesday, ya never know!....try the dip and let's go from there
My point is, you don't know what is affecting the colony yet, so why resort to drastic measures of thowing a living animal into the garbage?
You said you've had the colony for 4 months. I will assume you have gotten other corals since then - yes? You're issue maybe living on a different colony or it may not be a predator at all. If the colony is unhappy, it may bounce back and be fine next week, but if you've had it for 4 months and it was fine, it is probably NOT where your issue lies... it is simply what is currently being affected.
Have you tried the dip tonight?
You said you've had the colony for 4 months. I will assume you have gotten other corals since then - yes? You're issue maybe living on a different colony or it may not be a predator at all. If the colony is unhappy, it may bounce back and be fine next week, but if you've had it for 4 months and it was fine, it is probably NOT where your issue lies... it is simply what is currently being affected.
Have you tried the dip tonight?
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