jaggedfire Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 Hi all. Interesting issue here. I had a rock with around 8-10 large green palys that I transferred to the new tank 2 weeks ago. They have been out and non reclusive in the light. There are also not new frags, but grown from a single frag over 2yrs and they disappeared within 3 days. I have read astrea stars could be blame, but is this likely?!? I have NEVER seen stars go after anything. I have no other pests that I know of other than my voracious blue-legs as I have been careful to start with only rock I have had in the other tanks or cured. SPS, LPS and mushrooms are so far doing very well in the tank. Thanks for any input. Couple tank params: ph: 8.1 alk: 9.5-9.8 mg: 1620 cal: 400-420 photo period is 12 hrs actinic, 4 hrs mh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherita Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 Did you notice anything odd at all going on? They could have melted in that time frame, but you would have noticed them being closed up, and some sort of residue while the melting was in progress. Any emerald crabs in the tank? I've had them go rogue before and eat colonies. And some asterina stars will most certainly eat zoas and palys, I've had it happen in my tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaggedfire Posted September 24, 2013 Author Share Posted September 24, 2013 No emeralds yet. And we have been away for a few days. They were there Friday, but didnt notice late last night. Today, just gone. I did notice several small ( pencil eraser size) stars on the rock. Just sucks as they were the only paly I have and really liked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherita Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 Without actually seeing it, you can't convict the asterinas. They could have been the problem, or they could have just been cleaning up the remains after the palys melted. What palys were they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 What fish do you have in the tank? I'd bet something ate them quick. In my experience of losing zoas and palys (which I hate to say is pretty significant), if they die of stress or water quality, they'll close up and melt over time. You'll see it coming. An over night thing to me seems to be something preying on them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaggedfire Posted September 24, 2013 Author Share Posted September 24, 2013 No fish yet Bpb. They are still in qt for a few more weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 Ill tag along on this one then. I got nothing. Every zoa and paly I've lost has been slow and painful Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaggedfire Posted September 24, 2013 Author Share Posted September 24, 2013 I expect slow recession, but not as rapid as it was. I agree too, without catching the stars in the act, I cant implicate. These seem to be just green button polyps with long 'lashes', looked just like these: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esacjack Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 what is your water temp? are you monitoring for ph/temp swings? The cold front that blew through took my new frag tank from 79degrees to 64 overnight, and my 'test paly's' closed up and withered away. How big is your pod population? How much flow are you running? Are you dosing Kalk into the sump or directly into the DT? Asterinas have been known to munch on the film algae that grows on palys/zoas. Also, low flow will sometimes cause a build up of this algae and detritus on the mat/stolons, which then causes your algae grazers to occasionally bite them. Kinda like accidentally biting your finger while eating a sandwich... they arent intentionally trying to eat your zoas, but may have munched them due to algae. Doy ou have any before /after photos? Also, dead rock is not 100% free of hitchhikers. I had a gorilla crab in my last batch of BRS reefsaver rock that I passed onto someone on the club. I still have a rock I'm 100% certain has a live-in. (theres a hole in one of my rocks where coraline is constantly scraped off, and fresh shavings of rock are always around it..) So just because its 'dry rock' doesnt mean something didnt survive. Stone/rock crabs/gorilla crabs, will make short work of your paly's and zoas. More-so paly's, as the stolon/mat is generally more exposed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esacjack Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 Oh, also check for current leakage in the tank... Or silicone poisoning.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo662 Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 What about an increase in salinity? I had some stuff melt away in a matter of about 2 days when i first set up my tank...the new refractometer I bought wasn't working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaggedfire Posted September 25, 2013 Author Share Posted September 25, 2013 what is your water temp? are you monitoring for ph/temp swings? The cold front that blew through took my new frag tank from 79degrees to 64 overnight, and my 'test paly's' closed up and withered away. How big is your pod population? How much flow are you running? Are you dosing Kalk into the sump or directly into the DT? Temp is steady 80-81. pH has been very stable compared to the tank they came from. The pod population is insane!!! I started with a 500count 3 weeks ago from R2G ( plus seed from other tank) and now at any given time I can spot 100+ easy. Flow is lower for this size tank (6ft) of a single Tunze turebell 6100. Looking to source some MP-40's No kalk at the moment (or alk), just keeping the Mg up via Kents M. What about an increase in salinity? I had some stuff melt away in a matter of about 2 days when i first set up my tank...the new refractometer I bought wasn't working. I have stayed solid at 1.025 +/- .001for 7 weeks now. I had a gorilla crab in my last batch of BRS reefsaver rock I have had SPS and lps in the tank now for quite some time. My daughter did say she saw a big crab a week or or so ago...I dismissed it as a blue leg......Hope it wasn't anything. I don't dismiss a hitchhiker, its just much of this rock has been with me for 18 months+. Thanks everyone for input. I don't have any photos of after as there was literally nothing left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaggedfire Posted September 25, 2013 Author Share Posted September 25, 2013 Late night to check out the tank...look what I found.... Is this guy bad? Guessing so judging by his pincers. He is in a QT until ID. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
esacjack Posted September 25, 2013 Share Posted September 25, 2013 based on the claws alone, im guessing predatory. But here is a good reference site for you. Even emerald crabs go rogue as sherita stated. Given that this is likely in the xanthid species, and given that it has predatory claws for tearing, I would permanently toss it in the sump. http://www.chucksaddiction.com/hitchcrabs.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ct67stang Posted September 25, 2013 Share Posted September 25, 2013 I expect slow recession, but not as rapid as it was. I agree too, without catching the stars in the act, I cant implicate. These seem to be just green button polyps with long 'lashes', looked just like these: green implosion palys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sascha D. Posted September 25, 2013 Share Posted September 25, 2013 Looks like a Xanthid species. I follow a few rules when it comes to crabs. You can never trust a crab Hairy crabs are especially bad I would remove it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaggedfire Posted September 25, 2013 Author Share Posted September 25, 2013 Thanks stang for the polyp id and esacjack for the link. He was moved to the sump this morning. To add a note, I found him on the sandbed at the front glass...milesbaway from anything. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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