Nathan Explosion Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 i noticed in the last two days my zoas are on the decline. all water and everything checks out just fine, i did a five gallon water change just to see if it made a difference. so far it hasnt. everything in the tank is doing just fine, a while back i found some astria (spell?) starfish in my tank and i have been eliminating them on site and i dont see any atached to the zoas, is there anything else i can do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarathustra2 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Could you provide pictures. Both of the star and of the zoos? 3 things that come to mind if your water/flow/light is good for them. 1. If it is the stars they will be really ugly brown things with two elongated legs. If they are the blue/white ones those eat coraline and won't be the root cause here. 2. Zoo Pox. look for little white bumpy dots on the stalks of the zoo. Make sure not to confuse this with the sand that a Paly will take into it's stem. Zoo pox only effects zoos from what I have read. Also has a pretty easy fix that worked for me when I got a frag with them on it. 3. There is a type of Zoo eating nudibrach. They will change color to look like the zoo they are infesting. They are pretty easy to spot with magnification. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Explosion Posted August 10, 2009 Author Share Posted August 10, 2009 i have medium water flow, a 130 watt light on a 29 gallon tank they are located in the middle of the tank. so all of that should be good, the starfish should be on a earlier post that i had i will see if i can post a link. but the thing about the spots i will have to check on. when i get home i will try and get a pic of them, but my camera does suck quite a bit. but the star fish i am almost certin they are the blue/white ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzobob Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Here's a link to some pictures of common zoa predators and irritators. http://www.zoaid.com/index.php?module=Gallery2&g2_itemId=384 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnoburns Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Nathan, where are the zoos that are having problems located in the tank? Are they on the sand bed, attached to rocks, or somewhere else? I ask because I know some of mine on the sand be will close up when hermits, snails, and other things are to close or travel on them. Some fish will also perch on zoas as well. If this happens too much they will not be open enough to process the light. I imagine this is not the case, but just wanted to throw it out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Explosion Posted August 10, 2009 Author Share Posted August 10, 2009 Nathan, where are the zoos that are having problems located in the tank? Are they on the sand bed, attached to rocks, or somewhere else? I ask because I know some of mine on the sand be will close up when hermits, snails, and other things are to close or travel on them. Some fish will also perch on zoas as well. If this happens too much they will not be open enough to process the light. I imagine this is not the case, but just wanted to throw it out there. i only have one fish that is a blue devil, he never goes close to them, and my only shrimp is always perched under some rocks, they use to be free floaters on the sand bed but i oved them to a rock after i found them bouncing around my tank one morning. usually my snails and hermits leave them alone, but i havent seen them open for about a week now and the stalks are starting to look very thin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Explosion Posted August 10, 2009 Author Share Posted August 10, 2009 (edited) HERE IS A PIC OF THE STAR FISH THAT I KEEEP FINDING AND ELIMINATING FROM MY TANK. I WILL TRY AND GET ANOTHER PIC TOMARROW OF THE STAR FISH AND ZOAS. I FIND THEM MUNCHING ON CORALIN ALGEA ALOT, BUT MY BACK GLASS IS ONE HUGE SHEET OF PINK CORALINE ALGEA, LIKE I PAINTED IT ON WITH A BRUSH. THEY ARE USUALLY ON THERE. Edited August 10, 2009 by Nathan Explosion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Have they been in your tank for awhile? I was having problems with my zoas as well. Didn't seem to do to well in my tank compared to the tank they came from. After shelling out lots of money to just have them die I started a liitle research Now I dip them, and all other corals, in a Lugols solution. I have them low in the tank (translated sand bed) and in lower flow. This seemed to help my situation. I would recommend you follow the comments above to make sure you don't have any parasites or diseases. Then move on to a treatment. I can't tell you how many times I jerk kneed a solution with out through research. Hope this little bit helps. Dave- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ann Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 This also happened to me about a month ago. My zoas and zenias were very happy and healthy. Then I decided to make things even better by adding a small amount of Coral Accel to my 30 gal nano tank. Everything stopped coming out except the mushrooms who seemed to love the stuff. Only after several pronouncements of 'perfect' water and correct temps did I deduce that this was probably the culprit. I am learning that if 1 capful works for 60 gallons, 1/2 capful might not work for 30 gallons. It isn't linear. I have stopped dosing and my guys are slowing coming back to life. Good luck! Ann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 Hi Anne! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarathustra2 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 I had a lot of luck with freshwater dips for zoos. I use a Lugols dip with Furan-2 antibiotic in RO water modified for proper PH. I leave them in there for about 5 minutes then give them a rinse in another bucket of RO water before putting back into the tank. Note that this is for Zoo Pox and zoo eating parasites specifically. What color are those Stars. If brown you may have the dreaded one that eats zoos. Though it is very unlikely. Most likely they are the white/Blue ones which besides making your coraline blotchy are harmless and (I think) benificial as it keeps making more space for coraline to grow in my tank. I'm more worriedd about you saying that something was floating around... Do you mean you had free floating polyps? If so glue that sucker down and let it be for a couple of weeks to see how it goes. I had one get loose from a frag that took me about a week to fish out of the rock. Glued it down and it is doing great now and is about to bud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Explosion Posted August 10, 2009 Author Share Posted August 10, 2009 This also happened to me about a month ago. My zoas and zenias were very happy and healthy. Then I decided to make things even better by adding a small amount of Coral Accel to my 30 gal nano tank. Everything stopped coming out except the mushrooms who seemed to love the stuff. Only after several pronouncements of 'perfect' water and correct temps did I deduce that this was probably the culprit. I am learning that if 1 capful works for 60 gallons, 1/2 capful might not work for 30 gallons. It isn't linear. I have stopped dosing and my guys are slowing coming back to life. Good luck! Ann on my water changes i do 5 gallons once a week on a 29 gallon tank. My only problem is that i dont have a RO/DI unit but the only thing i add to my water changes is iodine about one every two weeks, and that s a half of a cap. and once a month a bout a half a cap of trace elements. i was adding phyto plan a powdery mix that i added about once a week that caused a HUGE G.H.A problem that i am still battling rite now. i cant seem to get rid of it. its not the light stringy stuff, its the tough short (under 1") in length, the best example would be like whiskers. No idea how to get rid of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarathustra2 Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 You may have enough trace elements in your tap water that will cause this. When you say your water levels are all fine can you list out the numbers. I'd also be wary of iron or copper from pipes and municipal water sources. For a 29 gallon it shouldn't be too rough to get 5 gallon jugs of RO/DI from the local fish shop or at least RO from wall mart. High levels of nitrates (indicated by turf algae) also will effect your polyps in poor ways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Explosion Posted August 10, 2009 Author Share Posted August 10, 2009 (edited) I had a lot of luck with freshwater dips for zoos. I use a Lugols dip with Furan-2 antibiotic in RO water modified for proper PH. I leave them in there for about 5 minutes then give them a rinse in another bucket of RO water before putting back into the tank. Note that this is for Zoo Pox and zoo eating parasites specifically. What color are those Stars. If brown you may have the dreaded one that eats zoos. Though it is very unlikely. Most likely they are the white/Blue ones which besides making your coraline blotchy are harmless and (I think) benificial as it keeps making more space for coraline to grow in my tank. I'm more worriedd about you saying that something was floating around... Do you mean you had free floating polyps? If so glue that sucker down and let it be for a couple of weeks to see how it goes. I had one get loose from a frag that took me about a week to fish out of the rock. Glued it down and it is doing great now and is about to bud. i got the zoas as a golfball sized colony that i just had on the sand bed, when i added two power heads to battle gha (thought i didnt have enuf flow) i saw the whole colony tossed up and gently floating around my tank :-O but that was like in May when i also spotted the starfish. Edited August 10, 2009 by Nathan Explosion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 What are you using for top off water? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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