zoa trouble

[Guest]

I have had multi collinies of my zoa close up in the past few days. I don't see anything eating them or picking at them, most are established colonies that are over two years old. My water is good had it tested yesterday and did a 25% water change. It seems that there is a brown algae growing on the base of there stalks. not really sure what to do as this is the first trouble I have had with them.

Is there anything that I should check for first, or is this just normal?

Sorry about not having pic as I am stuck in the dark ages and don't own a dig camera.

 

[DaveJ]

@kmccrate wrote:

The brown algae... please describe that better. Let me know the texture and how its growing out. Is it shiny, is it leafy, is it powdery, is it stringy and slimy etc.

Also please describe how the polyps look.. are they closed tight and are elongated and thin, are they closed but still round and squat, do they show any white spots on them at all, do they have white tips (like zit heads).

Also what is the polyp flesh coloration like.. is it translucent, pail, healthy looking, completely covered in brown etc.

The more detail you give the better we can help determine if its a zoanthid disease, a reaction to algae or fungus, cyano or or some other issue like predation etc.

 

[bimmerzs]

Also read through this article as well. http://www.dfwmas.org/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=30746

Cheers,

 

[Guest]

I did added a some new polyps two weeks ago. the zoa's that are open are skinner then usual but with good color, mine tend to all have fairly long stalks. It seems to start in clusters of a few polyp in an area then spread. The brown algea is on the base of the stalks and, on both open and closed polyps, although it is completely covering many of the polyps that closed up first. No spots are noticed and I haven't seen anything on them at light's off/on. At first I though that the hermits were causing the problem, as they love to walk on them as I feed the tank, however I have a section on the back glass away from where they wouldn't be walkin on them.
Thanks again. My wife is going to try and borrow a camera so that I can post some pics.
What should be my next step be?
Thanks again.

 

[DaveJ]

@kmccrate wrote:

Without a photo, I would hazard a guess it is indeed algae of some sort, or a fungal thing. Zoapox are not the only fungus we get on these, sometimes a brownish/rust colored one appears too. The algae is easy to deal with, just rinse it off vigorously in a bowl of tank water and use your fingers to gently rub it off. If its fungus, you will need to use Furan II to dip them in. Furan II is an antifungal that you dip the zoanthids into and let them soak for awhile. Typically you take a packet or 2 pills in a half gallon of tank water, mix it up and then swish the frag/colony in it for a few minutes then soak it for up to 10. Rinse it off in more clean tank water than drop back into the tank under low light.

I don't think its predation as the coloration would be off.