Zooanthid disappearing

T

thedocisin

Premium Member
[I have a mixed reef tank with mostly soft corals and a few lps and sps. My zooanthids colonies seem to be suddenly disappearing at an alarming rate. Several different varieties and none that are in contact with other corals. I'm used to seeing some fluctuation, but this is dramatic. None of the fish seem to be obviously eating them and the other corals seem unaffected. Do they have any special requirements that would affect their long term well-being?]



Edited By thedocisin on 1093929750
 
[I would hazard a guess that you have either a parasitic infection or you have a predator eating the polyps.

I assume that you would notice white sliming mold taking over the zoo's so I would probably discount that possibility.

The most common killer of zoo's are Heliacus predatory snails, aka the sundial or box snail. Have you seen any of these in your tank? You might have to look at night to find them.]
 
[Any emerald crabs?

What about peppermint shrimp?

I have seen both of these munch on zoos. Most likely though it is either the snail above (they are small) are the famed zo eating nudibranch which are very small and blend very well. Take a suffing colony out and do a 5 minute freshwater dip with (1 drops lugols and 2 drops flatworm exit per gallon) Do this in a white bowl so you can see if anything falls off. I do this on all my incoming zoos and it has expelled any bad hitchikers including the above snails. Your zoos should open back up within a couple hours of the dip.

Let us know the results!]
 
[If you have a 14 foot long bristleworm, it will mow down a patch of zoos each night. This happened to a guy on RC, and he tore his tank apart to get the beast out. There are pictures too!

If you salinity gets too high, zoanthids close up and die in a few days. You want to be at 1.026 sg.]
 
[whoa, I just looked in the tank after dark and remembered I have a 4" tiger cowerie snail. Could it be predatory on the polyps? Have him in snail purgatory for now. If so, I would be willing to donate him to a non-reef owner.]
 
[Cowries are vegetarian and live on algae. I doubt it would be the predator. They don't do well in reef tanks unfortunately, but you can put it on a leaf of well-washed romaine lettuce and it will eat the entire thing in a couple of hours.

I love cowries, and bought many before I had any idea what I was doing. I killed three before I stopped buying them. I'd even take it off your hands, but my tanks are so pristine I don't think it would live long at all. :( I wonder how one would do in a refugium...?]
 
[Cowries certainly arent all herbivorous. There are only a few species that fall into this category, with many species not even been determined yet.
The Tiger Cowrie will indiscriminately feed on algae, dead matter, meaty food, corals and bivalves.

I would give the freshwater dip a shot. Im pretty sure the Lugols and flatworm exit are optional, but if you have them go ahead and add em.
If you dont have an infestation of the nudi's or snails, the cowrie might be the culprit.]
 
[I have noticed with different zoanthid frags that some of the polyps will get "sick" and the polyps start dieing one right after another.(mine just kind of close up and die off). So if I see a polyp that has a white tip or looks like it's rotting I usually just pull out the rock and use a razor to cut it out.

What's really crazy is both time's I have done this the frag usually seem's to grow more polyp's faster and spread. I'm not sure if zoanthids are like shrubs or trees, but it seem's to me they need some pruining every once and a while.

Just thought I would mention this because I thought something was eating my polyps in the beginning. :very sad:


You can find out a lot of info over at www.zoosrus.com]



Edited By blide on 1094045946
 
[If you do find something that is eating your Zoos, can you keep him alive so I can take it off your hands? I have some ugly brown zoos and only have 1 sundial snail, I need 2-3 more predators to kill them. thanks!

Nick]
 
[Good suggestion Bill and I have had that work also. If you have some dieing off cut them to the healthy tissue. They will grow back. If you don't many times the colonies will just waste away! It is amazing how quickly just a couple polyps will grow if they are healthy.

Feeding them cyclopeeze also helps!]
 
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