Zoas And Or Palys Fading Into Nothing

[Tdizz]

Hi folks,

I have had 3 colonies of zoas/palys just disappearing on me. They faded.
The colonies were about 20-30 polyp on each.

About 2 or 3 months ago I had issues with nutrients (nitrate and phosphate). I did a bunch of water changes, and changed out my gfo every 10 ish days to get that under control. And the zoas and palys actually exploded from the exces nutrients, but I lost a bunch of acros

About 2 weeks ago, these colonies (zoas/paly) started shrinking in size. They did not extend to what they have been. And now the colonies have faded away into nothing.

Is there something I should be doing or watching for moving forward?

Thanks!!

 

[Sewerat]

What has changed from then to now? What have you done or not done. Lack of testing, water changes? What type if lighting you using, how old are the bulbs? Any potential critters nipping at them?

I had same issue. Removed butterfly and changed lights and they started growing again.

 

[MrHermit85]

I just had the same issue. Lost an utter chaos frag. Caught a very large hermit hanging out near the frag plug but didn't think anything g of it. Bought another frag of zoas and they started dissapearing too and guess who started hanging out near the new plug? Fat face scarlet hermit lol
Needless to say fat face and his sidekick were banished to the sump and my zoas started coming back, even the utter chaos...
In my last tank same thing happened except with a foxface, found the foxface a new home but it turned out his diet included bubble algae and zoas so my zoas came back but so did the bubble algae with a vengeance lol.

 

[TORX]

Astrea stars in the tank?

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[Tdizz]

What has changed from then to now? What have you done or not done. Lack of testing, water changes? What type if lighting you using, how old are the bulbs? Any potential critters nipping at them?

I had same issue. Removed butterfly and changed lights and they started growing again.

I am running Kessil's 360's for almost 10 hours a day. I still am doing weekly water changes of 10 gallons but have slowed my gfo changes to monthly now. But I have stopped dosing my esv products and have relied on the water changes to keep up on Cal, MG, etc.

I do not believe that I have any livestock nipping at the polyps. But I will watch out for hermit crabs.

 

[Tdizz]

Astrea stars in the tank?

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I have not seen any Astrea in the tank at all. But there are probably a half dozen bristle worms. I have read about them, and they should be okay. But I have not watched for them at night and what they are eating...could they be the culprit?

 

[MrHermit85]

I have tons of bristle worms,never seen them bother anything...

 

[SamB]

Torx is on to something and I can tell you by personal experience that you may have zoa eating Asterina star fish in your tank
A while back I noticed that my zoas were fading, not opening at the same time that I noticed asterina star fish in my tank (guess that I picked them up on a frag - no one from TFT!)
I didn't think much about it because there are almost 30 different types of these star fish and most do not eat corals / zoas
I even bought a pair of harlequin shrimp to help eat the stars but they preferred to chow down on my sand sifting starfish - but that is another story !
Please check your zoas with tweezers or a pair of tongs and look under rocks and zoas and pick those stars off of any surface that you find them on and dispose of them
I have lost some zoas but every day I seek out the star fish offenders and pluck them out and now I rarely find them
Note that they reproduce by splitting asexually so even ONE of these stars can make more !
Zoas are returning but not without a few casualties
Don't wait and please start to pluck - so to speak !
SamB

 

[TORX]

Also, watch real close at night for nudi. They turn the color of the zoas they are eating.

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[Tdizz]

Thanks very much. I will keep my eye out for these bad guys and start proactively seeking them!!

 

[TORX]

Here are some examples. They are almost impossible to see. They make it look like the polyp is closed with some of its skirt sticking out.

 

[Kman]

The most likely cause for this is a pest of some kind, bacterial infection or low nutrients. You should check after the lights have been out and the room has been dark for a few hrs at least. Some pests don't like any lights and take their time coming out. Just bring a flashlight and spot check. I myself would pull the colonies out and flip them over looking for pests. You might want to do a dip in lugols solution or Coral RX as a precaution. Make sure you check for eggs! Some pests are really hard to see, so it sometimes comes down to looking for raised areas on tissue where there should not be in order to find the pest.

 

[scubasteve]

if your asterinas are on your glass and rocks your fine but pull ones off of your zoas because some species do eat corals. the ones on your glass and rock are detrivores and eat film algae too. theres actually studies going on to prove if they eat pests or not.

if your water levels are where they should be id look on the underside for flatworms or other pests at night munching away. ive got asterinas everywhere even all around my zoo garden and all is good.