Shrinking zoas

[hypoxia]

I have a few zoa colonies (not all in my tank, just two or three) that are shrinking. They aren't losing color, just decreasing in size and their tentacles are shortening. At first I thought it might be my salinity, because it was low (discovered when I bought a new hydrometer) and I have since corrected it. Then I thought it was because my lights might be shifting, but it's only these particular colonies, and they're my favorites.

Any thoughts of what might be doing this?

[Tifosi]

What was your salinity before and after. How fast did you correct it?

[Chad Vossen]

my palythoas shrank away to nothing, yet today i found some polyps drifting around that i lost during the first week i had them. the ones i lost were exposed to metal halides, while the one that survived spent most of its time under the rocks where i couldnt get it.


could be to much light - though i dont know much about your setup.

[Turf]

I would like to know as well... I have the same problem and mine are under pc's.

[tico mike]

Kathy, Dennis and I had this discussion today. I think we decided the following: Sometimes they grow really well and sometimes they don't.:nuts:

[hypertech]

Flow and lighting can make them change sometimes to the point that they are almost unrecognizable from their previous state. Have you changed bulbs or flow?

[hypoxia]

No change to bulbs or flow. I adjusted the salinity over the course of ten days, but that was about two weeks ago and there's been no improvement. I didn't keep track of what the previous salinity was, sorry. . . .

These were previously growing like absolute gangbusters and then suddenly stopped.

[Tifosi]

Did you add anything new to your tank, just prior to the change? Have you checked at night to see if there's any critters on them?

[hypertech]

Has your water quality improved? I have no evidence and I'm sure people have evidence to the contrary, but softies seem to grow better in water that is a little dirtier.

[Goldpony75]

I would second the critters. I would take the affected ones and inspect them closely. Most zoo predators are pretty small and may take a magnifying glass to see.

[hypoxia]

Nope. Nothing new has come in other than the diamond goby, who came in at least a month after this started.

Hm. I think my water quality might have improved. Since I added a light to the refugium the chaeto is growing like crazy and my unwanted algae in the main tank has dropped dramatically.

It's interesting to me that it's only two out of thirty colonies that are affected.

[benihana]

are the colonies shrinking, or have they just slowed down in their growth pattern? Also, are the colonies closed up, if so, have they been closed up for some time?

The reason that I asked is that I had the same issue, and I found out that I had Zoantid Eating Nudibranchs. I treated them using Flat Worm Exit. See my thread for the specifics, but it worked great, and all my zoo's are now back and growing - http://www.tcmas.org/forums/showthread.php?t=7332

[Taklu]

are the colonies shrinking, or have they just slowed down in their growth pattern? Also, are the colonies closed up, if so, have they been closed up for some time?

The reason that I asked is that I had the same issue, and I found out that I had Zoantid Eating Nudibranchs. I treated them using Flat Worm Exit. See my thread for the specifics, but it worked great, and all my zoo's are now back and growing - http://www.tcmas.org/forums/showthread.php?t=7332

+1 , I had the same issue & did the FWE exit; All zoos are showing signs of coming back except the RPE which Im guessing is a goner. when doing the FWE make sure you are well prepared for it...carbon & everything..

[gruntmon]

our zoas aren't shrinking but they aren't growing really fast either, could that be flatworms? we only have 2 colonies, the one we've had for 6 months and it's barely grown at all. The other we've had for 2 months and it's expanded a bit but nothing dramatic either.

[benihana]

our zoas aren't shrinking but they aren't growing really fast either, could that be flatworms? we only have 2 colonies, the one we've had for 6 months and it's barely grown at all. The other we've had for 2 months and it's expanded a bit but nothing dramatic either.

I would doubt it...the way I found out that I had Nudi's is that my PPE was closed for about 3 weeks straight, and I was getting a little curious as to why. I read on RC (with a grain of salt) that other experienced their PPE's being closed for a few days, but never longer than a week.

So, unless yours are closed for an extended period of time, I would liken your situation to Tico's opinion above as - Some grow better in some tanks, and some don't

[gruntmon]

nope, ours are open almost all the time with the exception of critters crawling over them. Must be the tank. Hopefully the new lighting we plan on getting will make a difference.

[REEFSTOCK]

I didn't get to read everything as I am off to work.

I have noticed many corals look awesome in low flow. Just like many people look good when they have an eating disorder, but both subjects are close to ... "closing up". Without high flow to move the mucus and stuff the coral is a stage a way from suffocation.

Just a thought, how is your tank's flow?

[gruntmon]

We have a sieo 1500, a hydor rated decent, and a 700 gph pump from our sump, seems like the fish get blown around a bit so would say the flow is decent.

[benihana]

We have a sieo 1500, a hydor rated decent, and a 700 gph pump from our sump, seems like the fish get blown around a bit so would say the flow is decent.

how large of a tank? And how may gph out of the SEIO? 1500gph?

[KPAX]

Some zoas can be tough and I've had some that look awesome for weeks and then just go away. I have found that lighting also makes a difference. Start them low in the tank and work them up as they get use to the brightness. Can you shoot a pic of what they look like? You haven't got any sundial snails wandering around? Do they have an white spots on them? Zoa Pox?

[REEFSTOCK]

PS thanks for the cookies, best meal this week.

[freshfish]

Do they have white spots on the stems of them? If they do then I'll inquire more LMK. Send me a pm if they do.

[hypoxia]

No white spots, no critters. The actual polyp sizes are shrinking. Their tentacles are itty-bitty now and the diameter is decreased by at least one third.

I gave everything another really good look-see and it's only this one particular strain of zoa that's shrinking, and it's in three different places in the tank.

Interestingly, I moved my eagle-eyes next to these and now the eagle-eyes are morphing into something totally different. Just an aside there, not really related to the initial issue. Just interesting.

[gruntmon]

we have the seio at full power, it's in a 125. There is probably about 100 lbs of live rock in it at the moment, we'll be getting more. The zoas are in the front of the tank at the same end as the seio, the seio is pointed along the back, and the hydor is pointed along the front. We needed the heavy flow for the tangs to stay happy. I've noticed though that our trumpet corals are looking a bit odd. They look almost like they are melty... They aren't peeling off (had that happen with a bad batch of salt) but they seem very "loose" not sure what started that either.

[Tifosi]

Hey Photographer, do you have any pics? Are these one of the two colonies that I got from you?

[hypoxia]

I have no pictures due to no camera. It's neither of those colonies, nope. :)