Feather duster issue?

[SmilingTurtle]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the hobby, and I finally got my very first coral! I decided to start with a simple Zoanthid because I read that they're a good beginner coral.
Maybe I'm just overreacting because I'm new and inexperienced, but could someone please tell me if what I'm seeing is normal or if I should be worried?

The first numbered photo was taken on the day I bought it and placed it in my aquarium. The second and third numbered photos were taken on the second day. At first, I didn't notice anything unusual. I assumed it was just adjusting to the new environment, so I wasn't concerned that the polyps were opening and closing throughout the day.
Now it's been about five days since I added it to my tank, and it started looking less healthy. The polyps stay retracted for longer periods and seem much more shrunken than before. I spent some time watching it closely and noticed that the frag is covered with lots of tiny tube-like worms (at least that's what I think they are). When I blow on them gently with a pipette, they immediately retract into their tubes.

My question is: is this considered a lot of them? I honestly didn't notice them when I bought the frag, and I wasn't specifically looking for them either. Are they a problem? Will most of them eventually die off on their own, leaving only a few that I can remove manually, or is there a more effective dip or treatment for them?

Speaking of dipping, I already dipped the coral according to the instructions using Fauna Marin The Dip before adding it to the tank.

While searching online, I found suggestions to cut the colony off the frag plug. The problem is that I think I can also see these tiny tube-like worms on the base of the colony itself, not just on the plug. In addition, many of the zoa heads have already grown onto the frag plug, so cutting it off would probably mean sacrificing quite a few polyps.

I'd really appreciate any advice on how to deal with this while giving the zoanthid the best possible chance of survival.
For some background, my aquarium has been maturing since February. It has contained water and rock since then, I've been dosing bottled bacteria, and I've been doing weekly water changes.

Current water parameters:

• Salinity: 1.025
• Ammonia: 0 ppm
• Nitrite: 0.01 ppm
• Nitrate: 8 ppm
• Phosphate: 0.0 ppm
• Alkalinity: 6.8 dKH
• pH: 7.8 (I know this isn't ideal. I recently installed a CO₂ scrubber on my protein skimmer, so I'm hoping it will improve.)

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[rayadog]

They look like a different type of coral to me. The polyps, if they are coral, are quite small yet so it’s hard to tell what exactly. But they could be anything from clove polyps/Clavularia, possibly even Sarcothelia, to Pachyclavularia (green star polyps), or Anthelia.

All would be guesses as it’s really hard to tell since they are so small and second hand viewing via image.

So take every recommendation with salt because not everyone has the same desired outcomes. But this could be a coral that will grow off the plug with the zoas and not bother them… it could also be equally or more likely the grow off and throughout the plug and the zoas might get a bit peeved; possibly out competed.

It might be safe to try to pry the main piece of rubble that the zoas were attached to when they were glue to the plug and you might be able to get all or most of the zoa heads with it. You could then save that plug and see what comes of it or pitch it. It’s really hard to tell you specifically what to do as you have 1 (well 2 corals now) and you might like what the other grows in to. Some people don’t mind fast growing/outcompeting corals (if that’s even what it is and I’m not saying it is!).

You might be able to return it to the store with this valid reason. You don’t want a clear hitchhiker without knowing remotely what it is.

In any case, your tank being new might take the zoas a bit to actually appreciate the tank. Being so new… I’d make sure they have enough flow so algae films/mats aren’t congregating on their stalks which might be evident already. You can simply blow this off hopefully with a pipette or something.

Sorry this post has been a big maybe but hopefully helped with some direction. Heck I could be dead wrong. But they don’t seem to be worms in my opinion.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I would quarantine it or return it as suggested. To me it also looks like polyps, I think clove polyps which would be very bad . Actually any of the corals mentioned by rayadog would be bad, I would get that out of the tank before it has a chance to spread. I speak from experience, its not fun when one of these pest corals takes over your tank.

 

[SmilingTurtle]

Thanks everyone for the replies and the advice!

Honestly, the idea that there might actually be two corals on the frag is even more intimidating to me than it just being a hitchhiker. I had mentally prepared myself for dealing with hitchhikers, but not for accidentally buying a mixed frag!

I think this is what I'm going to do: I'll carefully try to separate the Zoa colony from the frag plug, hopefully keeping as many healthy polyps attached as possible. Then I'll put the original plug in a small "quarantine" container and see what eventually grows out of it.

Who knows... maybe I'll end up liking whatever it turns into. I certainly wouldn't complain if it turned out to be a free pulsing Xenia (I might be a little too obsessed with that coral!)

 

[fish_collector]

The problem these days is everyone has been led to believe that "hitchhikers are bad" and "OMG you'd better get that out of the tank before it spreads".

They aren't anything to be worried about, there are multitudes of things that grow in a healthy reef tank, aren't the critters the whole premise of buying live rock? Leave them be and try not to obsess over them, enjoy the things that pop up and grow, that's what a reef tank is all about.

 

[EnterName]

The problem these days is everyone has been led to believe that "hitchhikers are bad" and "OMG you'd better get that out of the tank before it spreads".

They aren't anything to be worried about, there are multitudes of things that grow in a healthy reef tank, aren't the critters the whole premise of buying live rock? Leave them be and try not to obsess over them, enjoy the things that pop up and grow, that's what a reef tank is all about.

Would you say the same about clove polyps? Colonial hydroids? Corallivore flatworms? Majano anemones? Aiptasia? Bobbit worms? Mantis shrimp?

I don't think we can treat all hitchhikers equally.

There are many hitchhikers that are beneficial and you will find a lot of ID requests here on R2R where people recommend keeping them in the tank. But once you get something invasive you will have no choice but to act or you can lose a lot of corals/fish/inverts in the process. Waiting can cause the issue to become worse or spread to a point where removing the issue can become near impossible.

 

[SmilingTurtle]

The problem these days is everyone has been led to believe that "hitchhikers are bad" and "OMG you'd better get that out of the tank before it spreads".

They aren't anything to be worried about, there are multitudes of things that grow in a healthy reef tank, aren't the critters the whole premise of buying live rock? Leave them be and try not to obsess over them, enjoy the things that pop up and grow, that's what a reef tank is all about.

Thanks for sharing this perspective as well.

Since I'm new to the hobby and this is literally my very first coral, it's a little intimidating to think that there might actually be two different corals growing on the same frag. I have no way of knowing whether one will bother the other, and I also don't want a coral to spread throughout my tank if it's a species I never planned to keep in the first place. Maybe I'd like it in a future tank, but it wasn't something I had in mind for this one.

That said, I do agree with your point. There is something really fascinating about nature surprising you in such a small ecosystem. Those little unexpected discoveries are part of what makes reef keeping so special, and they can definitely be beautiful.

 

[EnterName]

The problem these days is everyone has been led to believe that "hitchhikers are bad" and "OMG you'd better get that out of the tank before it spreads".

They aren't anything to be worried about, there are multitudes of things that grow in a healthy reef tank, aren't the critters the whole premise of buying live rock? Leave them be and try not to obsess over them, enjoy the things that pop up and grow, that's what a reef tank is all about.

Please wear gloves and eye protection. Just a few months ago there was another palytoxin-related incident here in Germany where someone lost 65% of their eyesight/vision just from accidentally touching their eye after fragging zoanthids/palys in a very painful process.

When zoas retract they can spit out water that you don't want in your eyes and messing with them will make them release their toxins. Many zoas are "harmless", but not all of them. I exclusively keep zoas, no palys, but Oceamo's Organo-MS analysis found palytoxin levels (very low, below anything that's dangerous, but it still shows that zoanthids can contain palytoxin).

 

[SmilingTurtle]

The problem these days is everyone has been led to believe that "hitchhikers are bad" and "OMG you'd better get that out of the tank before it spreads".

They aren't anything to be worried about, there are multitudes of things that grow in a healthy reef tank, aren't the critters the whole premise of buying live rock? Leave them be and try not to obsess over them, enjoy the things that pop up and grow, that's what a reef tank is all about.

Please wear gloves and eye protection. Just a few months ago there was another palytoxin-related incident here in Germany where someone lost 65% of their eyesight/vision just from accidentally touching their eye after fragging zoanthids/palys in a very painful process.

When zoas retract they can spit out water that you don't want in your eyes and messing with them will make them release their toxins. Many zoas are "harmless", but not all of them. I exclusively keep zoas, no palys, but Oceamo's Organo-MS analysis found palytoxin levels (very low, below anything that's dangerous, but it still shows that zoanthids can contain palytoxin).

Thanks for the warning (and wow... Jesus, I feel so sorry for the person that happened to).
I actually wore gloves when I introduced the coral to my tank, but my main reason was to avoid accidentally injuring the coral. (I also have very dry, sensitive skin, and even saltwater dries my hands out quite a bit.)

After reading your comment, though, I'll definitely be even more careful from now on and make sure to use proper eye protection as well.

Thanks again for the heads-up!

 

[EnterName]

The problem these days is everyone has been led to believe that "hitchhikers are bad" and "OMG you'd better get that out of the tank before it spreads".

They aren't anything to be worried about, there are multitudes of things that grow in a healthy reef tank, aren't the critters the whole premise of buying live rock? Leave them be and try not to obsess over them, enjoy the things that pop up and grow, that's what a reef tank is all about.

Please wear gloves and eye protection. Just a few months ago there was another palytoxin-related incident here in Germany where someone lost 65% of their eyesight/vision just from accidentally touching their eye after fragging zoanthids/palys in a very painful process.

When zoas retract they can spit out water that you don't want in your eyes and messing with them will make them release their toxins. Many zoas are "harmless", but not all of them. I exclusively keep zoas, no palys, but Oceamo's Organo-MS analysis found palytoxin levels (very low, below anything that's dangerous, but it still shows that zoanthids can contain palytoxin).

Thanks for the warning (and wow... Jesus, I feel so sorry for the person that happened to).
I actually wore gloves when I introduced the coral to my tank, but my main reason was to avoid accidentally injuring the coral. (I also have very dry, sensitive skin, and even saltwater dries my hands out quite a bit.)

After reading your comment, though, I'll definitely be even more careful from now on and make sure to use proper eye protection as well.

Thanks again for the heads-up!

These incidents are very rare. Zoas don't simply release large amounts of toxins on contact and it doesn't absorb well through the skin, but mucous membranes, wounds and eyes are of course more sensitive. Most people handle Zoas for years even with less careful measures and nothing happens, but it's always better to be safe than sorry.