Zoa Colony Melting

data_loss · Jan 5, 2013

My Orange Bam Bam colony has really taken a turn for the worse in the last week or two. Most of the colony has closed up and many of the polyps are melting a way. First they mushroom, then they spew white goo, then they completely melt. Some pictures are always fun right.

Here you can see how much of the colony is closed up. The closed up area is growing and very little of the colony even opens anymore.

Here is what they look like after they have mushroomed and white stuff starts coming out.

All other zoa's in the tank are doing better than ever right now. This colony has had this problem in the past but was really recovering lately till this started.

Tanks parameters are kept fairly steady at the following:

temp: 77.8-78.3
pH: 7.8 - 8.1
salinity: 1.026
alk: 8-9
calcium: 420
magnesium 1250-1350
nitrates 5-10
phosphates < .1

No lighting changes have happened lately. I'm pretty sure it isn't a pest of some sort. I'm thinking bacterial infection?

If this was a frag or small colony I'd just start a dipping regimen. Because this is a larger colony and the live rock is full of little critters I'm worried to just dip the whole rock and put it back in the main system. In the past I've seen a few polyps here and there on this colony doing this and always just left the colony alone because as a whole it seemed to grow faster than melt.

So right now my thoughts are setup a hospital tank. Place just this colony in the tank and treat with furan 2. I'm thinking since it is a hospital tank I can just treat the whole tank instead of doing a dip. The instructions on the box for the furan 2 is for treating fish but would it be safe to treat this colony the same way? I'd really like to see this colony recover again and finally kick this problem.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated

Sfgiants55 · Jan 5, 2013

I would do 3 straight furan 2 dips then let them rest for a week and if they still don't look better then maybe a couple dips in revive would help some.

data_loss · Jan 5, 2013

Sfgiants55 do you mean 3 dips in a row? 3 dips in 3 days? I'm worried about having a bunch of die off of little critters in the rock after dipping, do you think it is safe to put the whole colony back into the main system after a dip?

Just read this

Polyps should be dipped once a day for three consecutive days. After completion of the dipping process allow a 5 to 7 day resting period before dipping again, if symptom persist. If you notice any adverse affects as a result of the treatment, stop treatment immediately.

I'm sure that's what you mean. Still wondering if furan II causes any little critters to die off?

Sfgiants55 · Jan 5, 2013

Yea I meant 1 dip a day for 3 straight days and I would imagine that it would kill the critters but I'm not too sure. After the dip I would just have a bowl of tank water to soak the rock for 5 minutes to get some of the furan and possie dead critters off your rock.

Montrosereef · Jan 5, 2013

I only dip Coral RX pro when I see polyps closed up too long. They usually recover next day.
Also you need to control your nitrate and phosphate. It looks like they are covered with algae, which are zoa killer.

data_loss · Jan 5, 2013

Montrosereef said:
I only dip Coral RX pro when I see polyps closed up too long. They usually recover next day.
Also you need to control your nitrate and phosphate. It looks like they are covered with algae, which are zoa killer.

Do you usually dip Coral RX for melting as well? Nitrates and phosphates are monitored closely. Phosphates are almost always under .03 and checked with a Hanna checker. Nitrates hang out around 5 - 10, higher than I would like but not out of this world. The green you are seeing is cyano, it gets blown off regularly and hasn't caused any problems with any of my other zoas. I'm maturing an ATS right now and still trying to find a new system balance.

Thanks for the tips :tea:

Cherub · Jan 5, 2013

For the algae on your zoas I recommend a short dip in hydrogen peroxide. 50/50 with tank water. That kills the algae pretty quickly. I've had a lot of success in the past doing so. Also looking at your pics I noticed the tubes but no feathers. Might those be vermetid snails? If so they shoot out a webbing that irritates corals. I've lost sps and sensitive zoas/palys from these before i knew what they were. Some people break em off, others glue them shut. Either way they're a menace and should probably be taken care of.

Good luck with you bam bams! They look like a pretty sizable and probably breath taking colony.

data_loss · Jan 5, 2013

Denvercherub said:
For the algae on your zoas I recommend a short dip in hydrogen peroxide. 50/50 with tank water. That kills the algae pretty quickly. I've had a lot of success in the past doing so. Also looking at your pics I noticed the tubes but no feathers. Might those be vermetid snails? If so they shoot out a webbing that irritates corals. I've lost sps and sensitive zoas/palys from these before i knew what they were. Some people break em off, others glue them shut. Either way they're a menace and should probably be taken care of.

Good luck with you bam bams! They look like a pretty sizable and probably breath taking colony.

Yeah there are probably more than a few vermetid snails hanging around in the colony. It sounds like the colony has a few dips in its future, I'll make sure to take care of as many as I can while I have it out of the water, it's tough getting at them in the tank.

The algae blows off super easy and I usually do so regularly. Things normally look like these recent pictures in my build thread here:

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/member-tanks/102752-steves-little-corner-reef.html

Right now I really just want to try to stop the melting that is going on. I've read that when it spreads quickly through the entire colony like this it is usually a bacterial infection of some sort?

Thanks for the well wishes Denvercherub :tea:

wish · Jan 5, 2013

You might want to check out
CoralPedia.com! :: The definitive repository for named Corals!
hope you find it

wish · Jan 5, 2013

check out Gallery and hit
Album Zoanthid
Predators, Irrtators and Diseases

SamsReef · Jan 5, 2013

If you have already found any Zoa predators, treat for that...otherwise, Zoas die for the following reasons in this order:
- alkalinity swing
- temperature swing - leading to zoa pox
- high phosphate which will also show up on their body with algae
- zero iodine (this is debatable but in my experience it helps Zoas)
- Low Mag
- last thing to check is ULNS...Zoas need more nutrient than other corals...not dirty water but more nutrient...try AA only after making sure above points

best of luck
Sam