Zoa Disease?

Bradlas

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Hi all, I recently got a frag of zoas and they were great for about 2 weeks. Fast forward another two weeks and they now seem to have this fine grain like sand on their soft tissue (pictures below). I have tried to scrub it a little and it's quite hard. They have been closed for about two weeks now. The other zoas in my tank look great. I have tried to treat with sea chem iodine 3 times in the last week but I don't believe it's helped. If anyone has ideas on what this might be I'd appreciate the input. Thanks!

20201115_161858.jpg
 

PicassoClown04

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Hi, are these zoas or palys? One of the main differences between zoas and palys is that palys use the substrate to create a casing around their stems. If you have them sitting in sugar fine sand, I’m betting they’re palys and just doing what they do :)
 

Everything Aquatics

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Hi, are these zoas or palys? One of the main differences between zoas and palys is that palys use the substrate to create a casing around their stems. If you have them sitting in sugar fine sand, I’m betting they’re palys and just doing what they do :)
Mine do that sometimes
 

Tankkeepers

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Hi, are these zoas or palys? One of the main differences between zoas and palys is that palys use the substrate to create a casing around their stems. If you have them sitting in sugar fine sand, I’m betting they’re palys and just doing what they do :)
Really
I have not read this anywhere

I'm new to softy came from lps and sps mixed

IV got a few palys none in sand tho and this is very interesting
That they are so closely related but act so diffrent heck even from one color to another

What exactly makes on a zoa or paly and other then a micro scope is there any other way to truly tell

I ask cuz iv got 2 that I bought as zoas but they have gotten as big as the palys I have which makes me question which they truly are

Thank you for your time and I learn somthing new everyday
 

PicassoClown04

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Really
I have not read this anywhere

I'm new to softy came from lps and sps mixed

IV got a few palys none in sand tho and this is very interesting
That they are so closely related but act so diffrent heck even from one color to another

What exactly makes on a zoa or paly and other then a micro scope is there any other way to truly tell

I ask cuz iv got 2 that I bought as zoas but they have gotten as big as the palys I have which makes me question which they truly are

Thank you for your time and I learn somthing new everyday
Hi! Yes there are a few ways.
The biggest difference is the use of substrate in the stems. Palys do this (sometimes) and zoas will never do it. This is 100% the best way to ID zoa vs paly as the rest of these differences have exceptions. Examples of the sand in the tissues.
666FBDFF-0F44-4211-9CB8-0348DD45E448.jpeg
50C90C4A-3077-499D-80D3-EC19B04D859F.jpeg
A5F73950-A20A-4192-9ABC-88CFF6A91FA7.jpeg


Palys have a line for a mouth, and zoas have a small dot/dash. Examples below :)

Red people eater paly
FD4CB8AB-9180-4BB8-8086-37A5F8FAE6CA.jpeg


atomic bloodshot zoa
1ED857E0-23B5-46D4-98B7-94BDA957CE9E.jpeg


Palys also usually get quite a bit bigger and tend to be less colorful/bright as zoas. Some palys are quite bright, but usually lack the patterning of a zoa. The red people eaters above are a bright paly, but they lack pattern. The atomic bloodshot is both brightly colored and has a nice pattern.
 

Tankkeepers

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Hi! Yes there are a few ways.
The biggest difference is the use of substrate in the stems. Palys do this (sometimes) and zoas will never do it. This is 100% the best way to ID zoa vs paly as the rest of these differences have exceptions. Examples of the sand in the tissues.
666FBDFF-0F44-4211-9CB8-0348DD45E448.jpeg
50C90C4A-3077-499D-80D3-EC19B04D859F.jpeg
A5F73950-A20A-4192-9ABC-88CFF6A91FA7.jpeg


Palys have a line for a mouth, and zoas have a small dot/dash. Examples below :)

Red people eater paly
FD4CB8AB-9180-4BB8-8086-37A5F8FAE6CA.jpeg


atomic bloodshot zoa
1ED857E0-23B5-46D4-98B7-94BDA957CE9E.jpeg


Palys also usually get quite a bit bigger and tend to be less colorful/bright as zoas. Some palys are quite bright, but usually lack the patterning of a zoa. The red people eaters above are a bright paly, but they lack pattern. The atomic bloodshot is both brightly colored and has a nice pattern.


Thats some real good info right there thank you so much for your time
 

PicassoClown04

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Thats some real good info right there thank you so much for your time
It's no problem! I usually try to figure out whats a zoa vs a paly because I find that palys tend to get bigger and grow faster. I'm not sure if this is a universal thing since I've only got my three tanks, but it seems to be a pretty common conclusion that nuclear green palys are very fast spreaders and can easily be classified as invasive. Knowing what's a paly and what's a zoa helps me properly place and space them to get the desired result. Happy reefing!
 

Tankkeepers

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Only sporadic growing one I have is the pink Mohawks thise are definatly palys the rest are growing as clusters and some I bought as palys some as zoas I just made sure at least 3 invhes between each if the colonys to give them room to spread but ya ine could also consider the Mohawks as invasive but no where near the yellow polyps that came as a hitch hivker those were like aptasia lol
 

zoaprince

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Hi! Yes there are a few ways.
The biggest difference is the use of substrate in the stems. Palys do this (sometimes) and zoas will never do it. This is 100% the best way to ID zoa vs paly as the rest of these differences have exceptions. Examples of the sand in the tissues.
666FBDFF-0F44-4211-9CB8-0348DD45E448.jpeg
50C90C4A-3077-499D-80D3-EC19B04D859F.jpeg
A5F73950-A20A-4192-9ABC-88CFF6A91FA7.jpeg


Palys have a line for a mouth, and zoas have a small dot/dash. Examples below :)

Red people eater paly
FD4CB8AB-9180-4BB8-8086-37A5F8FAE6CA.jpeg


atomic bloodshot zoa
1ED857E0-23B5-46D4-98B7-94BDA957CE9E.jpeg


Palys also usually get quite a bit bigger and tend to be less colorful/bright as zoas. Some palys are quite bright, but usually lack the patterning of a zoa. The red people eaters above are a bright paly, but they lack pattern. The atomic bloodshot is both brightly colored and has a nice pattern.
I agree with the substrate part but not with the mouth part.

I don't think the mouths are different enough to distinguish. They both have lines for mouths. I mean, you said it yourself one has a "line" and the other has a "dash". That's the same thing...
 
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Bradlas

Bradlas

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Hi, are these zoas or palys? One of the main differences between zoas and palys is that palys use the substrate to create a casing around their stems. If you have them sitting in sugar fine sand, I’m betting they’re palys and just doing what they do :)
Hi, sorry it took me a while to respond. They are definitely Palys but I really don't have fine sand
Hi, are these zoas or palys? One of the main differences between zoas and palys is that palys use the substrate to create a casing around their stems. If you have them sitting in sugar fine sand, I’m betting they’re palys and just doing what they do :)
 
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Bradlas

Bradlas

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Anyone have any ideas what might be wrong? They have been closed for like 3 weeks now with no sign of tissue death, they just seem to be closed.
 

PicassoClown04

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Anyone have any ideas what might be wrong? They have been closed for like 3 weeks now with no sign of tissue death, they just seem to be closed.
3 weeks now? Try a hydrogen peroxide dip to check for pests and kill any algae that may be annoying the polyps.
 

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