my zoa's are sick

[wjguy]

some of my zoa's are not doing so hot. some of them on several different colonies are closed up and looks like some sort of algea is eating them, I dont have a camera to take pics. and I also have a ton of these tiny egg looking things all over my rocks and back glass, they look like tiny little fried eggs ( all white with a yellow yoke colored center. ) any help would be great. this is a new occurance and the only thing that I have changed is the addition of a remora protien skimmer.

 

[luisse25]

can u take out the colonies and brush off with new toothbrush the ones with algae...then give it a lugols dip or tmpcc...

 

[wjguy]

I did an iodine dip and a fresh water dip today waiting on results but I will try and brush them off as well.

Thank you

 

[snailcrazy]

Could be snail eggs. I've had those a few times

 

[wjguy]

im working on getting pics

 

[ReefMadness]

I had the same problem, the iodine seems to work good though

 

[ReefMadness]

yeah some pics would be cool. i would like to see if it is the same thing i have

 

[luisse25]

hi,is the eggs look like this?
i just caught my cleaner shrimp laying eggs on one of my zoa frag...
heres the best pic i can take..my tank is really full of coralline...
and my yellow coris wrasse and tailspot blenny are eating the eggs....

 

[wjguy]

 

[FreakinReefin]

Whoa...those really do look like fried eggs, gross. I have no idea and I hope you can get some help soon!

 

[snailcrazy]

I've had those in several tanks over the years. I'm almost certain they're snail eggs definately never effected my zoas

 

[mfinn]

The eggs are snail eggs. cerith??

Not going to bother zoanthids.
I would refrain from doing any more freshwater dips, unless you see zoanthid eating nudibranchs or sea-spiders.
That will only cause more stress on the zoanthids.
How old is your tank?
What kind of flow?
What kind of tests do you do and what results?

 

[akunochi]

My zoas look similar.
Here's my stats:

180 gal
7600ish GPH flow
3 months old

Tests:

Salinity 1.024-1.025
temp 78*F
PH 8.4
Ammonia: <5
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: <10
Alk 9.5
Cal: 430
Po4: 0

Zoas are located on the lowest rocks in my tank
medium flow (lowest area I can find)
lighting is 3 20K 250W bulbs

I'm just now recovering from some sort of Diatom/nitrate bloom/

 

[BCT182]

Like finn had asked, hows your water, and how old is the tank?

I may be wrong but it seems to me zoas dont like less than stellar h20 peramiters. When setting up tanks in the past I have rushed to add zoa's. They always seem to bleach out, close up, collect a browish red algae and shrink away to nothing.

I'm growing them well now but on a established system. I really avoided zoas entirely for a couple years becuase I didnt feel they were much of a beggingers coral as I had been told many times before.

 

[akunochi]

So it could just be my tank being too young in my case?

 

[ReefMadness]

yup, i have the same problem. do a iodINE dip(dilute a few drops in a cup of water and put in the frag for like 4-5 minutes) It will kill most every algae. as for the eggs, I dont think snails lay eggs, they are asexual.

 

[BCT182]

Yeah I would not dip those again...

 

[BCT182]

I dont know brotha. I wasnt trying to put anybody else down, just speaking from my experience... I think finn is the best guy to ask. I still want to see, but have not got to see, which I hear is wonderful..... (hint hint hint) finn tank, and I hear he's the zoo master.

So it could just be my tank being too young in my case?

 

[akunochi]

That's all I was lookin for was expereince bSED answers...

 

[mfinn]

So it could just be my tank being too young in my case?

I agree with BCT182, age of the tank, seems to be a factor as I'm going through a similar problem with some of my zoanthids.
I just setup my zoanthid tank and rushed to get stuff in it. Or rushed to get the stuff out of the another tank with a small problem.
Also low alk seems to be another area we ignore in softy/zoanthid tanks.


Oh, btw those are probally snail eggs.
They do lay eggs.


Every once in a while I get a colony that goes down like that and eventually algae will cover it. Sometimes just a really soft brush, like a worn out tooth brush used gently, then put in a area of more flow than they had.
Also people I know swear by the product ReVive Coral Cleaner from Two Little Fishes. Stuff smells like pinesol.
If you decide to do any more dips, which ReVive is or a Lugols dip DON'T do it in freshwater, unless you know for a fact that you have a zoanthid preditor.