Long established zoas disappearing, all other coral doing good

EricR · Apr 16, 2023

n2585722 said:
I had the same thing happen to mine and I have not tried them since. The first phot was not long after I got them. The second one was before they started to die off. I had not added anything else in a while except for a plug with some green Zoas which had disappeared not long after I got the first plug. You can see the green plug in the background on the second photo. It has been a few years so I might try them again. All the LPS coral I have have been doing good.

View attachment 3112097

View attachment 3112096

Are you saying you ended up losing ALL of the zoas covering that rock in the 2nd picture?
If so, that doesn't make me feel any better about my current situation.
*note -- I'm not the OP but having similar issue

n2585722 · Apr 16, 2023

EricR said:
Are you saying you ended up losing ALL of the zoas covering that rock in the 2nd picture?
If so, that doesn't make me feel any better about my current situation.
*note -- I'm not the OP but having similar issue

Yes, I did but my candy cane and Duncan are still growing well. I am not sure what it was since the fish I had at the I had for years and all were small since it is just a 42 gallon hex tank. I have been hesitant to try them again since those I had them for four years. They were growing like weeds and then all of a sudden stopped.

liddojunior · Apr 16, 2023

Would stirring up the sponges and other cryptic inhabitors in the sump cause some issues like this?
I’ve always wondered if the small sponges if eaten by zoas can be toxic internally for zoas

zoomonster · Apr 16, 2023

Seem's like you have several likely predator possibilities but I don't see disease considered. Zoa pox or other bacterial infection causing die off? Or algae growing on base of them? Don't see any indication but there's always everyone's favorite zoa eating sundial snails. If you can remove the rock(s), I would start with an iodine dip or peroxide then iodine if algae is present on stalks and at base. Just some thoughts but I'll have to agree the Foxface is the likely culprit in the absence of disease. I too have asterina but fortunately the ones I have are harmless and clean algae off rocks and glass.