Zoa colony closed up

[Coqui906]

Hey everyone, had a question hopefully some of you can assist with. Had a zoa colony close up on me about six(6) days ago and they haven't reopened. They were happy, colorful and wide open then they seemed to get upset from one day to another. All other zoas are open and good, this one colony is just not happy.
I have a 65 gal tank and have had no issues with levels except a slight phosphate/amonia spike from a crab dying (which was removed and did a 20 gal WC). Levels then came back down. Here are my levels for the past two weeks. Also attached are what the zoas looked like when open vs closed. The only change has been moving them to a corner of the tank yesterday, but they've already been closed for a few days already. Again everyone else in the tank are happy and open. Thanks for reading and any advice. Wash your hands and happy reefing lol.

Phosphate 0.09
Salinity 32.8
Alkalinity 2.6/7.3
pH 8
Ammonia 0.2
Nitrite 0.75
Nitrate 10

Phosphate 0.15
Salinity 1.024
pH 8
Ammonia 0.2
Alkalinity 2.5/7
Nitrite 0.75
Nitrate 10

Phosphate 0.19
pH 8
Alkalinity 2.6/7.3
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0.4
Nitrate 10

Phosphate 0.05
pH 8
Alkalinity 2.6/7.3
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0.3
Nitrate 10

 

[Big G]

Bump

 

[Coqui906]

Bump

Thanks for the bump Big G.

 

[Coqui906]

Bump, still closed up.

 

[TriggerFinger]

Have you ever dipped them for pests?

 

[Coqui906]

Have you ever dipped them for pests?

Yes. Used coral Rx before placing in tank as well as yesterday to be safe.

 

[TriggerFinger]

Have you moved them since they were opened last? Maybe they don’t like the current location bc of light or flow or nearby coral?

Yes. Used coral Rx before placing in tank as well as yesterday to be safe.

 

[Coqui906]

Have you moved them since they were opened last? Maybe they don’t like the current location bc of light or flow or nearby coral?

They were fine the past few months. I moved them a few days after they closed up.

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

Do you have asterina starfish? I had a colony do this because the little morons only wanted to eat that one certain type of zoa.

 

[Coqui906]

Do you have asterina starfish? I had a colony do this because the little morons only wanted to eat that one certain type of zoa.

No starfish, just 2 clowns and a yellow tang.

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

No starfish, just 2 clowns and a yellow tang.

Did you try moving them higher in the tank? I’ve got a small 32 gallon biocube but in my old 29 nano I had some close up that were midway up the aquascape. I glued them to the back wall about 4” beneath the lights and they took off

 

[Coqui906]

Did you try moving them higher in the tank? I’ve got a small 32 gallon biocube but in my old 29 nano I had some close up that were midway up the aquascape. I glued them to the back wall about 4” beneath the lights and they took off

Yup. Moved them to a higher flow corner for a few days with no improvement. Then placed them midway up the tank, but no improvement either. Tried dipping in Coral rx, but nada.

 

[Zoa_Fanatic]

Yup. Moved them to a higher flow corner for a few days with no improvement. Then placed them midway up the tank, but no improvement either. Tried dipping in Coral rx, but nada.

Well. I don’t know then. They may just be acting strange man. Coral can be super hardy though. Like I straight up killed some candy canes a while back and they’re regrowing now. Unless they start melting or just die off completely they may end up being ok.

 

[Coqui906]

Well. I don’t know then. They may just be acting strange man. Coral can be super hardy though. Like I straight up killed some candy canes a while back and they’re regrowing now. Unless they start melting or just die off completely they may end up being ok.

Thanks for replying and trying to help. I honestly appreciate it.

 

[littlebigreef]

They're obviously a little melty. My guess would be a bacterial issue. When zoas start to look like that a round of furan-2 dips pair with a lugol's bath afterwards is generally your best bet to bring them back around. Earlier intervention generally yields better results. Those might be too far gone to save.

 

[Oscar47f]

+1 on littlebigreef, you could also try a chemiclean treatment. Other than that furan-2 and lugols would be the other option

 

[littlebigreef]

I haven't used Chemiclean but I hear that's also an effective treatment.

 

[Daniel@R2R]

I was wondering if perhaps it's an iodine issue? #Zoaexperts

 

[littlebigreef]

I was wondering if perhaps it's an iodine issue? #Zoaexperts

no, it you look at what’s going on you see the discolored polyp where it’s closed and the stubby appearance of the polyps. Not all zoa melting is the same... this is more of a jellying that sometimes occurs. I don’t pretend to be scientifically trained but I have dealt with this time and again. I believe it to be a bacterial infection that causes this and it can arise out of no where. The best treatment I’ve found is the combo furan-2 / lugol dips. However, I’ve heard of people having equally good success with Chemiclean as well. Early intervention is key. Depending on the strain I’ll either 1) cut the mat between affected and affected zoas or 2) triage by removing the affected polyps and treating the remaining ones. I also generally move it to lower light and higher flow. Unfortunately the OP’s colony appears to be completely compromised, I’m sorry to say there’s not much IMO that can be done to turn that around.

 

[Coqui906]

no, it you look at what’s going on you see the discolored polyp where it’s closed and the stubby appearance of the polyps. Not all zoa melting is the same... this is more of a jellying that sometimes occurs. I don’t pretend to be scientifically trained but I have dealt with this time and again. I believe it to be a bacterial infection that causes this and it can arise out of no where. The best treatment I’ve found is the combo furan-2 / lugol dips. However, I’ve heard of people having equally good success with Chemiclean as well. Early intervention is key. Depending on the strain I’ll either 1) cut the mat between affected and affected zoas or 2) triage by removing the affected polyps and treating the remaining ones. I also generally move it to lower light and higher flow. Unfortunately the OP’s colony appears to be completely compromised, I’m sorry to say there’s not much IMO that can be done to turn that around.

Thanks for all the knowledge @littlebigreef. It's unfortunate to have learned it late, but at least I know it now and know what to look for in the future. On the bright side, that just means a spot opened up in my tank for something new (after waiting a few weeks to make sure everything else is ok) lol.