zoanthids, (button ployps dying) NEED HELP!

[saltwater84]

hi guys, I don't know why my orange plyops are dying, I got a couple kinds of plyop in my tank but they seems to be doing fine. I don't know, but when I look closely on the rock where the ploys is on, I saw a tiny red worm that looks like millipile( lots of tiny legs) on one of the dead ployp. Are those the killer? Oh, it seems like there are fungus on the dead ployps as well. Help!

In my tank i have:
-cleaner shrimp
-fire shrimp
- 8 red legs hermit crabs
- 1 clark clownfish
- 2 turbo snail
- 1 tiger cowie snail

 

[Lorna]

Can you take a picture? It is hard to tell without looking at it

 

[darkfishy2690]

CAn you give water parameters, lighting. Sometimes shrimp eat the polyps I think. Also the worm could be a nudi which I would take out since many eat coral. It could also be a fireworm or something?

 

[TRe]

sounds like a zoo eating nudibranch.... if this is the case youll prolly want to do a series of fresh water dips.... just do a google search

 

[saltwater84]

what is a zoo eating nudibranch? Doing a series of freshwater dip? How?

 

[saltwater84]

Yea, Tre, I guess you are right. I have like dozen of those nudibranch in my tank, I never had them before, I must have gotten them from a rock I bought a while ago. They look like this. http://www.seaslugforum.net/images/stroud101.jpg

I alway see these guys around my zoos rock, I thought they were just snails, harmless. I also spotted a bristle worm on one of the dying zoo ployp.

 

[saltwater84]

Today I woke up and look at my zoo rock a couple of ployp was gone, something is definetly eating it at night. Could it be my cowie tiger snail aong with the nudibranchs and hermits crabs??? HELP!!

 

[CoolWaters]

Today I woke up and look at my zoo rock a couple of ployp was gone, something is definetly eating it at night. Could it be my cowie tiger snail aong with the nudibranchs and hermits crabs??? HELP!!

You should really QT them...

if u think its your livestock then try to divide them (with a breeder box or net) and see wat happens.

 

[saltwater84]

how are you suppose to qt corals? Any info on that?

 

[saltwater84]

i did a series of freshwater dips on the colony that is very affective, still doesn't help. I always see the hermits crab on the dead ones, I took the majority of the nudybranchs out( everysingle one that i see), but haven't yet sperate the hermit crabs because I can't find all of them, have to tear my rock apart. My green ployps on the top seems to be untouched, only the bottom ployps on near the sand bed is dying, one by one. I don't know what else to do. When they dying, they just seem to close up and never reopen. I will try and take a picture.

I keep thinking it the hermit crab, I think mine are the red legs scarlet hermit.

 

[TRe]

the hermits are scavengers and just eating them cause there dead/dying.... once you seperate the crabs and give the zoos a bit to get back on there feet everything should be fine...what all is in this tank????? corals,fish,ect...

 

[Joe Fish]

Some people will QT corals just like fish. This way you can observe hitchhikers on the frags. Just recently I got a small sea star and it kind of looks like a green one, but it's hard to tell. I'm glad it didn't get into my tank. Good luck catching the nudis.

 

[saltwater84]

Do you guys think the nudybranchs are to be blamed for it?

In my tank I have:
8 hermits crabs,
2 false percula clown, 1 clark clownfish
about 30lbs-40lbs lr
-torch coral
-1 brain coral
-1 corsea clam
-2 star ployps coral
-3 kinds of zoanthids

 

[Joe Fish]

I would have to think so. Like Tre said the hermits are only going after the already dead stuff. Do you have any of those corals real close the the buttons in question?

 

[ram man]

I would need pics to id the cause, but it could be a number of things, you mentioned fungus, this is a common killer of zoanthids and can be easily treated, you also said they were disapearing, your clean up crew might be eating the sick and dead polyps. I would realy need pics to id the cause, im sure you would have seen the nudibranch when you turn the lights on in the mourning if there was one. The long thing with legs sounds like a bristle worm, common hitchhicker that is eating the dead zoas most likely.

edit: i just saw the word snails mentioned, what do these snails look like? this could be why your zoas are disapearing.

 

[aresgod]

for now...lots of flow...maybe a good scrub with a toothbrush to get the "fungus" off.

 

[saltwater84]

hey guys thanks for all your inputs, I appreciated it. Sometimes I do see nudibranch crawling on top of the colony, but it didn't see like they weren't eating the ployps. Like some one metion earlier, I think the cause is fungus because one of my button plopys colony has been disappearing before I got my cowie tiger snail. I will post a picture tomorrow asap I get my new digital camera.

oh, forgot to metion the snails I have in my tank.
3 turbo snails and a cowie tiger snail.

Brushing the ployps with a toothbrush for fungus, does that damage the ployps?

 

[saltwater84]

Anybody knows where I can find some Lugol's Iodine?

 

[TRe]

a few of the guys i met through my local reef club say they always dip there corals when they first bring them home to asure nothing like this happens....

btw i know its off topic but what light did you end up going with saltwater84?

 

[eva]

dip as in a fresh water dip tre? and how for long do they dip for?