Pin point Ph & zoo issues

[danny zubot]

I have two problems right now.

-The first is that my favorite blue zoos have 95% dissappeared! I don't know why because all of the other zoos in the tank are fine. I've ruled out predators because the colony sits right beside another type that are thriving, and I find it hard to believe that a predator would be picky about the color of zoo they would eat. Am I wrong?

-The other issue is with my Pin point PH monitor. PH read 8.42 on average about a week ago. Bought some calibration solution and tried to adjusted it, I got it as close as I could, then my PH read 7.98. Out of curiosilty I got a different kind of calibration solution from a friend and re-tested last night. It was way different and after getting it as close as I could my PH now read 7.67. I did the ol' lick test on the battery, lots of juice left.

Is my probe worn out? Its about 1.5 years old now. Also, I leave the probe in the sump and only turn on the monitor when needed.

[Xtasia]

" -The first is that my favorite blue zoos have 95% dissappeared! I don't know why because all of the other zoos in the tank are fine. I've ruled out predators because the colony sits right beside another type that are thriving, and I find it hard to believe that a predator would be picky about the color of zoo they would eat. Am I wrong?"


- they can be... I've noticed predators to prefer color as have another zoo owners. but I wouldn't blame it on that, yet.. not when there are other more likely reasons. Doesn't hurt to check for snails tho.
- Could be lighting. Some zoos prefer high light, some do better with lower light. Have you moved them recently?
- Any slime? Any soft zoos?
- Are they disappearing at random locations, all at once or from one side to the other?
-I'd recommend fragging 2 frags now if you can.. one you give to a friend after you've zoo dipped it... and one you put in another location... Leave the colony where it is and hope it survives.
- Are there any other corals touching it, LPS, leather?
- Are there any feather dusters, spaghetti or bristle arounds irritating them?
- Any aptasia or Mojano stinging them?

[danny zubot]

Hmmm, haven't noticed any slime. Whole polyps are just gone, there might be 10-12 of 100 left, and they aren't fraggable where I have them sitting. I did just get a new reflector recently that sheds more light on them, could that be it? They aren't any other corals close by to irritate them, but I noticed last night that brittle stars sometimes hang out on the various other zoo colonies. To brittle stars eat zoos?

[Skimmerking]

Danny you were saying that your Ph probe is 1.5 years old What I would do is get another probe. My self i use the hand held HANNA ones with the PH and the Temp they arre great and the probe lasts along time.

[Joe Reefer]

I would say get a new probe, when calibrating becomes difficult they are ussually shot. I lost my favorite blue zoos a while ago, very frustrating I feel your pain.

[danny zubot]

I will most likely order a new probe today. 50+ dollars ouch!

There are still a half dozen blue zoos left so hopefully they make a come back. I forgot to mension that after I re-arranged the tank I ended up with a smaller colony of blue zoos in a different area, they are gone too! I con't help but wonder if my PH issues had something to do with that? Time for a big water change I guess.

[Xtasia]

Zoos are pretty tough..

Are you sure there no possible irritents? Some starfish in the asterina family eat zoos... even things like spaghetti worms etc eat zoos.. .How long have you had them in the tank? Are they soft at all? like.. mashed potatoes, jujubes or hard nipples?

yes I said nipples..

[GMGQ]

Shine a bright LED flashlight on them at night when they're closed up. Move the light around for several minutes to check out every nook and cranny.

Zoo eating nudi's are a high probability. I just lost a whack of zoos to them. They're recovering now, but I still see a nudi here and there.
You just have to be patient and look really hard.

[danny zubot]

I haven't noticed any kind of predator. I haven't really added anything to the tank for it to hitch hike on, unless it was stuck to my new fish? Some of the zoos are alive but have been closed up for 4-5 days now. I can only hope that they come back eventually.

As for the pin point issues, I ordered another probe and will post my results as soon as I get it.

thanks for everyones help!

[Skimmerking]

results as doon as I get it.

thanks for everyones help!
Danny what is DOON :lol:

sorry man its friday morning just having some fun with ya :wink:

[Joe Reefer]

Get back to work Mike.:mrgreen:

[Xtasia]

I was thinking about it last night and I think you should consider doing a reef dip on the zoos. It should help with bacterial and predator issues.

If your PH was out of wack your other corals would be feeling it before your zoos. Are your other Corals looking poor?

What fish do you have? Any Moorish angels?

You still haven't answered my questions... If you want help, could you read my posts and reply.

[danny zubot]

Hey Xtasia, sorry, I thought I had answered them. :biggrin:

Lets see.....

-I haven't been able to spot anything in or around the zoo colony accept that brittle star the one day.
-Thee are a few polyps left that are more like hard nipples, I think they are the ones that will recover. There may have been a few polyps that looked a bit mushy, but the rest of the colony is simply gone!
-My other corals are fine if only a bit faded. For the past couple of weeks I've bee ntrying to bring my CA and Alk levels up from when I was on vacation. Dosing quite heavily.
-Zoos are 2.5 year old by now.
-Fish include, 1 Bi color angel, 2 O. Percs, 1 Regal tang, 1 Red cheek anthis, 1 six line wrasse, 1 YWG, 1 masked rabbit fish.
-other, zebra (fighting) conch, brown, blue legged hermits, Cerith, Nerite, Turbo, snails, Olive snail (live under sandbed)

I think thats all, did I miss anything?

I can't dip this rock without ripping appart the whole tank, see pic below. Blue zoos in question are bottom right, which are 95% gone, but the colony left of them on the same rock is thriving.
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f343/3214dannyzubot/IMGP0637.jpg

[danny zubot]

Got my new PH probe yesterday. Calibrated it with my friend's coralife solution 7.0 and 10.0. It still read 7.45! Something must be wrong with the solution because my corals aren't showing the stress that would be affiliated with that reading. Going to try and find some other PH solution today. Anyone know if Gold's sells it?

[Joe Reefer]

Do you have an old school test kit to compare to.

[danny zubot]

Nope, threw it out a long time ago. I brought it with me so I'm going to test Gold's water to compare to mine, if they let me.

[danny zubot]

So Gold's water tested the same as mine. At least mine is in the correct range, but now I need to find an accurate test solution to calibrate my probe.

[danny zubot]

Well the blue zoo colony has been gone for some time now, but good news! I found one lonely blue polyp in the area where they used to be. Could we be looking at a come-back?:biggrin: