All corals closed after addition of zoo frag.

[marcingo]

I seem to have a problem. About 1 hr ago I added a rock full of big brown zoos into my 10 gal tank. It seems that since I have added it all the other zoos in the tank and the mushrooms have closed up. Not one polyp is open in the entire tank except for the brown zoos. There are two other frags of large zoos in the tank brown paly and a green paly that are open and seem to be fine but like I said all others are closed. Could the brown ones be poisoning the other zoos?

Also I have false perc in there that seem fine.

[kwirky]

Your corals are probably getting used to them. Give them till tomorrow afternoon, and if it doesn't improve, do a water change? I wouldn't go bonkers though after an hour. It's probably something off the rock if anything.

[Murminator]

Just a little update he PMed me this morning say everthing was still closed up except the zoos and his fish were dead :eek: not sure how many it was. I thought that I have had enough experience with zoos that the would never kill fish maybe I'm wrong.
I think most people in Edmonton have seen the rock of zoos I'm talking about it has made it to a couple of frag parties were I would butcher it up and take it back home and throw back in my 20gal with no problems.
I just wanna know if anyone else has had similar problems cause I feel real bad if the zoos contributed to the death of his fish. :cry: I never would have thought it would be an issue, they have just been moved from my 90 to a 29g holding last week when i posted them. I suggested to him a big water change like 50%. His tank isn't very old i wonder if it was too much at once the rock have to have at least 150 big polyps.
Any idears???

[michika]

I'm thinking that there might be more factors then just the addition of the zoos.

1) Test the water, do tests before and after a big water change.
2) As gross as it is, are there any marks, open wounds, etc. on the perc? How fast did it happen?
3) Start keeping a log of your tank. Use a notebook or an excel sheet. Keep track of at least the following: date, time in day, temp SG, pH, Nitrite, Nitrate, Ammonia. Make a note everytime to add something so you can track its impact on your system.

I'm really sorry about your system!

[kwirky]

holy cow! 150 polyps? that's why lol. in his little 10 gallon tank that's like stacking a semi on a volkswagon! It can be done, but very carefully, and the volkswagon's gonna get hurt.

I thought he meant it was a little thing, like 5" across or so. I know what kind of rocks you mean now because I was plannong on getting one for my 120 gallon setup and was thinking cautiously about the large biomass addition. I think it was just the fact of adding something so large into his 10 gallon tank. and the 50% water change could have caused problems too if the water parameters weren't EXACTLY correct. I had an 18 gallon nano with 18 gallons sump space and it was VERY finicky for water quality because of the tiny size.

I think it was just WAY too much added at once.

[marcingo]

I have that you are right murminator it may have been just too many zoos added at once. The fish have no marks or anything out of the ordinary on them michika. Also I had tested the water yesterday before addition and everything was zero even nitrates.

One thing I found very odd is that the zoos in question on the rock were still open and had no problem with the water quality. Also a week ago I recieved 2 frags of green paly and some large brown zoos (they looked different than yesterdays additions) Anyway both these zoos were fully opened yesterday and this morning and seemed to have no problems. I also tested for ammonia today and considering two dead fish were lying in the tank overnight it wasnt so high 0.5.

Also another interesting thing is that yesterday when the zoos were added everything closed up almost within 5 mins. Every single frag of zoos in the tank as well as mushrooms closed up not one polyp stayed open. I guess that was a sign I should take it out.

Anyway if stuff like this didnt happen we wouldnt know as much as we do about the hobby.

Do you guys recommend I move all the corals to an established tank or try to get credit at an lfs. Then drain the entire tank and start all over again? Or should I keep up with the large water changes and see if things improve. I just dont want all these corals to die if things dont improve. They have only been closed up one night so they might still be ok. Correct?

[marcingo]

The 50% water change was done after the fact. This morning I did the 50% after everything had died. But I think it may have been the big bioload on the system.

[michika]

Its your choice as to how you want to proceed.

Is your system just the 10g display, or do you also have a sump/fuge? Skimmer?

[Murminator]

Hey Marcin I can trade you back the rock or you can take it to the LFS or another member and get something a bit smaller whatever works for you.

[Xtasia]

Check for Copper.

[marcingo]

Its your choice as to how you want to proceed.

Is your system just the 10g display, or do you also have a sump/fuge? Skimmer?


Its just the 10 gallon display I dont have anything else.

[christyf5]

Did the zoos release any stringy mucous into the water after the addition? Could be the chemical warfare took the fish out.:neutral:

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Perhaps you can use a synthetic activated carbon. Just my two cents' worth. Might remove any copper or other heavy metals.

[michika]

Maybe at this point the best idea would be to remove the zoo rock you added, and see what happens to your tank.

I would probably recommend leaving the tank alone for a week, test continually and see what happens to your water parameters. Assuming everything is fine, you could probably try and add a few cleaning crew members, and slowly build up to adding fish again.

[marcingo]

When I put the zoos in the tank they had mucous on them that came off and dissolved.

I did remove the zoo rock today right after I noticed everything. I then did some water changes and it seemed that the bristle worms started to move a little off the sand and some went back into the rocks. I am moving all corals to an established tank and recycling as I feel this is the best option. If anyone thinks this is not a good way to do it let me know.

[kellehar]

I got the same zoos from murray last night with no i'll effects. so I would have to agree with the to many zoos for the tank size theory. By the way murray thanks everything looks great even the ricordia.

Justin

[marcingo]

Yeah I think thats what it was.

On a side note making a mistake in this hobby sure is costly lol.

[Reefhawk1]

The mucus the Zoas produce is a toxin. They will produce this when moved or agitated. 10 gallons of water volume probably wasn't enough to dilute the toxin to a minimum effect.