Zoa's disapearing
 

Hello everyone,

I've finally experienced enough of this where small headed frags of Zoas just disappear.

the last straw was my two headed devils hornet frag I got from a fellow reefer in Vancouver and the next day... gone. I had a few single headed frags of the same thing, and all was open and happy - then the frag plug was empty one day, on the highest perch on the "thrive" product frag tree which is about 8 off the floor.

so obviously I'm thinking one of my fish or critters did it, below is a list of fish and shrimp - if anyone has had experience similar to this with any of these fish let me know, I'll have to keep my eye open on them:


yellow tang (first suspect, but never see him peck at stuff)
bi color blenny
starry blenny
ruby fairy wrasse
long fin fairy wrasse (second suspect I've seen him peck at deadlooking zoa heads)
cleaner wrasse (third suspect I've seen him peck at deadlooking zoa heads)
blue spotted goby
red scooter blenny
zeba demsel
blue / yellow demsel
two clown fish
fire fish (stays on opposite side of tank)

1 peppermint shrimp
1 blood fire red shrimp
2 skunk shrimp

blue legged hermit crabs (although to get up there would be a feat for them)
snails etc.

I wouldn't think it's any of those fish. I would bet that the suspect is amphipods. Happens to me alot when I don't have any predator wrasses. Wait an hour after lights go out and look at your zoas with a flashlight. I would almost guarantee that you have fat amphipods making a nice dinner out of your zoas. I lost many colonies this way until I figured out what it was. If you find that is the problem a melenarus wrasse or yellow corris wrasse is your best bet. Took care of my pod problem within a few days. Hope this helps.

You could be right - because we have noticed some HUGE pods in our tank - close to a 1/4" for some? and I agree.... no one really appears to be going after our stuff, and at night everyone hides.....

and I have noticed a few of our zoas having the skirts kind of withered (not happy looking)

I've actually had a pod or one of those transparent creatures bite me one time when handling a piece of rubble.

do those wrasse hunt at night? what about a mandrin?

Yea sure sounds like pods to me. 1/4" is huge, and once they are that big they will start to eat other things to. Iv had them destroy acan and ricordia colonies to. Mandarin isn't nearly aggressive enough to hunt and take care of your problem. The wrasses you have wont really touch them. You need a strong hunter wrasse. Most wrasses sleep at night, but the good hunters do enough damage to the pods during the day that slowly they take care of them. Id highly recommend melanarus or yellow corris.

here are some of the normal sized guys during the day behind a water filter in our 28 gallon nano - bigger ones in our 125 gallon

Hard to tell but I don't think those are amphipods. However if you have those that size in your tank you surely have massive pods as well.

I'll wait until a dead one is floating in the water and take a picture of it against a ruler :biggrin:

Could those be mysid shrimp?

That's my thinkin'

Nudis
 

I'd be checking for zoa eating nudibranches. Google it, and if you find they are the things eating them, use reefwars method of getting rid of them.

larger picture link to what look like shrimp:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/926miu6yil...465_n.jpg?dl=0

Yea i don't think those guys are your problem. However it is something eating your zoas. A wrasse would make quick work out of almost any pest problem.

I seen one of the shrimp looking guys around my Rasta zoas - when he left, the flesh of the zoas (night time so they were closed) had some white to it, not your typical grey looking. here are some night photos and video - hope the links work:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-e...203_232908.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-0...203_232902.jpg



VIDEO of one of the larger night crawlers (red in color):
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos?p...03999890701765

Yep those are amphipods just like I suspected. Now to get a fish that eats them.

the yellow wrasse you suggested would make a great addition!

Yea they are cheap and very effective. A melenarus is also very effective at hunting bugs.

Are those really harmful to zoas? I have these buggers all over the place, I thought they were harmless to corals..

They'll eat whatever they feel like

Hmm, what a good way to get rid of them? What fish should I be looking at getting? Wrasse of some sort? A sixlined wrasse might be to aggressive I think. Suggestions?

Have you even read this thread?? It says more than once lol

My Melanurus ate them all, but also wiped out my blue-legged hermits and mini brittle stars
All I can suggest is Google

:lol:

I read it, just looking for some more input...it is a forum haha

Im not looking to wipe out my hermit crabs so thanks for sharing, just making sure i make the right choice. Ive heard CBS hunt these little guys down but no real proof of it. Mandarin's were suggested also.

I'd think amphipods are much too big for mandarins to eat
Copepods and isopods yes, but not amphis

Research a Yellow Coris halichoeres chrysus, but not a yellow and purple halichoeres leucoxanthus

+1

The search continues! Thanks guys.

So let's hear from the OP ...

Any luck in your fish search kamloops reefer ?

I got a yellow coris wrasse, and a harlem shrimp

one to battle excessive pods
the other to battle the tiny stars
(although dependent on personality as always)

no zoas have been disappearing lately which is good

Great addition of the Coris :smile:
Is the harlequin for asternia stars ?

Let us know how things work out for you

yes sir! haven't noticed anything specific yet against them. however I have read that it could take a few months. this guy is quite tiny, unsure if they get much bigger? he's probably the size of a quarter?