PLEASE help!!! Mystery killer.

[SanguinesDream]

My Sunny Ds have gone from this



To this



Within 24 hours.



I received some new frags that were pretty much frozen upon arrival, panicked and did not drip acclimate them or dip them. I know.

The sps slimed and I ran carbon but the bag burst and I had free floating carbon in my tank. More panic, cleaning out filter, skimmer, spray bar, power heads. RTS on 3 of the sps and gone within 24 hours, 3 more are clinging to life.

Tested parameters to make sure that there wasn't a nutrient spike and PO4, NO3, undetectable, dKh 12, temp 82, salinity 1.022.

This morning, my Sunny Ds started shriveling and closing. I frantically remembered that I didn't dip and took all the zoas out and dipped them.

Should I try and salvage the polyps I can and frag them or are they all hooped? None of the other new zoa frags have opened up either but it has only been 36 hours.

My head isn't on straight and I am doing more damage than good at this point. Please help! Your expertise is welcome and so desperately needed.

[The Grizz]

Could be just a reaction to the SPS slime & the carbon issue, just watch them for a day or 2, look for any pests on them.

[SanguinesDream]

Originally Posted by The Grizz

Could be just a reaction to the SPS slime & the carbon issue, just watch them for a day or 2, look for any pests on them.

Thank you for your reply.

What would I be looking for? Should I dip them again?

[The Grizz]

Mostly zoa eating nudis would be what id be on the look out for, wait it out for one more day then maybe a quick dip in revive or rx.

[Acrowhora]

Or take a closer look,and if you see any Zoa eating Nudis,remove them manually and then dip.

[intarsiabox]

A couple years back I took some zoas out on a frag plug while I was switching tanks and forgot about them. They sat on a counter with no water for 2 days and looked just like yours do right now. I put them back in the tank and within a couple of days they came out again. If you don't see anything on them they may very well just be reacting to a change in the tank, they can be pretty tough.

[Wheelman76]

Originally Posted by The Grizz

Could be just a reaction to the SPS slime & the carbon issue, just watch them for a day or 2, look for any pests on them.

+1

[SanguinesDream]

Whew! Thankfully it reopened, but not to its former brilliance.

Now, how long do you keep zoas in hopes that they will open, before you give up on thrm? Some look like they are going to melt away whereas some look like they are going to shed a layer and possibly open. I just don't want a nutrient spike if I can help it.

[denny_C]

Originally Posted by SanguinesDream

Whew! Thankfully it reopened, but not to its former brilliance.

Now, how long do you keep zoas in hopes that they will open, before you give up on thrm? Some look like they are going to melt away whereas some look like they are going to shed a layer and possibly open. I just don't want a nutrient spike if I can help it.

could be weeks , they will melt melt very fast if they have a bacterial infection , a good sign is it will look like a polyp has its outer layer of skin inflated so it appears the polyp is in a balloon.

also any white films,brown films are good signs of bacterial problems as well as " falling apart" from the substrate they are on.

shedding is common and easily gets mistaken for bacterial infections.

if its shedding then a quick turkey baste will fix it , if its an infection then youll want to dip in an anti bacterial , i prefer furan 2 for this dip.


good luck

[Poseidons Reef]

Originally Posted by SanguinesDream

Whew! Thankfully it reopened, but not to its former brilliance.

Now, how long do you keep zoas in hopes that they will open, before you give up on thrm? Some look like they are going to melt away whereas some look like they are going to shed a layer and possibly open. I just don't want a nutrient spike if I can help it.

I had a Dino issue for 3 months in my frag tank, one entire Zoa colony was closed the entire time ( Dino's do that >. )
But after they went away the zoas ALL opened back up, a bit lack luster for color but that's coming back as well.

But in regards to your first post
Something to watch for is Astraea star fish ( the wee tiny ones)

Some eat zoas, some don't.
I have both, most will completely ignore them, while others go right to them and start chomping down on them.