Brown stuff killing my zoanthids - suggestions?

[kyley]

Hi All,
I've battled zoa nudis (successfully), zoa pox (mostly successfully), and now this brown gunk on my zoas - all my other corals do great in my tank - even SPS! Tank parameters are all great. Is this a fungus or something? Or maybe even a variant of the zoa pox? Any ideas what I can do to treat them? They're on large pieces of LR, not frag plugs, so I need to do something that wouldn't kill off other life on the rocks... Here's a pic:

Note, this was after a Furan-2 dip for the zoa pox; that's why they're all closed and you see little bits of yellow stuff on them (generally they're all open despite the gunk on them).

Tank is a 65g Red Sea Max 250 with T5 VHO lighting, 80 degrees, alk 9.5, ca 460, mg 1320, NH3, NO2, NO3, PO4 all 0, sg 1.026. Brown stuff is on several of my colonies on live rock (have had them all for most of the time I've had my tank - 7 months old). Additives are Alk, Ca dosing, Mg, occasional Strontium, and Special Blend (used to help get rid of cyano). Thanks in advance for any help!
--Kyle

 

[SeaSquirt05]

I would try and scrub that off with a tooth brush, its probably irritating the zoas and thats why they are not opening up. hope this helps.

 

[kyley]

They're opening up just fine - but this is eating away at them... They're only closed b/c that was right after a dip in Furan-2 for zoa pox. I'm afraid a toothbrush would be harsh and might cause more damage - but maybe a q-tip could help?

I'll probably try dipping them in Iodine and/or Coral RX and see if that helps. Thanks,
--Kyle

 

[SeaSquirt05]

You could try the q-tip, but I have brushed stuff off of my zoas with a tooth brush and they are fine. You just have to be gentel when you do it. Good luck.

 

[opiea1c]

I would probably try and remove them to some type of quarantine tank if possible, hate for it to spread or hibernate in that tank just for it to come back on them or another coral later

 

[MSA ALR]

The brown stuff is organic build up from the die off due to the the nudis and pox. Take a tooth brush to it and you should see positive results in a day or two. Also, increase the flow (maybe have a korallia pointing directly at it. You might have to do it again but as the zoas recover, the brown stuff should go away.

 

[GrendelPrime]

u can try a turkey baster and gently blow the gunk off and seei if that helps