RIP Zoos

[JeepersReefers]

RIP Zoos.
My goal of a well stocked ZOo and LPS tank are all but done.
For the last month the Zoo colonies have been in decline. Colony death has been totally random and extremely rapid. A healthy looking zoo rock will have one or two closed up and by the end of the week the they will all be gone(50 or so zoos). I have spent many hours in the dark before work looking for any kind of predator, without any luck. There is no sign of disease, no spots or slime on them. They just disappear and I never see any dead zoos in the sand.
What really has me confused is that the decline is not uniform amongst all Zoos, other softies or LPS. One random colonies will close up and die within a week. Frogspawn, hammer, torch and the other 2 LPS are all growing fast and looking full and healthy. Xenia and ricordia are also unaffected.

Ill post some pics when I get home from work.

• Lights are 2mo old
• Temp 80f
• SG 1.025
• Ph 8.2
• Ammonia 0
• Nitrates/nitrites 0

I’m thinking of setting up an I/R security cam looking at the last remaining Zoo area of the tank, just not sure the resolution of those would be effective.

 

[JeepersReefers]

Hermits have already been banished to the sump. There is also a plastic bottle trap in there, bust so far all its caught is my blenny.

 

[untilthen]

remember that there are other causes to zoos declines other than predators...

there have been cases of entire zoo colonies dying off because the water may b 2 clean and all the nutrients are being abosorbed so there isnt much left to go around for other colonies... zoos are filter feeders as well as liking the light and tend to thrive under good light as well as dirtier water... if ur keeping good water conditions i would think about dosing wit vit c... or some other supplement

 

[fata1ity]

(edited by Travis)

btw are you dipping and/or QT'ing before placing them into your display? could be a number of things. what kind of zoas are you putting in? are they melting?

 

[JeepersReefers]

Dip-yes. QT-no. Just your basic green and red zoos. All of the zoos have been in the tank for 3mo or longer. THey do not appear to be melting. No new additions to the tank in 3 months now.

Untilthen- The water being too clean is something i hadn't considered. In my past tanks it was always the other way around. I will occasional target feed. Have never used supplements, just a monthly w/c. The skimmer and refuge are oversized for the tank

 

[fata1ity]

if they're just basic zoas then your doing something horribly wrong LOL

zoas thrive in dirty water, but not too dirty. my tank is pretty clean but my stuff still thrives. i have a 28 gallon cube with 250w mh and 72w pc's. consider that then think if your tank has good enough lighting, or maybe too good. do you start them off at the bottom and move them up? try dosing with a part a and part b supplement, makes a big difference. i dose once a week with 7ml of nano reef part and and 7ml nano reef part b, plus one drop of lugols. might as well dose lugols iodine while your at it- will help a lot of things in your tank. also where are you getting your water from? in a tank that size only doing water changes will not replenish your trace supplements. maybe in a 30g or under, but not a 180g. consider it, pretty inexpensive (around $30 for part a&b) and not that easy to overdose. do you have any pics of them? try lowering your temp to 78f, and ph to 8.4.

What really has me confused is that the decline is not uniform amongst all Zoos, other softies or LPS. One random colonies will close up and die within a week. Frogspawn, hammer, torch and the other 2 LPS are all growing fast and looking full and healthy. Xenia and ricordia are also unaffected.

now that i read this a lot has come to my mind. zoas will close up from too much flow, too much light, or something bothering them. xenias are also a real good sign about your tanks health- if they're doing good then so is your tank. i would suggest that you buy a frag instead of a colony and see how that goes.

 

[JeepersReefers]

if they're just basic zoas then your doing something horribly wrong LOL

My thoughts too. ALL zoos are/were at the bottom 50% of the tank out of high flow areas. ill take pics when i get home from work.

I'm hesitant to dose anything i cant test for, and my kit is fairly limited... PH AM, trates, trites AK and one other. Whats the test kit /company of choice these days?

Once the current zoos recover/stabilize ill think about buying frags instead of colonies. i just dont want to give any more zoos a death sentence until everything is normal again.

THanks

 

[JeepersReefers]

Water is from one of 2 ro/di filters in my house @ 5ppm or less. Filters were changes about 2 mo ago.

 

[fata1ity]

i rarely test, and when i do its for ph, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, and calcium. like i said its not easy to overdose on the part a&b stuff, but it is easy to overdose on lugols. i would give you some frags to try out but i only have high end lol. you want an ro/di filter with 0ppm...

 

[JeepersReefers]

Vegas water is terrible, usually its 2-4 ppm after the ro. Tap water is in the 600+ppm range

 

[Wakeskater02]

i rarely test, and when i do its for ph, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, and calcium. like i said its not easy to overdose on the part a&b stuff, but it is easy to overdose on lugols. i would give you some frags to try out but i only have high end lol. you want an ro/di filter with 0ppm...

What different frags do you got? Where in the OC are you located?

 

[fata1ity]

(edited by Travis. No self-promotion in others' threads please.)

 

[newreefguy]

Have you tried dosing vit C... I mean if its not predators and your params look good. They aren't getting something they need. What is your alk level at? I've found that when my alk gets out of wack mine start closing.

 

[JeepersReefers]

Heres the pic of one of the remaning zoo rocks, and the bubble coral above it.

sorry for the pic quality had trouble with the 50kb limit.

 

[Slickcg33]

Heres the pic of one of the remaning zoo rocks, and the bubble coral above it.

sorry for the pic quality had trouble with the 50kb limit.

didnt read the entire thread, but form that pic, you got zoa pox my friend. I have the same problem trying to find a cure in my other thread.

 

[fata1ity]

dont be so quick on assumptions. need a clearer picture. take the picture and upload it to photobucket, then embed it into your reply.

 

[burning2nd]

Id suggest Qting..

you have a problem.. as said.. Zoa's often do good in not good water.

A predator (mirco) Or war fare...

Qt them and see what happens... Maybe a sump see if its the system, or the tank.