Sick Button Polyps - Zoa Pox??

[brikeibur]

Ok, so I noticed yesterday little white dots on my Brown Button Polyps, and one of them had a brown goop hovering above it, while two or three more were white and looked 'decayed' or something. I don't know how I did not notice this sooner, but somehow or other I completely missed it.

There are little white dots all over them, but what is strange is that they are on the same rock as my yellow polyps, which seem to be perfectly fine. I have looked the rock over and I don't see any 'zoa-eating-snails' or any other culprit. There is however a bristleworm living in the rock, could it have 'stung' the polyps and damaged them, although this doesn't really explain the white dots all other them?

Also I have checked my other zoa's which are on a mag rack away from the Polyps, but they also seem to be in good shape.

Here are the Button Polyps, as you can see they have white dots all over them, but I don't see any on the Yellow Polyps DIRECTLY beside them.





And here is the one (in the center) which has brown goop hovering above it:



As you can see, the Yellow Polyps looks just fine. Here are some pics of my other Zoas, and these too look just fine.





And here some pics of the button polyps a week or so ago, they looked pretty good then, but I do notice (now) that there are some white dots on the base even then, I just don't see any spots on the top of the polyps:



I welcome all advice and help as I am desperate to salvage what polyps I have left and make sure whatever this is doesn't affect the other polyps/zoas in the tank or other corals even.

Thanks.

[tnwillia]

I read on here this week someone was talking about the brown goop and using a dip to clear it, can't find the thread right now.

[brikeibur]

Originally Posted by tnwillia

I read on here this week someone was talking about the brown goop and using a dip to clear it, can't find the thread right now.

Hmmm, I'll have to look for it in the forums tnwillia, thanks.

I tested the params, not all, but here were the results:

Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 10

Thanks All.

[brikeibur]

I also did some reading on Zoa Pox, and it says that Paly's usually are immune to the disease, but only 'True Palys'...so my question is, 'Are brown button polyps true palys?' Guess I'll have to do some research on this.

I also noticed that my white dots seem a lot smaller and a lot more of them than with most pics I see of Zoa Pox...so does anyone else have any ideas?

Thanks.

[brikeibur]

So I looked around and I think my polyps look more like Brown/Green Palythoas than the Brown Button Zoas.....

[brikeibur]

Still no one has any ideas or suggestions????

[zy112]

I;ll give ya a bump, sorry I am not sure what it is

[brikeibur]

Thanks Zach.... Looks like I will have to look elsewhere for answers though.

I have a bacteria-dip for my fish, I may give it a shot. I am desperate to not lose the whole colony, or better yet, allow it to spread to my other polyps.

Thanks again...

[redsea reefer]

Just throwing this in, The yellow polyps might be using chemical warfare to fight for space and/or light. Sometimes polyps will melt away for no reason. I know of a couple people including me that its happened too, It was only one specific colony. Thats all i can offer you.

[brikeibur]

Thanks Eddie....

Never really thought about that, guess it's possible, although I'm hoping that's not the case....as I want them to live happily 'together'...LOL.

[redsea reefer]

Its survival of the fittest.

[brikeibur]

There is now a complete gap, where the rock is showing between the two 'decaying polyps' (the very first pic above). Previously, as seen in the pic, there was the two closed polyps with the damaged 'flesh' between them, and now it is as if the flesh is completely gone from between them or has been 'ate' away or something. The actual polyps look the same, as they are still closed up.

Does anyone know if a bristle worm could cause this, as it is the only critter I have noticed on this rock that could have done something like that...

Thanks.

[redsea reefer]

Originally Posted by brikeibur

There is now a complete gap, where the rock is showing between the two 'decaying polyps' (the very first pic above). Previously, as seen in the pic, there was the two closed polyps with the damaged 'flesh' between them, and now it is as if the flesh is completely gone from between them or has been 'ate' away or something. The actual polyps look the same, as they are still closed up.

Does anyone know if a bristle worm could cause this, as it is the only critter I have noticed on this rock that could have done something like that...

Thanks.

No, I don't think bristleworms will cause it.

[brikeibur]

Ok, so here are the Zoas today, you can see where the sick spot has been 'ate' away or something:



I did notice a small snail near the base of one of the stalks:



I do not believe these are the dreaded 'sundial' zoa-eating snails....I sure hope not anyway because there are probably hundreds of these little mini snails in my tank. I mean they are literally EVERYWHERE.

Here is a better pic of those snails, although I do not think these are zoa-eating:



Do you guys think a freshwater dip would help? I just don't want to stress them out even more, but I do want to kill whatever critter, bacteria, or parasite is doing this. If I dip them in freshwater, how long should I leave them in there?

Any other suggestions anyone, I really need help on this one and am very desperate to do something before the whole colony is wiped out.

Thanks.

[brikeibur]

Bump...again...

They are looking bad still. The polyp that had the 'goop' on top of it, now looks like it is rotting, and is withered and has a hole in it's stem. I have no clue if something is eating them or what is going on. I am going to dip them in freshwater and move them from the 24g to the 76g to see if they do any better...

I may even add some Mardel Maracyn Plus to the freshwater before I move them to the 76g, in case it's a bacterial infection they have...I have read around and don't see where it says it is unsafe for corals..


Any advice...anyone?