White tiny specks on my Zoo's?

[alfred143]

Greetings,
I purchased a zoanthid colony from ebay.When the zoo's close I can see white small specks on the outer skin. my other zoos don't have it. Could it be some sort of disease. or perhaps just a different species of zoanthid.thanks

[Travis]

Alfred, welcome to RS and glad to see you got the password situation cleared up.

If you have a pic, that would be very helpful.

Could the white specks possibly just be sand? Do they look like part of the zoanthids or something on them?

Travis

[KimPossible]

Take a good look at them....
Do they appear to have a shell...and legs?
Are they microscopic?
I have some too, if they fit the above criteria.
HELP!!!!!

[Woodstock]

I have never noticed spots on mine but I will look closely tonight!

Here is a bit of information I found about it....

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/zoanthid.htm

Other than absolutely dissolving and falling apart, zoanthid "disease" is difficult to diagnose. Some or all polyps staying closed all the time with their tentacles enfolded is a danger sign. Here you should look to you water quality and consider effecting a large (50% or more) water change if all else checks out.

One other "environmental disease" should be mentioned. For folks using metal halide lighting in shallow water, a white bumpy condition on zoanthid oral disks has been linked with excessive light. Affected specimens need to be relocated to less bright, deeper conditions.

http://www.fishtanksandponds.net/liv.../zoanthids.htm

When Zoanthids close up and start to develop white spots or what looks like burn marks, normally in tanks with extremely intense lighting like metal halides, they are expelling their zooxanthellae algaehttp://www.fishtanksandponds.net This will most likely occur when a colony is first introduced to a tank with drastically higher lighting conditions or when light bulbs are newly replaced. Make sure you acclimatize them to the lighting as well as water parameters. To light acclimatize a colony place it as far from the light as possible for about a week and then slowly move it up a couple inches at a time each week until the colony is where you would like it to finally rest.

[Woodstock]

Kim, try a FW or Iodine dip on the zoa colony. Swish it around while dipping to help remove any parasites.

[Warnberg]

Did you do the Zoo dip? Try it, it works......

Here is the info....

Zoo Dip
I take no credit for this, it's really no big deal to do. All of the items used are most likely underneath your cabinet already. I have performed this for years on hundreds, yes, hundreds of zoos and it has worked every single time. No I'm not being cocky or anything like that, this really and truly works as many RC members have PM'd me directly saying so. No I'm not looking for a that-a-boy or anything, I just see that a lot of reefers have ask about it so I thought I would post it in its own thread.

Each and every zoo that goes into my tank, healthy or not, gets a dip. This dip has worked for most every ailments my zoos have had. Some will require a bit of surgery and in some rare cases where I have received a colony with a very nasty fungus, I have deviated slighlty and placed several drops of Lugols Iodine directly onto the infected colony after a bit of surgery. I see that a lot of people are dealing with the whitish, opaque to yellowish fungus or some sort on your colonies. For some reason this happens alot during shipment and I'm sure a lot of you will concur. The key to saving a colony with this issue is to act immediately. You must remove all of the fungus with tweezers outside of your tank. Now using a very sharp razor blade, cut down and around the entire area that was affected. If you have a large rock and you want to be sure that you have irradicated the problem, remove 2 or 3 rows of good zoos around the area that was infected. Rinse the colony well with tank water using a turkey baster or the like, still outside of your reef, now perform the dip with the dipping brew below. I sent it to someone last week so i just copied and pasted it below.

"Here's the dipping brew that I have used and most people on RC are using it now as well. If it is performed as soon as you see the signs in the proper manner, success is always attained.

1. Using a 5 gallon white bucket, add 3 gallons of RO water.
2. Now add 1 or 2 drops of Lugol's Iodine per gallon of RO water.
3. Set your PH to 8.2
4. Set your water temp. at 78 degrees
5. If you have some Flatworm exit made my Saliferts, add
2 drops per gallon to the RO water to kill any Flatworms

Place the colony in the white bucket right side up. Leaving it there for about 5 minutes. Then grab the rock and invert it and place it in the water 3 inches below the water surface. Now twist the rock as fast as you can in a clockwise and counterclockwise motion for at least a minute. While the rock was sitting still in the RO water, it was killing off all bristle worms, Nudibranchs, flatworms and parasites. It will not kill off any Nudibranch eggs so you will have to inspect the rock for what looks like a tiny white 1/8 of and inch curly white piece of thread. They won't detach from the rock as the sack is very sticky. Inside this egg sack is up to 40 or so eggs just waiting to hatch. If you see one, just remove it with tweezers before placing the rock back into your reef. By the way, once you have finished twisting the rock in the water for a full minute, pull it out the water and dunk it back into the water a few times, splashing and swooshing is good, it dislodges anything that didn't fall off in the twisting motion. You are going to kill off a few copepds as well, but this is ok, as you have tons more already in your reef tank and your sump/fug. The dip will not kill your zoos, trust me, if you do exactly as stated above, you will be fine. If your colony is in declined and has been for some time, it may be too late to save them, but if you always do a dip on the first or second day of the problem, I have had a 99 % success rate at saving my own. I don't care what anyone else says, I know what has and will always work for the above issues. Zoos are all I know and I truly like to help out if and when I can.

Oh, I forgot, once you place the colony back into your reef, make sure they receive some current as they will be a little stressed and might slim a little, but that's ok, they will be fine. Your zoos will open in minutes.Always, ....always run your actinics only for the rest of that day. Actinics will encourage them to open. Try not to introduce any food into the system as well until the following day. On the following day, go back to your normal photoperiod. As I said, the zoos will be a little stressed and your 10 or 12k lighting will only try to encourage them to fully expand when they really don't want to right now because of what they have just experienced. I believe the bright lighting after a dip has and will discourage them from opening as soon. Trust me, you will not kill them my friend."


It would be great if any of you who have tried this would post your results below. I know of several who have emailed or Pm'd me, but I prefer that you mention your experience with the above dip.

[Travis]

I've done lugol's with flatworm exit in RO, worked well for me.

T

[KimPossible]

Yes, I did the Iodine dip. Killed every critter on my rock of Zoos. However.....these little buggers appear to be living elsewhere other than my Zoos.
When my actinics come on in the am....and trust me... I am sitting right there... for the past 3 weeks, these little guys go to a near by piece of LR. NOW, I am not sure they are the culprits, but I can find no Nudi's. I have made several inspections.

After my Iodine dip I placed my zoo rock farther away from the LR that houses these unknown things. My zoos look good. But, slowly I am seeing 1, then 3, then 5....

I have been watching post after post for someone to mention something similar to what my tank is experiencing and this thread is the first. I have searched and searched web.... to be honest...searching the word pest really freaked me out. Now I'm paranoid...lmao....

white small specks

Do they appear to have a shell...and legs?
Are they microscopic?

Anybody ever seen anything like this?

[Warnberg]

I have not, however you may want to check over in the Zoo thread on the RC site, there is some really good info over there and some of the Zoo experts may be able to help.

Here is a tread I found that seems to answer all your questions.....

The little white dots are usually eggs and they will be placed in a circule like pattern, you have to pick these off with tweezers they will not come off in a bath. Unless they move of course.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...White+ specks

Hope this helps...

[KimPossible]

Thanks Dave! Good resource.
One more point....my critters in shells move with their legs.

[Woodstock]

Kim, have you tried a dip on them yet? Let us know how it goes~~

[KimPossible]

Yeah Doni, I did an iodine dip last Saturday. And a freshwater dip 2 weeks before that.

Killed every critter on my rock of Zoos.

After my Iodine dip I placed my zoo rock farther away from the LR that houses these unknown things. My zoos look good. But, slowly I am seeing 1, then 3, then 5....

They appear healthier since the iodine dip. I hope the little "mites?" don't overtake the rock again. I'll keep an eye on them and see how long it takes.

Thanks guys/gals

[Woodstock]

:smck: Ahhhh... ok. Do the 'bugs' seem to be doing any damage to the polyps?

Here is an interesing article on spiders/crabs: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-01/rs/

[Warnberg]

I have also heard and observed my peppermint shrimp attempt to eat my Zoo's if they do not get enough food, I have observed them picking at my Zoo's once in awhile, but they do not seem to do a lot of damage.

[KimPossible]

Yes, my polyps are being eaten.
The destruction that occurred- Loss of Yellow polyps, disintegration of browns and green eyed zoos.

Since the iodine dip and moving the rock, they seem to be doing a bit better. The little "mites" are not as abundant. I am still trying to ID them.