I have seen a lot of posts and questions lately about common zoa pests and diseases and what to do about them, and thought it was about time someone (who, me?) compiled some of this information together in one thread.

For pics of some commonly encountered zoa pests, including nudi's, see here:
http://www.zoaid.com/index.php?module=Gall...p;g2_itemId=384

Any new zoas that you get, especially colonies or larger pieces, need to be dipped to ensure none of these pests are present before placing them in your tank.
I have found a FW dip to be very helpful in removing pests. Here's the recipe I use:
-1 gal. FW, with PH and temp adjusted to match tank
-4 drops Lugol's iodine

I dip new arrivals in this solution for 3 minutes, swishing the heck out of them while in the dip in order to dislodge the pests.
Nudi eggs will not come off in a dip and need to be removed by hand. What works for me is to place a paper towel over my fingers and then hand pick them off. The eggs are slippery and resist things like tweezers, but will stick to a paper towel.
IME, zoa spiders also will not dislodge on their own in a dip and will need to be picked off with something like tweezers. Look VERY closely for spiders, they tend to blend in with the colors of the zoas they inhabit.

For most diseases in the earlier stages, the above dip works as well, although I usually dip in tankwater/SW instead of FW. I have personally found a FW dip to be mostly helpful with pests. For diseases, I use SW or tankwater in order to cause less stress to the zoas.
You can use other iodine based dips besides Lugol's. I have also used Kent Marine's concentrated iodine and Seachem's Reef Dip.
If the frag or colony is in REALLY bad shape, you can also paint the iodine solution onto the badly affected areas and let it sit out on a table or counter for 3-5 mins. Rinse well before returning to the tank.
I have found, especially with fungus, that it helps to place the affected colony or frag in high flow when returning it to the tank.
For zoa pox, a Furan-2 dip is extremely effective. For information on how to do this, see this article:
http://www.zoaid.com/articles004.php

BibleSue and I have also found that for frags or colonies that are unresponsive to an iodine based dip, sometimes Furan-2 works. Always make sure you rinse before returning to the tank.

We have also found that when we get new zoas in, they do better if we leave the lights off on the first day or only have actinics on.

I'm sure I will think of things that I forgot to include in this, and will add on as time and memory allows.
Anyone else with experience in this area, please feel free to chime in.

Glad to see someone is knowledgable in my area *waves to Oak Ridge from Corryton*! Keep posting any zoa info you know because I am currently trying to get into the zoas thing!

I will try.
If I am slow to add to this, feel free to PM me with any questions, I'm happy to help.

Great post, There should really be a sticky here for alll types of pests and diseases for various corals.

In my personal experience betadine ( found at CVS ) works just as good as lugols and is widely available.

The dosage is 4ml per liter of water.

This is not necessarily a DISEASE question...but oh well..

Is it common for a 5-10 polyps to not open on a daily basis? The colony that I bought is about 5"x3" and contains no less than 50-60 polyps.

I've seen it happen, but it is usually an early sign of a developing problem.
Check tank param's first, and if those line up, you might to consider doing an iodine based dip before a full-blown problem develops.

Here's a link with some really good info on dipping zoas:

http://www.club-zoa.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1248

I like the lazier ways ... I bought a yellow wrasse and now my nudis are gone

N00b bump.

Here's some interesting new info that The Propagator has discovered on ways to treat bacterial and fungal infections on zoas:
http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...152511&st=0

Great thread, Weetie. I have tried a few rocks of Zoas in the recent months, and they keep dissappearing. I looked at your link in your OP and the only thing on there I have noticed is the Amphopods. I noticed them on the Zoas at night, every night. The Zoas seemed to get smaller by the day. I also noticed some flatworms on my tank's glass. Does anyone know if flatworms are known to prey on Zoas? I'm getting to be quite frustrated now, because I really want to start some large Zoa colonies in my tank, and they just aren't making it.

I have not personally noticed flatworms causing problems for zoas.
As you noted, I have personally had problems in the past with large amphipods eating palys in my tank.
Unfortunately, determining whether amphipods are a source of zoa problems is difficult.
While I am absolutely 100% certain that they DO sometimes eat zoas/palys, there are also plenty of situations where there is a sizeable pod population that doesn't harm zoas at all. From what I can tell, it is the larger amphipods that cause problems sometimes (not always).
What is also unfortunately true is that the experience you are reporting with zoas is not uncommon. I can't tell you how many times I have heard from people that they have had zoas decline and disappear in a tank that is perfectly healthy and for reasons that they are unable to determine. I've had it happen to me before too. Zoas are weird that way, they either do really well or they don't, with no apparent middle ground.
It wouldn't hurt to check your magnesium levels.
I have known low magnesium to cause problems before.
Are you getting full-sized colonies, or even mini-colonies?
Those seem to be much more problematic than zoa frags, and much more prone to fungal and bacterial infections within 3 days after shipment.

Flatworms don't eat zoanthids, but they can stress them as they crawl over the zoos and keep them closed to the point that they start to rot away. Also, high salinity can be a huge factor in zoanthids not doing well, they're really susceptible to salinity issues.

Above what salinity level have you found that zoas don't do well?

For zoos I try to keep it at 1.025, a big issue with nano-reefs is that the evaporation raises the salinity really quickly, and people that don't keep up with the water top-offs get salinity spikes at least a few times a week, which will slowly melt them away. I learned that one the hard way...

That's an interesting point, and something that most people probably don't often consider.
I keep my tanks at 1.025 as well, and they would all fit into either the nano or pico category with some of them being open top, but I also top-off 2-3 times a day since I'm almost always home.
Thanks for your input.

I was suspecting them. Only the really large ones (larger than a large grain of rice) were on the zoas. They were always on them at night, and every night the colony of zoas looked smaller. I've also had a problem lately with GSP and Xenia disappearing. I'm really puzzled.
That sucks, cause I really liked mine. They were going awesome, healthy as can be, and opened up fully every day, all day. They were just disappearing one by one.
I feel like such a noob. I've been using Distilled water ever since I set the tank up, and never do water changes because just buying 30g distilled a month adds up. A weekly 4g water change would make it more expensive. I am guessing that water changes will help with these trace levels?
I've always bought small colonies, like around 6-15 polyps each. I got one 6 polyp colony from Six about 4 months ago, and they disappeared. Later, I bought a 12 or so colony at my LFS and they were doing fine from the start, then disappeared.

I also had a large GSP colony disappear, which is almost indestructible. If it's possible that it's the Amphipods, is there a fish that loves to eat them, but doesn't jump (open top) and doesn't eat them as a their entire diet (mandarin dragonette)? Maybe if there was a fish to keep an eye on my corals, and eat any large amphipods off, the zoas might have a better chance.

Thanks for the help, Weetie!

Waitaminnit, how are you not doing WC's???
Like, EVER???
Dude, you gotta do WC's.
And yes, they would help with trace mineral levels.

IME, wrasses are the best fish for eating amphipods, but they are jumpers.
I had to convert my tank from an open-top when I added my Yellow Coris Wrasse, who is an excellent pod eater and a very cool fish.

Haha, yeah I know. I should be doing weekly WC's, but I'm just too busy to take the time to do it. I'm saving for an RO unit, and thinking about putting a glass top on my 26bow and a chiller. I'm just afraid that if I put a glass top on it, my temps are going to go through the roof. I tried Eggcrate, but my Midas blenny decided to make it through the eggcrate, and lay himself neatly under the lamp. He was a strip of fish jerky by the time I found him.

Do they even make glass tops for 26 bow tanks?

EDIT: Forgot to add that since setting this tank up two or three years ago, I've only done three WC's, and only lost a couple fish since setting it up. All fish losses were due to jumping.

My 12G NC is even worse! I set it up in '04 (I think) and I have only done maybe half a dozen WC's on it! I am experimenting with natural filtration with my tanks, and they seem to be doing well. No crash yet in almost 5 years of reefing.

Just to add my .02 cents
Remember to wear gloves when playing with corals...I am a bartender and always have cuts and niks and was introducing a new colony and low and behold started feeling queasy and faint, my hand was tingly and shakey and I had to lay down for a good twenty minuets. Didnt really think it was possible but It really happens!

I think my zoa have the pox, I also noticed a white film over a group of them. I removed it but they don't look good. Should I use this furan 2?

For zoas with pox, use the Furan-2.
For zoas with a white film, try the lugol's iodine dip first and if you don't see a positive response to that, then try the Furan-2.
I think SeeDemTails has actually had some good results from using a mixed iodine/Furan 2 dip, we need to get her dip recipe on here.

I recently got a small zoa rock that was full of bristle worms! So i had a in shower soap an toothbrush holder that works amazingly well as a mini refugium i quickly put my zoas in there with a fish bag around the holes on the bottom to catch the lil worms. Since i didnt want the lil buggers to spread! An after 2 days i only had 4 worms. I tried the dip an mixed it around as well as let it sit a full 3 mi, but once i placed the zoas back into saltwater thats when the worms came back out? Was 3 min not long enough or should i try another way....Im getting slightly annoyed an wonderin are bristle worms that bad anyway? Open to any suggestions.

Bristleworms are perfectly good detrivores, not sure why you wanted to get rid of them.
Did you do a FW dip or a SW dip?
I wouldn't think they would survive a FW dip, but probably would a SW dip.

Damn it! I did a google search an everything that came up was negative an said they should be taken out instantly! But then i came on here after my bf told me to an was super confused. Thanx for the advice i did a quick freshwater dip an then a saltwater to rinse....im a noob so thanx for not ripin me a new one..lol...i hope i didnt hurt my new lil zoas! They still havent come back out its only been 4 hours so i'l have to wait an see
lesson learned google not always the end all be all

oh man... i dont know how this happened by recently i have noticed that a small collony of kiwi limes has been turning south in my 2.8g tank that houses my more expensive zoas and last night when i went in to look i noticed a zoa spider on one of them... i sucked him out with a small water change but i know there have to be more of them... ive done some reading and most people say you need to manually remove them... i dont know how it got in there but im pissed... i havent added anything in a while so it (they) must have been in there for a month or two... i have noticed that a colony of about 75 eagle eyes has half of it not opening... any advice would in how you have dealt with them would be greatly appreciated... the eagle eye colony is right next to my PPEs and my NG frags... i leave early in the morning and im home late at night... thanks for any help and when i get home tonight i'll see if i can spot any more and suck them out

sorry this post is discombobulated i have a paper to write and some stuff to grade for tomorrow.. and now this headache to deal with

Sorry you're dealing with so much stress, Matty!
I'll see what I can do to help.
It almost sounds as if the last frag you put in there may have had some Zoa Spider eggs on it. I'll be honest with you, I don't even know how to identify their eggs, although I'm sure the info's out there somewhere.
I've dealt with Spiders before, although luckily not often.
On the good side, they don't seem to wipe zoas out as quickly as most of the other things mentioned in this thread, such as disease or nudi's.
They are also slow moving, which can make them easier to manually remove.
On the bad side, they are really hard to see (it's amazing how well they blend in) and hold on so tight that if you don't dip them first you will find yourself having to remove them one limb at a time.
Here's what I would suggest.
Take all of your frags out one at a time and examine them very closely. It might really help if you use a magnifying glass. IME, they like to stay at the bottom of the stalks, so especially look where the stalk meets the mat or the rock.
For the frags that have spiders on them, I would do a FW/iodine dip as outlined in the first post. If your dipping Palys, only dip for 2 mins since they don't handle FW dips as well as zoas.
The dip won't kill the spiders, it will just weaken them enough to either get them to fall off or loosen their grip enough that you are actually able to remove them. I use tweezers to pick them off.
If you are able to, you might want to examine all of the zoas and Palys in that tank once a week for the next month to make sure no new spiders hatch out.
If anyone has any good info on Zoa Spider eggs, such as what they look like and how to remove them, it would be very helpful if you could post about it here.

Pismo_reefer, it's no biggie, don't worry about it.
We're here to help each other out.
Your zoas should be fine from the dip, by the time you read this they are probably back to normal.

Weetie, I still can't figure this madness out:



The pictured colony was unfortunately a 70+ polyp colony of rainbow palys that succumbed to whatever the white mess is. I'm almost certain it's fungal. It smells like rotten eggs, and NOTHING I've tried seems to cure or clear it, that being SeaChem's Reef-Dip, Lugol's, Tech-D, or Furan. Once the fugus I guess it is getts to the polyps, they shrink in size, and just literally detatch and fall off from the rock they are on. I've had about 4-5 different frags catch this. It's not contagious and only affects the immediate rock it's on. It still baffles me to this day what it is.

thanks for the info weetie... i guess thats what ill be doing tomorrow... nothing says fun like spending a friday night looking for spiders and their eggs

ill post on here if i find out what their eggs look like

Take pics if you find anything and have a good cam!
Good luck!

Phixion- I used to know whether that was fungal or bacterial, but I honestly don't remember.
What I do know is that it's BAD and hard to control or eradicate.
The only way I've ever had any success in getting rid of it was to remove the affected frag, paint the stinky black areas on the rock with undiluted Tech-D as well as the affected polyps, and let the frag set out for 5 mins or so before rinsing and returning to the tank. I also cut off the polyps that have the white junk all over them.
That's one thing that you have to take action with fast and stay right on top of it.

my gf is buying a new cam this weekend!!! if i find any ill take some pics!!

Thanks Weetie, and I concur. It's bad and can escalate quickly! The rainbow colony developed it after a clam I used to have decided to take a foot deep dive off the rocks and through the palys would be a nice padded landing spot. A few got crushed and that's when it began... But i've had it develop on frags just out of the blue before too.

That funky white stuff destroyed a colony of my zoas in a matter of days. Scary stuff indeed

What if your corals have been in the tank for awhile. I have some micro brittle star fish and I am afraid if I do the fresh water dip it will kill them.

Bump. Any ideas?

Which would you rather have survive, the zoas or the micro brittles?
In a FW dip like that, micro brittles would probably come out of the rock right away, and if you pick them up and toss them right back in the tank they would probably survive.
A FW dip is more to combat pests than disease IMO. So which do you have, pests or disease?
If it's some kind of infection, I would start with a SW lugol's dip and if that doesn't work, go to a SW Furan-2 dip.
I think SeeDemTails has also tried a dip that is a mix of lugol's and Furan-2 with some success, you could ask her.

First check your water to eliminate that as the source of the issues you may be having.

If it is a disease, I like to use a combo dip of first furan 2, then iodine, then rinse with RO water and back into the tank.

Brittle stars will survive furan 2 dips!

Just to clarify, she's talking about doing 2 different dips here, one right after the other, and not combining them.

Weetie thanks for a great OP. I wanted to add to this post and keep this thread alive. I recently have had some PPE's that I got in a few months back. They looked fantastic and grew 2-3 heads the first month. All of a sudden they closed up and look like death. I gave them a couple of weeks and still nothing. I did a lugols dip and they opened up for a few days and then closed again. I finally started watching them at all hours and noticed large pods all over them all night long. The pods weren't on anything else and I have some other large Paly's close to them and many healthy zoa's in my frag tank. So I fresh water dipped them again hoping to kill the pods but to no avail a few hours later large pods all over them. I took the frag out and looked closely and noticed that the frag base was a snail shell with a post from a frag plug glued in the hole. Thinking that maybe those pods were living in the shell I pulled the frag and removed all the PPE's and mounted them to a flat tile, dipped them again and moved them to my LPS tank. 24 hours later all is well and everything is opening again but the PPE's are missing thier skirts LOL. For grins I took a hammer to the remaining shell and I couldn't believe it!! There must have been 30 pods in there and I'm guessing they were coming out to eat the PPE's whenever they got hungry.

So my question is this. I like pods cause I've always thought of them as a sign of a healthy tank but I think these guys are out of control in my zoa/paly frag tank and maybe have a taste for thier "meat". they have no competition and are out at all hours of the day. Is there a safe way to kill them all? I'd sure like to wipe them out one time and start over without hurting my corals. Thanks for the great info.


Steve

I got a Yellow Coris Wrasse to get rid of all the pods in my tank.
Great fish, very cool to watch, and he did a great job.
But be warned, pods perform functions that you probably don't consider.
Once my pods were gone, I saw an outbreak of film algae growing on stuff. Previously, the pods had eaten the stuff and it never grew to the point that it was visibly noticeable.
It's a fine line to walk.
I've read before that for some reason the pods that do decide to munch on zoas/palys seem to prefer larger polyped Palys and especially like People Eater varieties, which goes right along with your experience.
I watched large pods in my tank eat a particularly nice single Xmen Paly.

Any other suggestion for the pod problems? I am having the exact same ordeal and i finally took my Armageddons and put hem on a frag rack high up in the tank, hoping the current and elevation would help with the pods and i think it has, but they are all over the other zoas on the ground munching away. Any other suggestions? Its a 5.5 so a small fish would have to do. Maybe a goby or something that would eat them.

C est Ma had a pair of Greenbanded Gobies in her 5.5g and I think I remember her saying that they ate pods. I'm not sure if they'd be able to eat large ones or not, but it might be your best shot.

Is there anything I can add to my tank to kill the small snails that pick on my zoas? Any type of soultions i can add to the water or something?

I'm fairly certain they have to be removed by hand.
Some wrasses might eat them, if the snails are small.

weet can you help me. i have 2 frags of zoas that havent fully opened in about 4 days now.
here are the pics

here's a not so good croped pic

same pic as above but circled unknown things. they look kind of like pods.

when i firs brought them home



ok here is another coral
first got it. i believe it a keds red.

full sized pic

closer

the keds red dose not seem like theres anything wrong with it.... but as you can see there must be.

any one? i would like to no what to do. i did a FW dip last night for 3 min because i diddnt want to stress the coral out. and one of them is on a piece of LR now too

Coralcor, I'm SOOO sorry I didn't respond sooner!!!

That first frag you posted a pic of looks like it has an infection of some kind and definitely needs dipping. How is it looking today?

The second frag just looks ticked off but not sick.

weetabix i have quite a few amphipods running around all over my live rock. i followed the link you provided and saw the picture there. are these things pests? i have nothing in my tank besides 6 blue leg hermits, 6 nass snails, and 1 emerald crab but i do plan to get soft corals and a jawfish or goby+shrimp pair.

there are also tons of tiny things on my glass that look like micro starfish. they are smaller then the amphipods, have a white circular center with 5 or so very thin but distinct legs with white circular tips at the end

Are you referring to the link in the first post at the beginning of this thread?
Unsure what you meant there.

Amphipods are usually not a problem, but every once in a while you'll get Granddaddy Pods that will develop a taste for Palys or Zoas.
Close observation is really the only way to catch this.
I wouldn't worry about seeing pods all over in your tank unless you actually see them going after zoas/palys.

The starfish things are probably hydroids, not something I would worry about.

Are nudis fast? I have what seem to be very fast invertebrates that crawl across my rocks. They remind my of small, clearish invertebrate rats. I recently got a zoa colony, and they may have come in on that rock. I didn't dip it, just acclimated it (my mistake). I never see them on the zoas, mainly on the rocks. Thanks!