Zoa--filaments coming out of center?

[Incitatus76]

Hi guys,

I bought a new colony of Zoas on Friday and this morning they have long threads coming out of the centers with a bit of a lump attached.

Are these sweeper tentacles or are they expelling zooxanthellae or just defecating? (I have also been lowering the salinity--hydrometer and refractometer are showing very different results.)

Thanks for all the help.

[Clown79]

Looks like they are pooping.

 

Zoas have no sweeper tenticles.

[Incitatus76]

Great--thank you so much.

[Oldsalt01]

I've had zoas in my 14g Biocube for over a year and never seen anything like that around them. I HAVE seen something very much like that on one of my Trochus snail shells though. Seems as though some Vermetid snails came attached to the shell, and they feed by extending a mucuos "net" to capture phytoplankton. Studies suggest that in sufficient numbers they can actually deter algae eating activities of fish, and can have negative effects on the growth of stony corals. I personally have not seen any negative effects from mine and I believe in leaving well enough alone if they are not giving me grief. From your pics it looks like there could be a large number on the rock. Check the rock when the zoas have retracted, and look for structures that resemble tubeworm tubes. If you find them you can manually remove them. Some coral crabs can help control them too. I'm including a couple of links to the many articles on Vermetids: http://www.reefbuilders.com/2012/07/23/vermetid-snail-stony-corals.,

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/vermetid-snails-harm-coral-reefs-with-multiprong-attack

Happy reefing.

[Mariaface]

Are the filaments coming out from between the stalks, or their actual mouths?

[Droy008]

That looks more like a defensive mucous rather than pooping.

Make sure there is nothing around the zoas that may be agitating them.

Mine did this when algae started growing around them.

 

Edit: after looking closer.

Did you try feeding them pellets?

Looks like they are just spitting them back out.

[Clown79]

I can't get the pic large enough to see if its brown coming out of their mouth which originally it looked like that.

 

It doesn't look like vermatids, its seems thicker than their "web".

 

If that torch about it is stinging the zoas it could be defensive mucous

[Incitatus76]

Hi, guys. Thanks for the comments. I didn't feed them pellets--but it is possible that the fish store did. Since this happened initially, it has happened once more but to a lesser degree. The threads weren't brown, but the pellet-like objects were. The whole thing is really strange.