Zoo Problems....any advice welcomed!

[Lquiet]

Hello,

This is my first time visiting the reef central boards, so please take it easy on me.

I have 2 tanks set up, a 150g and a 75g. Considering both tanks I have a total of approximately 15 - 20 zoo colonies. When first purchased, these zoo's were magnificent, and would open fully each and every day for the first 2 to 3 months they were in their respective tanks. After that period of time, most all of them begin to decline drastically. Not only by how many of the individual zoo's would open, but in many cases the zoo's would slowly begin to disappear.

On some of the polyps I have noticed what appears to be some sort of white substance, almost "chalky", on the shaft of the polyps. Most all of the polyps that have this condition no longer open at all. Many of the other colony's polyps have disappeared to the point that colonies that once contained 100+ polyps are now reduced to maybe a dozen....or even less in some cases.

I have had lengthy discussions regarding this topic with the folks at my local fish store, with little success. I am aware of a type of nudibranch that may potentially feed on zoo's, and I've done my best to eradicate these pests, although a few of them may still linger in the tanks. I have recently noticed a type of starfish, perhaps a microstar, that is often seen attached to the shaft of the polyps. I have included a picture of the starfish in question below. The specimen is roughly 3/4" in diameter.



Is this starfish a possible cause of my problem? Is it the nudibranchs? Is it something else entirely? I have successfully maintained various types of soft and hard corals, with the zoo's as my only significant problem area. I would be forever indebted to anyone who can shed some much needed light on this frustrating subject.

[bobafett]

If you have nudibranchs in the tank I would certainly attribute the loss of zoos to them. I'm not sure about the starfish. GARF has done a writeup on starfish looking like the one in your pic going after SPS but I'm not sure about them going after your zoos. I would isolate all zoos to one tank (make it your quarantine tank)and do freshwater dips. Leave them in the other tank for 3 months so that if there are any nudis in the main tank they would have starved and died. After 3 months move them to the other tank and do the same (after doing a dip and closely inspecting them for nudi eggs of course).

[clord]

I think a zoo dip would help if you have white stuff on them..

Read this thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...hreadid=451720

[Reef Junkie]

Dipping will help when it comes to hitchhikers on your colonies.

Before you dip be sure to rule out any other possible problem.

Post your tanks Peremeters, Maintenance you preform and equipment used to keep your animals alive.

Since you have experience keeping coral already, it's probably safe to say that you know what you're doing. Yet, we've had a few experienced reefers here overlook simple problems and when they realized their mistake, fixed it and solved the problem. Sometimes we overlook the obvious and make boneheaded mistakes.

FYI, I was one of those boneheaded reefers described above.