Zoa colony dropping polyps and mostly closed

[bgmann12]

So the title says it all, I had them for a few days then I went to the mountains and when I came back the colony was had about half the polyps open so I thought it was probably a hermit crab. The next day I noticed more were closed and it had dropped a polyp. It was still open so I glued it to a frag plug. That day I did a water change of about 15%. After no improvement I dipped it in revive which knocked off some small black bugs (I think they are nudibranch)There was still no improvement so I went for a second dip today and in the process a second polyp fell off. They are under the 120 watt Chinese LEDs. Moderate flow and so on. The tank has been up since last November.

Parameters:
Salinity-1.025
pH-8.2
Ammonia-0
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-0
Calcium-460
KH-7
Mg-1320
Phosphate-0

Before:

After:

Thanks in advance!


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[BigRedsReefs10]

Have you tried moving them to a different light/flow zone in the tank? Usually zoa eating nudi's will be the color of the zs they eat, where the "bugs" that came off in the dip the same color?


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[dylan p]

I would leave them be for acouple days/ week could be just stress from the new environment. That happened to some button polyps I got awhile back. They opened the first day I got them then slowly one by one they all closed and stayed closed for almost a month and some fell off. I thought they died and I was ready to throw them out but they all bounced back and look good and healthy. I actually had to separate them because they were taking over my tank


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[54seaweed]

never had luck with zoa's in the sand , try moving them up they don't seem happy were they are now

 

[dylan p]

If you do move it let it stay there for a week or so to much change over short periods of time will likely stress it more then it is already. I honestly think it's best to leave them in a lower flow area with lower lighting. Your tank seems healthy so I wouldn't be worried about them dying. They look healthy and when they feel the need to get some light they will open. Once they do open is the best time to move them this way you will know if they are happy with the new area that you put them in. If you move them to higher flow and lighting while they're closed you won't know if your stressing them and could ultimate kill off the hole colony


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[bgmann12]

Thanks for all the responses!
The little "bugs" we're a blackish color and about a mm or two long.
I moved them to the bottom left corner of the tank (still on the sand if not happy I will move them off sand in a few days).


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[Sniperhank]

I doubt the bugs are anything harmful and probably pods of some sort...if you want to be careful, just do a dip in coralrx.

 

[bgmann12]

They were more like slugs than bugs


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[Sniperhank]

Then I would def do several dips in coralRX.

 

[bgmann12]

Put a microscope lens over phone camera and got this picture of the slug like thing.



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[bgmann12]

Doing better after coralRx!


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[54seaweed]

looking at that picture it looks like a nudibranch
google nudibranch

 

[Sniperhank]

Dip it again in a couple of days. Where there is one there is another...and eggs...

 

[bgmann12]

I have done two dips about 3 days apart. The colony is fully open now!


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[Sniperhank]

I have done two dips about 3 days apart. The colony is fully open now!


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Good deal. Just keep an eye on it for other possible nudibranch or anything else. I once thought I was rid of one and then a month later spotted another...though I did not have any coralRX and was only able to do a freshwater dip which is far from as effective.