a new zoa

SEAF

New Member
I discovered a zoanthid I didn't know I had. Doesn't look like any of my other zoas, so I have no idea where it came from, nor how it got where it is. That coral skeleton it is attached to was a dried-out, bleached-out piece of rock when I put it in the tank, so I know it didn't come in with it. Can Zoanthids spread in the water currents? I thought they multiplied by growing out of the parent. and then separating. I am sure this one has been there a while, but I just noticed it, because it is behind/between the Pulsing Xenia stalks. Is it possible that it came in on the Xenia? It is definitely not the same coloring as any of my other zoas. So far, it is just one.
 

lilfishie

New Member
Yeah, they can come unattached and float around and settle other places. Sometimes fish will pull one up or another critter might pull one up. I have a couple palys that showed up in my tank too that I dont know where they came from, cause I dont think I have any others that look like it. Ya just never know.
 

SEAF

New Member
Another one of these zoas showed up... in my sump tank of all places! Looks just like the one in my main tank. I am beginning to wonder if it is some kind of pest. Are there any zoas that like to take over the tank?
 

SEAF

New Member
If it isn't a zoa, it does a great impersonation! The lights are out now so it is all folded up for the night. Maybe I can take a picture in the next couple of days during daylight (lights on) hours. It doesn't look like any aiptasia I have seen either in person or in pictures.
 

SEAF

New Member
Finally got some pics of this critter, one with and one without a flash. Not real clear, because I had to Zoom in and use the macro setting. That's not bubble algae next to it. It is some of that macro algae I got from lilfishie.

 

lilfishie

New Member
Interesting. Does not look like a zoa to me. Looks like some kind of anemone.

And that does look like bubble algae.
What I gave you for macro was cheato, mexicana caulerpa and grape caulerpa. It could be the grape caulerpa.

But that may be Majano anemone. It comes in a number of different colors. They do not sting or kill coral, but they can compete for space if they start to multiply.
 

SEAF

New Member
I have never seen Majano in person, but I just checked out some photos online and I don't think this matches. Perhaps not fully matured yet. It does have two rows of tentacles like the zoas (one up and one down) and is similarly sized. The tentacles don't look like the ones I saw in pictures of Majano. However, the center looks different than my zoas. Yes, the bubbles are the grape caulerpa.

I do have a few green bubble algae bubbles and am more determined than ever to get rid of them. I recently acquired all of the liverock, and sand from a 72 gallon tank that was completely overrun with Aiptasia and Bubble Algae. There was not a 4" sqare space anywhere in that tank where there was no Aiptasia. Some of those bubbles were the size of large cherries and I saw Aiptasia heads that were 2-3 inches in diameter! I was going to clean one rock at a time, so I brought them home and put them all in a plastic bin full of saltwater with a heater, but no circulation. It never occurred to me that Aiptasia needs oxygen to survive, so, in less than 48 hours all of it was dead. There was a scum on the water and the smell was like low tide, multiplied by ten! It was so nasty, it burned my eyes when I entered the room. I spent much of Friday blasting those rocks with fresh water from a spray nozzle in my driveway. I sprayed off all of those slimy Aiptasia polyps and Bubble Algae. The Aiptasia looked like rotting oysters and smelled as bad. Now those rocks are on my roof, waiting for some sunny days to completely dry them out before I re-introduce them to some other liverock. I expected my driveway to smell awful today, but apparently, the rain washed away all of the stench. I also found a 7" and a 9" bristleworm (dead, of course) while spraying off the rocks.
 

lilfishie

New Member
Oh boy, that sounds like fun.....not!
Those were some good size bristleworms.
I am wondering, if you touch that polyp, or what ever it is, does it fold up like a zoa or does it tuck itself into the rock and dissapear or attempt to dissapear?
Is its foot a mat on the rock or is it tucked in a hole or crack in the rock?
 

SEAF

New Member
Yeah, I got stung by a bristleworm while I was scooping the sand out of that tank. If that has never happened to you, believe me, you don't want it to. I had bristles in my right hand ring finger... right on the tip and on the heal of my palm. Most of the time I didn't feel it, but every time I touched something with that finger or shook hands with someone, it would jab me. It took 2-3 days for it to go away. I couldn't locate those bristles even with a magnifiying glass.

Well, back on topic... this polyp folds up exactly like a zoa and the foot is attached to the side of a branch on that coral skeleton. You can't see that attachment, because I have a little excess green hair on the skeleton also. I was hoping my Blue Tang or the Lawnmower Blenny would clear off all of that green hair. The Blenny is working on my green hair algae, but it is taking some time. I guess that's good... he'll not go hungry. The center of this polyp is the same shape and appearance as the zoas, just not a different color as the rest of them are.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Not a zoa maby a pest nem. I got one once that multiplied but it was nice untill my hermits started to attack them, wierd.
 
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