Fungus on Zoas

[ricenoodle]

Ok i got this colony of zoas which had this black fungus/ sponge lookalike on it over 1/2 of the colony. I'm trying to save it. I've always dipped zoas in 1 min of RO before i put them in the tank but never saw a problem like this so i need some ideas guys. With this colony i dipped in RO as always and swished it around, changed that water twice and then acclimate to SW and swished it around some more. The pic is 1 hour after lights come on and the rest of zoas doesn't really open because of this black stuff. The pics is the next day after i bought them, maybe you zoas expert can tell me what it is and which will work best, iodine, furan 2, or revive. It's a colony with massive potential so i'd like to save as much of it as i can. It's only a point and shoot so it's the best that i can do as far as pics. Thanks, Chris

[LotsaFishies]

I usually dip new zoas for 4 minutes+ in temp and PH adjusted RO.... Then the second day dip in SW w heavy iodine, then alternate every other day between the two dips for as long as needed. Ice heard awesome things about Furan and Revive, but haven't used either myself, so I can't offer any advice with those...

[ricenoodle]

I'll do some research on that. What concentration do you use Chris? Can it be Iodine from CVS or does it have to be a special mix like Lugol's. Thanks.

[Redeye]

pretty sure the iodine at CVS is Lugols

[kthehun89]

I dip in furan2. Def works wonders.

[Redeye]

I once left a couple zoa colonies in furan2 and RO over night, didn't kill them, so pretty safe stuff

[LotsaFishies]

As far as I know iodine is iodine.... However I have no clue of the concentration of any other other brand other than the lugols brand made specifically for aquarium-use. Unless you know the concentration, be very very careful.

I generally just use whatever number of drops per gallon the back of the Lugols suggests.....

[Redeye]

lugols isn't a brand, it's a concentration

[ricenoodle]

Thinking about going with Revive, seems to get the best reviews both from reefers and stores. Thanks guys. I'll let you know how they turn out.

[ricenoodle]

Ok, got both revive and kent marine iodine. put 4 ml of iodine in 4 cups of water in a gallon ziploc bag and 1 cap full of revive in the same amount of water in a separate bag. zoas spent 5 minutes in each bag while getting swished around. then spent 5 min in new saltwater. Reintroduced back into tank and they opened up within the hour, the rest are still closed but i'll repeat every other day for a few sessions and see if it improves. Can i do anything different?

[RussM]

pretty sure the iodine at CVS is Lugols
Drug store iodine is usually a tincture of iodine - contains mostly alcohol.

Lugol's is a mixture of iodine and potassium iodide dissolved in water.

[ricenoodle]

Yeah i saw that in my research Russ. Glad i didn't went with the medical grade stuff, would've had alcohol all up in the tank. Update: Zoas totally recovered using a combo of Iodine & Revive dip, no more fungus. CC have eaten it all up since then. Thanks guys