There is No Vaccine for the Pox

Alright, it’s been two months since I have updated and a lot has happened and not happened.  

The Happened

My zoas are almost completely dead.  Apparently zoas can contract the pox.  As with humans, the pox is deadly.  I noticed at the beginning of February that a couple of the Zoas were closed.  I figured a snail or a hermit crab ran over them.  

When they did not open a few days later, I looked closer and noticed small white specks on the colony.  More zoas at this point were refusing to open.  After some google searching, I came across the probably cause: the pox.   

My poor zoas :(

No one seems to know what causes the outbreak.  Many speculate it is a survival mechanism like temperature fluctuation.  But the truth is, it appears in so many different situations, that no one is sure what the trigger is.  If left untreated, the pox can kill the entire colony and infect other zoanthids.

You can read more about it here at zoaID.com  

The proposed treatments are the Furan treatment (as seen on ZoaID), hydrogen peroxide dip, fragging, or tossing the colony.  Furan is expensive and hard to find.  As beautiful as our zoa rock was, we did only spend $20 on it. Plus, none of these treatments are a definite cure.  So, we went with the hydrogen peroxide dip.

Hydrogen Peroxide Dip

If you really care about your zoas, do research before following me.  I can’t find the site where I got the original instructions for this.
Place the zoas in a cup of tank water, add a capful of hydrogen peroxide, to the cup and stir, continue to add peroxide until it starts to bubble.  Then, leave the zoas in for thirty minutes.  We did fifteen but some have left them in for as long as an hour and half.  
A couple days later, the pox infected zoas began melting away (dead) and and it took about two weeks before the remainder reopened.  We lost about three quarters of the colony.  I’m pretty upset about it still.  Especially when I look at my last post. :(

The Future

Luckily, my anniversary is coming up and hubby and I are getting a gift for us.  My idea is more coral for the tank.  His idea is for something “practical”.  What can be more practical than new coral? So cross your fingers!  

Orange and Purple Montipora

I want another zoa rock.  I also want some high flow coral.  The tops of the tank are bare but that is where all of the flow is.  I did some research and it looks like montipora coral might fit the bill.

The Not Happened

My wireless AI module still is not here!  I am so mad! I have been waiting for this thing since we first set up the tank.  I get in contact with AI and they still just tell me they will be shipped as soon as they are in production.  I’ve been hearing it for the last three months.



Oh well.  I have another post coming up about the newest inhabitant!



Happy reefing!