Warning: Sexies and *some* zoos*

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rbaby

New Member
I brought home these gorgeous zoos:



My sexies basically got on it--I thought oh okay maybe they're cleaning it. Then i noticed they were reaching inside the closed polyps--so I take out a magnifying glass and yeap...I see them reaching in for tentacles that were trying its best to stay in...and getting eaten by the sexies.

Okay--that's odd...they don't do that to my other zoos...ever...why my blue zoos now? So I figured--okay...maybe they are hungry and didn't get enough food last feeding session. I drop a piece of mysis at their feet...they go after it for a couple seconds and go back to eating my blue zoos.

At this point, I capture all 3 of them and stick them in a tupperware with mesh. Someone on another board suggested that maybe since I fragged the zoas before putting them in, they sent a chemical signal that they were stressed which prompted the sexies to go after them.

So I let the zoas sit overnight w/o being bothered...the next day, I wait until all the polyps are open to signify that it's no longer stressed. I wanted to test it...I let 1 sexy out and sure enough he went straight for the blues again...at this point I grabbed him and sent all 3 packing for store credit at the LFS.
 
djconn

djconn

New Member
Thats is really weird. I've got two sexies in my 5.5 tank with about 10-12 good sized zoanthid frags. I've seen them hanging out on top of them but never 'eating' from them.

Strange...now you've got me worried. :shocked:
 
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dragon79

New Member
see what happens when you douse your blue zoos in mysis shrimp juice? they smelt food and was like....this damn zoos are in the way of the real food inside, lol


Just kidding. Whatever it is, they sense food near it or on it. Sorry to hear about it though, sexy's rule.

I have two sexys
1 anemone shrimp
1 spiny shrimp

all are cool and get along with everything in the tank.
 
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mikeguerrero

Active Member
Okay Rbaby,

In my pico I have over 250 dollars invested in Zoos and saturday I dropped in a Sexy shrimp. He's been crusing all over the tank and picking here and there at everything, but I have yet to see him picking on any one zoo, or better yet attempting to eat tentacles.

I just read you thread so I will now keep a close eye on closed zoos to make sure he is not eating them. I am very concerned now that I read this thread.

Zoos will always shut when something approaches but will open back up after they leave. Are you sure the tentacles are being eaten?

Mike
 
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rbaby

New Member
Mike if I wasn't sure I wouldn't have spent at least an hour trying to get all 3 sexies out--hunting for shrimps is not one of my favorite past times...

I loved these sexies...that's why I tried all other options before coming to the conclusion that they're gonna eat my blue zoos. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gotten the magnifying glass...fed them the mysis or isolate them overnight...it's with great sadness that I let them go but I want to eliminate future headaches.
 
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incysor

New Member
Sorry to say it but I disagree...You just got a new coral in. There's going to be stuff all over that new piece for scavengers to eat. Either through die-off, or just different food particles than are normally in your tank.

Every time I get a new piece of coral my shrimp, and hermits are all over it picking at/around it. After a few hours they've gotten all of whatever the goodies are and then they ignore it like they do with the rest of the corals. I've got zoos and sexys in my 6g nano, my 75g reef, and my wife's 10g nano. Sexys don't eat zoos.

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dragon79

New Member
incysor said:
Sorry to say it but I disagree...You just got a new coral in. There's going to be stuff all over that new piece for scavengers to eat. Either through die-off, or just different food particles than are normally in your tank.

Every time I get a new piece of coral my shrimp, and hermits are all over it picking at/around it. After a few hours they've gotten all of whatever the goodies are and then they ignore it like they do with the rest of the corals. I've got zoos and sexys in my 6g nano, my 75g reef, and my wife's 10g nano. Sexys don't eat zoos.

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Click to expand...
Incysor is right. Those zoos you gave me Ruthie + the ones from the frag swap in Anaheim, when dropped in, the hermits would not get off them for a while. They all wanted to eat whatever was on them. I was watching them and it would look like they were just eating them. For some it takes a few hours, for others longer, it's really up to what the clean up crew consider is "picked clean"

My newest piece is are the mushrooms, my mini-blues and sexys have made it their hangout to eat... I look at the rock now and it looks so much cleaner, all that vegetation growing on it....picked clean. Now finally after a few days it seems things are in order, no damage, or harm.

now ruthie:

if you want, next time you come down, let me care for them for you, or I may even take them off your hands. I have two sexy's as you know, and I doubt they'll tear the blue zoo's to shreds. I have other shrimps in my tank as well, would be interesting to see for myself. Let me know Ruthie, you have my email/cell and all of that. Laterz.
 
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mikeguerrero

Active Member
Ruthie,

Incysor and dragon are correct about new residents coming into the neighborhood. My fish even check out any new change whether it be a simple frag or I move a rock.

Fish and critters are very intelligent and survivors. I can understand you drop in your prized blue zoos and you see all hell break lose, they will be okay let nature work its course.

Somethimes its hard to watch, but ruthie scientifically sexys diet are not polyps, if they were, it would have been documented.

When Incysor posted on this thread, I drew the same conclusion that I had overlooked.

Hope this sheds some light....

Mike
 
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rbaby

New Member
incysor I would like to agree with you in hopes that I can keep my sexies in my tank. But I'm sorry, your generalization just doesn't apply to what I saw.

My inverts will always get on my corals and I will see them cleaning up gunk that's on the rock, on the zoo...but I never EVER see them actually reach in and GRAB a tentacle and cut bits and pieces of the tentacle that I can see the zoo trying to pull back into safety...and eat it. The sexies were literally grabbing a tentacle...pulling it out as much as it can...enough that a piece will break off, and EAT IT. I watched them for HOURS doing this because *I WANTED TO MAKE SURE*...I don't know *how* much more I have to stress that.

I know the difference between "cleaning" and "eating"...

It is not the first time that I have introduced a new coral to my tank, I know how my inhabitants react to new corals...I know my inverts clean it, my blenny perches on it once, and my clownfish will keep away from it for a few days. These are not all new to me.

And actually if you do look up on many reef forums, there HAVE been some reports of sexies wiping out zoanthid colonies--no, not hearsay or speculation, they saw it happening. Usually this occurs because the sexies are starving, but it is nontheless possible.

Mike, just because a sexy's diet doesn't consist of polyps--it does not mean that they won't eat it. If it came down to it, most inhabitants in our tank will attack anything to survive...we all know that's how nature works in general...we will make exceptions just to survive for one day longer.

What is kind of frustrating to me is that here I am, trying to just warn people that it IS possible for zoos to be attacked/eaten by sexies--and completely discredited because it goes against their natural nature. It's kind of like saying...I have kept a mandy in a 12g...and someone who completely discredits that exception because of logic. The only reason why I posted this was to let people know--and that if they have a sexy and some zoos are losing tentacles or slowly deteriorating...that they can be a suspect...that's all...I am not stating that my experience is written in STONE and it applies to everybody.
 
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incysor

New Member
I did look it up before replying.

On all of RC there are a few posts saying that sexys ate mushrooms and zoos. All the posts are by one person. On reefs.org there aren't any reports of this. nano-reef by far had the most reports, but mostly they were that the sexys were irritating the zoos by standing on them. Not eating them. I only saw a couple reports out of all the ones I saw on nano-reef that said they were eating them. Maybe the blue colony you got was just extra tasty. In my opinion it's more likely that the folks with nanos that are having a problem are simply underfeeding their sexy shrimp. Or that the zoos already had a problem and the sexys were cleaning up dead tissue. I read your description of what happened here and on nano-reef. Even with a magnifiying glass you wouldn't be able to tell the difference in healthy zoo tissue and sick zoo tissue. I still think they were simply acting as detrivores. The fact that it all went down in less than a 24hr period indicates to me that they simply couldn't clear the detritus or unhealthy tissue before they got yanked. You stated yourself that you've had them with zoos all along with no problems.

Or perhaps blue is the only flavor they like.

B
 
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