Zoanthid eating Nudi

[reeffreak]

Well everbody..
I remember posting in a thread about not quarantining coral.
Well it came back and bit me in the you know where.On Thursday I found my Zoanthids not opening.I notice a little nudibranch walking on the glass,so I decided to look closer at my zoos and behold I have nudis eating my zoos.

This is what I'm doing so far
1)Dipping my zoos in freshwater for 10 minutes every other day(setting temp and PH to DT)
2)taking tweezers to pull the egg sacks of the zoos(Haven't figured out if freshwater will kill the eggs but it does kill the nudibranches.
3)Putting the zoos back in the DT(I need bait to get the other ones roaming around the tank to come back to the zoos)
4)rinse/repeat...still finding more...so far I killed 20 or so them plus plucked alot of egg sacks

Does this sound like a good idea?
Anybody had these before?
Should I be doing iodine instead?
Does freshwater or iodine kills the eggs?

Pics of the nudibranch and my zoos before and after.










In the pictures some have started to open...a few days ago none were open.
Need Help bad!

[yote]

I think that some of the wrasses will eat nudis.Dont hold me to that,But I had a yellow coris that loved nudi meat right up untill he decided to go carpet surffing.
If there small enough a mandrine or scooter might eat em.

[reeffreak]

Thanks yote,
A hear a sixline might work but I'm not really looking for fish/invert solution..I will get a Mandarin one day when my tank matures more.I ordered some Kent Lugol's iodine dip.Don't know if it will work.I'm more worried about all the egg sacks that I'm finding.

[yote]

I dont about the iodine dip,as Ive not used it yet.Ive been lucky so far(knock on wood),The only bad hitch hiker ive come up with was a mantis shrimp in my 30.As a predator hunter I took it as a challange to get him.

[reeffreak]

I feel like my tank is the "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy"....a dumb movie by the way.Zoo eating Nudi,aiptasia,asternia,bubble algae and I also have comb jellies(ctenophores,harmless I think).

Don't worry, it still not going to stop me from getting more coral...I'm just have to QT them.The race is still on!

[jhnrb]

Here is a link that may help you with your nudibranch problem.

The Sea Slug Forum - What eats sea slugs?

[reeffreak]

Thanks Jh,
That website has alot of useful info but not on getting rid of them.When I first saw them nudis I thought they might be them Berghia nudibranches,too bad because I starting to have Aiptasia problems too.

I now know its a Aeolid(Aeolidiopsis,sp)and it has no known predators.I did a freshwater dip 5 times so far and the last two times haven't found anymore of them.I'm gonna do a Iodine dip before I put them in QT and when I put them back in the DT do another Iodine dip.Slowly but surely,they are looking a little better each day.Hopefully they will be okay,if not I won't have any Zoanthids or Palythoa for a long time.

[AndyB4784]

There is no way to get rid of them if you place the corals back into the infected tank. Remove all zoos from your display and place in a 10g qt tank. You are going to want to dip every other day as you suggested and place in a different 10g qt tank (you will need two of these but they shouldn't cost you more than $10 or so each). every time you dip the zoos place them into the tank that they were not in previously. sterilize the tank that they came out of and use this tank the next time that you dip them. repeat this process for a month or more.

Good luck. This nudi is the reason that i only have 3 types of zoos in my tank and also why I am EXTREMELY selective about where the frag comes from.

[reeffreak]

Thanks Andy,they are all in QT right now,the only reason I put them back in the DT was to get any other nudibranches to come back to the colony,sort of like bait.They are looking pretty good,I definitely don't want to leave them in QT since it only has standard lighting.

Still debating if I should go ahead and do an Iodine dip.

By the way,I have 3 colonies of zoos,no way am I setting up/buying 2 more QT tanks

[AndyB4784]

I just don't think that iodine will help that much. There is no effective treatment for the egg sacs (less manual and who knows whether or not you will get all of them). That's why you have to remove all zoos for an extended period of time so that all remaining nudis in the tank starve to death.

You don't have to set up 2 more tanks just buy another aquarium ($10) and a jbj PC fixtuer (one of the cheapo ones used on refugiums will do just fine and around $40) just transfer the equipment to the new tank after a blast of hot water.