What the F@%*K are these?

[Ted]

Ok i was looking at my tank today and find three of these guys on the glass. They look like they are eating algae so that should be good but I want to make sure. They are just a little bigger then a grain of sand.

 

[project5k]

thoes are um oh crap some kind of a coral bug, they will eat zoas i think... i saw them in the tanks at R2U.... they guy there was pointing them out to me... and he told me that there was a kind of fish that would eat them, natural preditor kinda thing, but i cant for the life of me remember what he told me now..

 

[Ted]

If they eat zoahs then what are they doing on the glass. None on the zoahs. Shit guess I will start picking them off.

 

[bobby]

They're a type od nudibranch. I couldn't tell you what type, but each type has a specific diet. Some eat corals (not all) and some eat apstasia.....I think if they are coral eater they eat one type of coral, but I can't say for sure. I just looked on the ID sites for a match to your, but can't find one yet.

 

[Ted]

ok they are out with the lights on and I am watching them eat crud off of the glass. Guess I will dip all my corals this weekend in Lugols solution just to be sure.

 

[Ted]

Ok upon further inspection I found some of these things on my biggest zoah rock. I guess the ones that where on the glass came off of it when I moved that rock earlier today. I killed the ones on the glass and went looking on the net for a cure I could do now. Well I found out that zoahs can be freshwater dipped. So I did that after five minutes turned rock upside down and shook the bad guys off. I found 5 more in the bottom of the freshwater dead. Zoahs are now back in the tank and the peppermint shrimp went right to work picking things off from between the zoah heads. Hopefully I didnt just kill a $45 zoah colony but I was desperate and didnt know what else to do.I found on three other sites people having success freshwater dipping zoahs so I will keep my fingers crossed.

 

[XxKnuckleheadxX]

i would get them out of your tank. ASAP. if those are the ones that eat corals they will lay eggs quickly and eggs dont die from dipping.. check the base and underside of your corals for bite marks etc and eggs

 

[Ted]

well I looked all over the rock that had some on it couldnt find any bite marks but those zoahs havent opened in a few days either. Other problem is I dont have anything to put them in besides a tank with corals in it. My qt became the contest tank. Since they have been in there for a few weeks I think the damage is already done. If i see anymore I will dip everything (probably will even if I dont see anything) However if they are free roaming in the tank then I am screwed.

 

[project5k]

well i did a fresh water dip on my zoa's and it didnt kill em, so i think you'll be good if the temp and ph of the fresh water was about right, and i got all kinds of critters off my rock...

 

[Bifferwine]

You've got zoa-eating nudis.

CoralPedia.com! :: The definitive repository for named Corals!

Fresh water dips are fine for zoanthids, but like others have said, that's not going to do anything for the eggs or for the pests in the rest of the tank.

 

[reeffreak]

Yes,they are definitely zoa eating nudibranches.I had them several years ago.What a pain in the ass to get rid of.Lugol's/iodine will do nothing really.You will have to freshwater(RO water) dip the zoas for a few minutes and pick off egg sacks with tweezers.Temperature of the RO freshwater should be set temp/pH to your main system.Repeat on a 3-7 day period as needed.BTW,freshwater does not harm zoanthids,they can close themselves real tight.

 

[dcantucson]

Oh shit Ted. That sounds bad. I hope you can eliminate them.

 

[XxKnuckleheadxX]

best thing to do is quarentine your stuff so the cycle can be broken.

 

[Ted]

Ok so do these only eat zoahs? So if I dip my zoahs every three days for the next few weeks should I be ok? I dipped and went over the thing with a magnifying glass and tweezers. so wait three days then repeat then again and again and again until I kill them, the zoahs, or myself sounds like a heck of alot of fun. Oh did I mention this is my friggin contest tank:frustrat:

 

[project5k]

oh man...

 

[dcantucson]

At least they are confined to a small tank!

 

[Bifferwine]

Oh did I mention this is my friggin contest tank:frustrat:

Oh happy day!!! :claphands:claphands:claphands:claphands

Just kidding Ted. This sucks. You'll get them under control. At least it's in a small tank and not a huge one.

 

[dcantucson]

Biff is sabotaging your tank Ted. She said she would and now she has........
Biff you cheater. :mrgreen:

 

[Alexander]

Oh happy day!!! :claphands:claphands:claphands:claphands

you know typically the term LOL gets thrown around loosely, However this one REALLY did make me laugh out loud!

Now on to the serious topic. Ted, that really sucks man. I really hope you caught it early enough that the eggs have not been laid and if some have been that it had not been long. Nudis can be a total pain inthe ass. I hope it all goes well :shock: , despite the contest and all :mrgreen:

 

[dcantucson]

Ted maybe you can dip the whole tank?