Amphipods eating coral

[Willistein]

So, I'm convinced that amphipods will eat coral when they get hungry enough. I have my suspicions that they do this in newly established tanks that are very clean like mine was.

I'm 100% sure of this because I did a test. I noticed my newly aquired acan being munched on at night by fairly large amphipods. As others have mentioned, it could have been that they were just eating dead flesh, but I doubted it. So I took the acan and put it up on top of an upside-down glass bell jar figuring the amphipods couldn't climb it. That night I didn't see any amphipods on it. The NEXT day the coral looked better - more inflated.

This was months ago. I left the coral on the bell jar for a long time until it healed and was growing well again. I put it back on the sand bed and it hasn't been bothered since. My guess is that there is enough other food sources and the amphipod population s balanced out so they aren't starving. I'm no expert, but this is my experience. Good luck!

 

[iamwrasseman]

i had to fast forward in this tread and take this for what its worth i had $10,000 to $12,000 worth of acan colonies and frags killed by this same type of infestation . it the time it has taken everyone to discuss what might be i know they are just melting every day just like that little aussie bug did to mine . i was told by a doctor in rochester that took a few of my survivors and treated them that it was a little white bug from australia and he nuked them with interceptor . six months late he gave me back 25 healthy acans that were in mint comdition and i had two five gallon buckets FULL of dead skelitons . now fast forward six months as i didnt completly learn my lesson the first time as i bought some more infestes acans and didnt dip them thus another outbreak ! two interceptor treatments later it stopped dead in its tracks and my corals were saved . i dont know everythin about these critters but the will march across your tank like an army and kill your lps with no remorse but yes interceptor kills it or at least killed what i had . there are to many unidentified things out in that vast ocean and sometimes you have to shoot from the hip . dose it now and you may end up with a few left alive or debate it and lose em all .if you treat outside of the tank you will not get them out of your tank and you will pay dearly for that crucial mistake . your pods will come back and i never lost a crab,snail or and livestock that the naked eye could see when i used it and i double dosed my tank just to be sure . my tanks are full of lps and delicate wrasses and they all made it through the nuke bomb .
just my 2 pennies that i have left from $12,000 worth of acans /

 

[pascal32]

i had to fast forward in this tread and take this for what its worth i had $10,000 to $12,000 worth of acan colonies and frags killed by this same type of infestation . it the time it has taken everyone to discuss what might be i know they are just melting every day just like that little aussie bug did to mine . i was told by a doctor in rochester that took a few of my survivors and treated them that it was a little white bug from australia and he nuked them with interceptor . six months late he gave me back 25 healthy acans that were in mint comdition and i had two five gallon buckets FULL of dead skelitons . now fast forward six months as i didnt completly learn my lesson the first time as i bought some more infestes acans and didnt dip them thus another outbreak ! two interceptor treatments later it stopped dead in its tracks and my corals were saved . i dont know everythin about these critters but the will march across your tank like an army and kill your lps with no remorse but yes interceptor kills it or at least killed what i had . there are to many unidentified things out in that vast ocean and sometimes you have to shoot from the hip . dose it now and you may end up with a few left alive or debate it and lose em all .if you treat outside of the tank you will not get them out of your tank and you will pay dearly for that crucial mistake . your pods will come back and i never lost a crab,snail or and livestock that the naked eye could see when i used it and i double dosed my tank just to be sure . my tanks are full of lps and delicate wrasses and they all made it through the nuke bomb .
just my 2 pennies that i have left from $12,000 worth of acans /

second that! I've had several cases of unknown recession and interceptor took it out. only happened after introducing new frags to the system. in my case they were not visible, at least not that I was able to find.

 

[iamwrasseman]

i now have crushed interceptor powder that i use for a couple hour dip for ne corals that i purchase . just sprinkle on a bit and mix water then dip . actually its done in a bag in my sump to keep temp correct throughout the dip.

 

[swanker31]

No i have had the same problem to they are indeed amphipods some 1/2 inch. They love my smaller pylop LPS corals like my trumpet, small orange plate. Anything that is on sand i now keep everything on my LR seems to be a bit better so far. How do i rid them from my tank.

 

[cardiffgiant]

Hopefully the leopard wrasse and mandarin in my tank won't allow anything like this to happen. It sounds like you really need to have interceptor on hand in case something like this happens.

 

[pascal32]

Hopefully the leopard wrasse and mandarin in my tank won't allow anything like this to happen. It sounds like you really need to have interceptor on hand in case something like this happens.

for the chalice and acan issue I don't believe fish will help - no-one has been able to see what is causing the issues - interceptor does turn in around.

 

[iamwrasseman]

personaly i am a firm believer on the use of interceptor, when and if it is needed it can work miracles imo .i have used it on my own tanks and others at least ten times as there are many retailers that don't even dip their corals as a precaution .

 

[uskram]

Chalice parasite

Chalice parasite

I realize this is an old thread, but I was hoping someone might be able to confirm the damage to my chalice is from the parasite being discussed. Since the thread did not have photos of the damage, I wasn't sure. I have included 2 photos of the type of damage that is becoming more and more wide spread on my chalices. Thanks for the help.

[/ATTACH]

 

[laxguy615]

I had this same problem too with an acan a few years back in another tank I had.

 

[uskram]

May I ask how you solved the problem?

 

[ggdowski]

Following this thread

 

[laxguy615]

I didn't, started a bigger tank and started with all new rock. They only went after that acan nothing else. I have a video of them feeding on it at night.

 

[iamwrasseman]

interceptor in my eyes is a miracle for such an instance . i have a few pills left but they were taken off the market a few years ago from some sort of lawsuit i heard . i have tried to get some since just to build up my medicine cabinet but its not available from the manufacturer from what i can find out . i have tried three different vets and one is a customer so it's gone I'm pretty sure

 

[ryan_facc]

Amphipods eat corals

Amphipods eat corals

I have seen amphipods eat zoas, blastos bubble and acan
http://youtu.be/3mB8NH4iW5M

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

The coral in that vid is not healthy...and it's not because of those pods.
Amphipods eat corals is too generalistic.
Thousands of species of pods and thousands of species of corals!

I've seen corals eat pods

 

[Willistein]

Hate to disagree with you Gary, but it looks to me like it's the amphipods doing the damage. That acan looks like it was doing well enough to encrust and then the amphipods started going to town.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

I don't mind disagreeing

I don't mind disagreeing

Many reefkeepers have thousands of gammarus amphipods in aquariums housing LPS.

Looks like the pods in that video are eating unhealthy coral flesh to me... and that's the same thing many other critters would do.
For example:
Angelfish and Butterflyfish tend to pick on unhealthy corals.

 

[Willistein]

It is strange, and I'm not sure if it's certain species of amphipods (there are ~10,000), or starvation trigger, or what. It's definitely true that they eat unhealthy flesh as well.
I wouldn't have believed they attack healthy corals, except for my experiment I mentioned earlier in this thread. After recovering out of reach of the amphipods, I put the acan back on the sand and it started getting attacked again. Not as badly this time, and it survived long term.

 

[ryan_facc]

Amphipods eating coral

Gary, the coral was perfectly healthy, they attacked and killed a healthy blasto, when it was gone they moved on to this acan. I'm not saying all amphipods eat coral, I am saying some do and people need to stop saying " what r u talking about, amphipods are good, coral must have been sick and dying" it's not always the case. I have moved corals to cups in same tank to watch them recover and then be attacked again when cup is removed. Based on what is the coral in the video not healthy?, I've had it for over 2 years.


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