does it look like this amphipod is eating this frag?

[Ron448]

http://vid79.photobucket.com/albums/j150/asolitt/IMG_2596_zpsevn3foew.mp4

This is the best i can do as of now but shortly after the camera zooms in it looks to me like the amphipod was biting the zoanthid stalk. within five minutes the stalk was about half as thick as it was before so i definitely think it was nibbling on it. looking forward to hearing other opinions on the situation so let me know what you think and also let me know if there are any problems with the video.
Thanks

 

[noj3333]

I'm am 100% convinced that amphipods eat zoas, or at least some of them do. I believe they eat healthy zoas, and dying/ sick zoas.

 

[saltdiscus]

it looks hungry but didnt see eating.

 

[SoloGarth]

Yes I witnessed them picking at my acros during my fallow period. Only the really big ones. They would come out at night and I could watch them pulling flesh off. Finally got fish back in the tank and the problem has resolved itself as their populations are being kept in check.

 

[Ron448]

Yeah my two clownfish are almost done being quarantined and I haven't been feeding my display tank very much so I'm hoping they are only doing that because the lack of food in there. And saltdiscus the part i think it took a bit of it was a little bit after I zoomed in and then I move the camera to get a better view. I think it was taking a few bites as I was changing angles but once the camera gets back in focus you can see it does a motion that looks like biting to me but the video lost some quality after I posters it which makes bit a little harder to see. Now the real question is what's the best solution? I tried putting some mysis shrimp in there shortly after the lights went out so hopefully they will start eating that instead of my polyps

 

[noj3333]

I tried putting some mysis shrimp in there shortly after the lights went out so hopefully they will start eating that instead of my polyps

Be careful feeding them if they're unchecked via a predator. Feeding them like that will only increase their population. I ended up getting a Fiji Devil Damsel in my frag tank and now my zoas open up and look happy. I'm pretty confident that Damsel is earning his keep.

 

[SoloGarth]

Be careful feeding them if they're unchecked via a predator. Feeding them like that will only increase their population. I ended up getting a Fiji Devil Damsel in my frag tank and now my zoas open up and look happy. I'm pretty confident that Damsel is earning his keep.

+1 no predators and extra food results I amphipods population explosion. Then they turn on whatever they can eat.

 

[Ron448]

Yeah getting a fish that will eat them is the other option I'm considering but i was planning to only have my clownfish in there and I was hoping to breed them and I've read that having a tank to themselves will encourage them to grow and also adding another fish is risking more parasites being introduced into the system which I am still trying to over come with the clown fish I have so idk what I'm gonna end up doing. Also this isn't my frag tank and there are all kinda of caves and holes they can hide in and they rarely come out during the day

 

[Tankssy]

Those lil boogers decimated few colonies I had in my tank. They will eat Zoas, sick or healthy ones. I highly support suggestion on having predator in tank to keep them under control. I got a goby/pistol pair which lives under my Zoa rock, they have been working on keeping the population down. Wanted to get a Black Barred Convict Goby as those are noctural fish which will hunt about the caves n rockwork, just could never find one local.

 

[saltdiscus]

will red dragonet work?i see huge pods whenever i clean my tank.now i am worried it might eat my zoas.

 

[Tankssy]

They eat copepods not amphipods. You will need to find a fish they will hunt them about the rockwork.

 

[Ron448]

Yeah I know a lot of fish will eat Copepods but idk many that will eat the amphipods. Plus I only have a 28 gallon so I can't really get a very big fish and honestly I didn't want any other fish than my two clowns that I have... So does anybody know a fish that will for sure eat amphipods?

 

[Jone]

green coris wrasse,,I have one in my tank and he is down right a pod, nudi eating machine..I feel some days he is on the overly aggressive side of constantly hunting bugs to eat..I only feed him flakes lightly 2-3 times a week ..I couldnt ask for a harder working wrasse than him..

 

[Ron448]

So jones have you witnessed your green coris wrasse eating amphipods? Like the amphipod In the video I posted? And I only see the amohipods at night and most fish are sleeping when the lights are out which is another thing that seems like fish arent the best solution. Most of the time the amphipods don't come out until the lights have been out for a while and the fish seem to be sleeping by then

 

[Jone]

I have zoas on frag plugs on the sand,,once a week i go with a turkey baster and slide the disc a few inches to left or right to exspose the sand and my wrasse is right there eating away,,,right in my face..big or small pods.. not all pods come out at night,,its a progressive thing with fish and pods,,the fish is not going to eat them in one day,,the biggest thing is watch how much food (any sort of food) feed into the tank...you can always leave your blue lights on for a longer light cycle too,,,to give the fish of your choice more time to eat pods.....

 

[650-IS350]

I've had those large 1/4" or slightly large ampipods decimate COLONIES of prized collections before. Made me get a bunch of wrasses to control the population and also nuked the tank using interceptor to take out what wasn't hunted down by the wrasses.

 

[Ron448]

Thanks for the info everyone and yeah I don't expect a fish to be able to rid my tank of amphipod a in a congee day. Since I posted the video I hVe fed the tank twice in hopes that the amphipods will eat that instead of the polyps. And 650-IS350 I googled interceptor like you mentioned and the website I found said it was for red bugs. Does it kill all crustaceans and is it reef safe? I really don't want to add another fish for multiple reasons including that my tank is small, I've read that other fish will make clownfish less likely to breed, and if I do go with another fish it won't be until after it has been quarantined which usually takes about 6 weeks or more...

 

[650-IS350]

I think interceptor will kill other shrimp, snail, crab in there etc..

I just took out the snails, cleaner shrimp and other invertebrates I wanted not harmed. Other ornamental that I didn't care for that were bothering coral or other tank inhabitants like peppermint shrimp that I couldn't catch I let the interceptor do its work and caught them as interceptor was doing a number on them making it easier to catch. SOmeone can correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Ron448]

Yeah I've been reading up on it and I started another thread in the reef discussion and people said corals are fine and I don't have any other inverts in my tank. I think I'm gonna pull out a few of my expensive frags and float them in a bag while I treat it just to be safe and then also to save some Copepods to repopulate the tank. I found some interceptor at my house but it was expired so I caught an amphipod and did a test run In a single gallon and it killed it so I hope it's fine to use. I had a few polyps in there that I didn't really care about too just to see what the affect was on my coral and if it's open tomorrow I'm gonna dose my display