ID help please: White Spider looking hitchhiker

[gsxunv04]

Hello, I recently got a frag and during acclimation and FWE bath I noticed a white 8 legged spider mite resembling creature. too small to get a decent picture of. Any clues, thanks.

 

[khaosinc]

might want to look up zoa spiders..

 

[gsxunv04]

this?

thats not what i saw, the one I am trying to id is maybe 2-3mm in length/diameter and white

 

[iamwhatiam52]

Sounds like a Pycnogonid. I believe all are predatory, but don't know what they prey on.

 

[gsxunv04]

damn, I will keep an eye out for suffering corals/inverts. Is TMPCC safe to treat a whole tank with?

 

[LeslieH]

It's not known what each species eats and there are hundreds of them. In general they feed by biting into an organism like a sponge or coral & sucking out the contents. There are some coral predators that are nearly impossible to get out. If you search here or on the internet you'll find many many threads about them & how people treated their outbreaks.

 

[chrisstie]

You don't want to dump TMPCC into your tank, it can contain high concentration of iodine and kill everything.

Its best to follow its directions for soaking/rinsing items that you then place back into your tank, as the stuff inside of it will kill off things like copepods, and likely your newfound nemesis, as well as stave off any infection corals can get from open wounds from damage made by pests.

 

[Hephalump]

I recieved a frag of zoas with those on it a long time back. My research at the time suggested that they were parasitic on zoas, and indeed over the next couple of months all of my zoanthid colonies slowly withered and died out. I left my tank free of zoas for a little over a year after that and am now finally able to keep zoas again...I starved the little buggers out.