Known species to nip at SPS' polyps
- Thread starter redcable
- Start date
Biocubehqi
New member
Angels, any and all! Crabs, shrimp, yes even heard of pepermint shrimp going Rambo on 'em...
windcoast reefs
New member
Ive had a few angels over the years and they all went after my spa. Ive even had a few tangs go a little nuts. Usually I do lots of research before buying anything, if someone has had a problem Im sure you can find it in a simple google search.
Reef Bass
colors and textures
I disagree. My kole tang and chocolate tang ate all the flesh off several acros, including a was beautiful tort colony. They tagged team them as I watched in horror. They seemed to prefer acro flesh over the abundant algae and even nori sheets.
When it was clear this wasn't a one time thing they went to the LFS.
sahin
Ultimate Reefer
Green Clown Goby. He would dive into the SPS and take a bite of the polyps. Once he was removed PE became normal after a day or so.
Mexican Turbo Snail. I know this sounds strange. But for some weeks the bases of some of the SPS in my tank would have white areas...kind of like STN, but not quite.
I checked all parameters etc and couldnt figure it out. Around this time, I have an assortment of 14 snails in my tank, Astreas, Trochus etc and the one big Mexican Turbo snail. A large phosphate battle had just been overcome and algae growth become almost nil.
So i started to watch every fish, critters etc. I then one day noticed my Mexican Turbo snail grazing on the rock right near the base of an acro. The snail got closer and closer and to my amazement, I saw him graze on the SPS flesh near the base. He left the grazed areas as white. It didnt stop there! He almost half mounted the SPS frag and started to graze the middle of the frag. Leaving whitish areas! :worried2:
After removing him, all the affected acros recovered. I did read of one other person on this forum suspect their hungry Astreas in their frag tank do this, whilst the connected display was fine.
Mexican Turbo Snail. I know this sounds strange. But for some weeks the bases of some of the SPS in my tank would have white areas...kind of like STN, but not quite.
I checked all parameters etc and couldnt figure it out. Around this time, I have an assortment of 14 snails in my tank, Astreas, Trochus etc and the one big Mexican Turbo snail. A large phosphate battle had just been overcome and algae growth become almost nil.
So i started to watch every fish, critters etc. I then one day noticed my Mexican Turbo snail grazing on the rock right near the base of an acro. The snail got closer and closer and to my amazement, I saw him graze on the SPS flesh near the base. He left the grazed areas as white. It didnt stop there! He almost half mounted the SPS frag and started to graze the middle of the frag. Leaving whitish areas! :worried2:
After removing him, all the affected acros recovered. I did read of one other person on this forum suspect their hungry Astreas in their frag tank do this, whilst the connected display was fine.
Finland
Member
I agree, mine mine nip constantly. Never ate the flesh, but constantly "mouthing" the acros
X2 on the yellow clown goby. Some are model citizens but the second one I added to the tank literally attacked my SPS. Saw him out of the corner of my eye while I was eating dinner one night, shooting from one colony/frag to the next picking at it. First I had a few that wouldn't extend polyps and by week two or so after getting him nothing was extending polyps.
Regardless of what people say, if you have cherished SPS colonies in your tank I recommend avoiding clown gobies.
I'm going to add a cherub angel pretty soon. From everything I read the risk is minimal with the pygmy angels for SPS but not so with LPS.
sahin
Ultimate Reefer
That, as well as the fact that with numerous large colonies, the damage is manageable and spread out. Whereas a tank with frags will really suffer.
Bigmike
New member
No one has mentioned emerald crabs, the beloved member of most clean up crews and savior from bubble algae also in some tanks has been known to go for SPS polyps. I have heard of/seen/owned emerald crabs that had a taste for SPS. Do a youtube search and there are some videos on there of such.
Note, some people think that all of the instances where "reef safe" critters become "unsafe" is because their diets/food source are not substantial enough and the SPS colonies they go after are in fact unhealthy and dying already. I am NOT in this camp of thinking.
Note, some people think that all of the instances where "reef safe" critters become "unsafe" is because their diets/food source are not substantial enough and the SPS colonies they go after are in fact unhealthy and dying already. I am NOT in this camp of thinking.
sahin
Ultimate Reefer
I think the Emerald Crab is an example of cases where it could be either way: I have an EC in my tank at the moment. I've had them before too. Only once did I have a problem with EC's; that was in my nano; which became very clean, no algae etc, and the EC was quite large. He started to mess around with my SPS. My SPS were very healthy etc. In a tank without sufficient food, they have no choice but to try and eat something.
My current tank is much larger than my nano tank, and the rocks do have bits of algae here and there.
