<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6798959#post6798959 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Abalone joe
I to have read your article. It was very informative. Thank you.
Your welcome
1. In practice, will all predatory/parasitic Isopods scavenge on dead foods? In other word after bating/trapping them out am I going to be left with a bunch of these pests that have no feeding response to dead foods?
No, not all isopods seen in the reef hobby will scavenge on dead foods. There is some speculation that most isopods seen in the hobby are strictly predatory/parasitic, but I've never seen a study that shows that. I think the baiting and trapping will help with the scavenger variety only, and only if there is no other food source (ie. fish) in the tank.
2. In absence of other foods, live or dead, are they likely to feed on sessile invertabrates?
The biology and preferred food source of cirolanid isopods is poorly understood, even in the scientific community, because there are just so many species. However, the vast majority appear to feed off of dead food and/or fish or in rarer cases shrimp. I have yet to see a report of a cirolanid isopod attacking sessile invertebrates and all of my corals, clams, sponges and feather dusters/christmas tree worms did not suffer any damage or losses I could see. I wouldn't worry about sessile invertebrates being victims.
3. Once no more Isopods can be seen or trapped, Is that likely the end of the infestation? If not, how long should I wait from the last siting/capture?
It is still hard to give an exact time for how long to wait. In my case, three days of the stinky water method removed the remainder (8) of my Cirolanid isopods. I then waited another 60 days, and tried the stinky water method 8 more times with zero captures, before I added fish. This was probably overkill, but since brooding females might abstain from traps, I would try at least 3-4 stinky water traps for 30-60 days before I would recommend adding fish.
All bets are off if your isopods are strictly parasitic/predatory, then the recommended wait of 3-4 months is still a good idea.
4. After this quarantine with no sitings, How confident can I be in the Isopods erradication?
For me it was more of a mental thing, I probably did more stinky water traps than were necessary after my last capture, but I did it to raise my confidence level they were really gone.
5. Would keeping the rock in a LR only system for 6-8 months be just as effective with none of the work or frustration?
For the strictly parasitic/predatory cirolanid isopods, yes, 6-8 months would be a great quarantine, assuming you don't get any hitchhiking fish
No live food source + 6-8 months = no predatory/parasitic cirolanid isopods.
However, if you have the scavenger variety of Cirolanid isopod and you have hitchhiking corals that would benefit from feeding, then some stinky water trapping is probably the best way to get rid of them and then 2-3 months later you can begin feeding the corals. I had one brain coral that started receeding after no feeding for 2 months and it has looked a LOT better now that I can feed it food again.
It is GREAT you are thinking about this, shows you care about the animals you plan to keep. But remember that Cirolanid isopod hitchhikers are the exception rather than the rule on LR, just not that common, even from FL rock.
That being said, I know that when I get my next LR shipment I'll be doing at least a couple stinky water traps while the rock is in QT, just to see if anything shows up. Very little effort for a very big reward if I find them before they reproduce!
Brian