predatory Nudibranchs

[Carbone]

I'm having a big problem with my LPS corals for the latest 2 weeks. My aquarium is 75 gallons, 5x39 T5 and 6 months old. My water params are nh3,No3 zero, sg 35ppm, temp 79F, Ca 380-420, Alk 10-11 dkh, Mg 1300-1350. In the last 2 weeks, on the hammer and torch coral some white worm appeared as you can see in this picture

. Last week I bought a fungia and now I can see a few worm on it also. I manualy removed the worms with 2 sticks, then 15-20 min. dips in lugol's solution, but without success. I also tryed lugol and low salinity for 15 minutes (2 cups of water from the tank and 3 RO), but almost killed the fungia. I think that they are predatory nudybrances, but I did not found any quality picture on internet that will help ID those nasty creatures. What other things I must try to save the corals ?

Thanks,
Cristi

 

[papagimp]

actually that looks like his guts...not a worm of sorts. have you tested phosphates yet? Test result?

 

[Carbone]

yes, zero phosphates. Tested with salifert.

 

[bertoni]

I'd try in the LPS forum. The water parameters are all fine. What corals are nearby? Maybe the coral is being stung.

 

[Carbone]

in the first photo is the "thing" removed with a stick. In the second photo, i marked with red the worm and with green the marks left 3-4 days after worm remove.

 

[Carbone]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11473578#post11473578 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bertoni
I'd try in the LPS forum. The water parameters are all fine. What corals are nearby? Maybe the coral is being stung.

all 3 corals are nearby, but there is no way for them to touch.
I also have a small colony of favites that appears healthy.

 

[bertoni]

The "worm" might be a mesenterial filament. Hard to say. The bumps remind me of a disease seen on zoanthids. Some people have reported success with an antibacterial, but zoanthids are very different animals, and the problem might not be the same.

Some corals can put out sweeper tentacles and sting nearby animals:

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=16&cat=1928&articleid=2355

 

[Carbone]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11473698#post11473698 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bertoni
The "worm" might be a mesenterial filament. Hard to say. The bumps remind me of a disease seen on zoanthids. Some people have reported success with an antibacterial, but zoanthids are very different animals, and the problem might not be the same.

Some corals can put out sweeper tentacles and sting nearby animals:

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=16&cat=1928&articleid=2355

favites are up on the rocks (on the upper half of the tank), and torch, hammer and favia are on the bottom, with 5-6 cm. between them when are fully expanded. When they are an the lugol solution, the worm are not contracted (as a ball), they are more like a ribbon.

 

[bertoni]

5-6 cm is far too close, in my opinion. Sweepers can be longer than that.

 

[Carbone]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11473766#post11473766 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bertoni
5-6 cm is far too close, in my opinion. Sweepers can be longer than that.

I punished them and moved them on opposite sides of the tank now. I'm reading now about mesenterial filament. From the pictures and other posts, it seems that is also my case. The problems apperared after adding a bleached BTA witch also almost dyed in the tank. I did a 40% water change and ran same fresh carbon.

Thanks for your help.

:beer:

 

[bertoni]

You're welcome! Good luck!