Sea spiders! Help please..

Mike de Leon

New member
Been observing some string stuff hanging off of most of my sps. Thought they were just that, are some dirt that got into the tank. Then they started moving! They are on the sps when the lights are off. They could be the reason the acros are pale.
will interceptor kill these pests?
Thank you in advance...
 
What are hydroids?
They are so small and difficult to take pictures of. They look like small crabs with very long slender legs.
 
No they don't. I am almost sure they are sea spiders. If they are anything like crabs then interceptor should kill them? It looks like I have infestation. I am starting to get stn on a few happy corals. Well, now sad corals
 
If they are anything like crabs then interceptor should kill them?

Interceptor will only affect crustaceans and sea spiders are not crustaceans. Unfortunately, tropical sea spiders are poorly known and have no known predator readily available in the aquarium trade.

Certain species of sea spiders are known to live under the coral mucus layer so dips and chemical treatment might not be effective against them.

And Along Came a Spider...
 
DZHUO, thanks for the interesting article. I think I will try a mandarin. They are nucturnal like the spiders.
I will try and take a pic and post it later...
 
So i see a few of these spiders on my new digi colony and decided to dip. Lo and behold! At least there were about 20 that came off of it. Then decided to dip another couple of frags and the same happened.
I am thinking, I can't be the only one who has this problem. Symptoms are almost the same as any other pests. No polyp extension, colours are off and RTN from the base of the acros.
Armed with hardly any info at all on how to deal with this, I tried interceptor. A had a few left from the last RB bout a few months ago. I decided i am trying a higher dose to see what happens (There was another post by someone else who tried interceptor with no success).
I dosed 3/4 of the tablet instead of only half.
This morning when I woke up there was a couple hundred just floating around the tank! Looks like the interceptor did it. Not sure what it does to the eggs. I guess I will see shortly. Almost immediately the polyp extension came back on all the acros.

Since I don't have a qt I won't be adding any corals for a while. QT is the next investment!
 
That's great news, I'd expect maybe several treatments maybe 10 days apart or so would help get any newly hatched pests. Did you take any photos?
 
DZHUO, thanks for the interesting article. I think I will try a mandarin. They are nucturnal like the spiders.
I will try and take a pic and post it later...

Mandarins are NOT nocturnal. Mine sleeps motionless and even changes it's skin color to pale brown like the substrate once the lights go off.
 
congrats on finding a solution ! I also have spiders, i pickled them one by one at night . they were coming back so i gave up. Thanks for the info.
 
That's great news, I'd expect maybe several treatments maybe 10 days apart or so would help get any newly hatched pests. Did you take any photos?

No pics unfortunately. Need a macro lens to get a decent shot. I will do another treatment or two when I do water changes every two weeks.
When you think you only have a couple there could be a couple hundred hiding under rocks and such.

I have always thought a Mandarin is nocturnal...
 
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