something is eating my zoanthids

[pwhitby]

Bristleworms are a sign of a healthy tank. They arecexcellent scavengers.

I'm certain BWs are not the culprit here.

P.

 

[lauremf2002]

six lines and or yellow coris are excellent on red flatworms, but...thats not what the issue is.

I do not see nudibranchs in the pictures, i do see folded edges of the polyps, but not a nudibranch.

When my zoas disappeared it was due to a crab coming out at night and eating them. Have you tried to look at night and see what is scurrying about?
I also have had fish eat zoas as well, but i doubt that this is your problem.

P.

Ive lost my red led light but have turned on the actinic in the middle of the night to see if I could catch anybody red handed and havent seen anything unusual. I see hermits wonder over them occasional but they look like they are just doing their thing and cleaning the rock of algae and crap. Ill keep my eyes peeled, but I think its a lost cause at this point. One whole colony is now dead and the other two are well on their way. I think I must have done the freshwater dip wrong, because it appears to have made things worse. Many of my polyps deflated and or never reopened after the dip.

 

[lauremf2002]

Also, I am a bit bewildered at the fact that several colonies remain unscathed (aside from the fact that they are P.O.d because I dipped them). Only my expensive ones are dying. Go figure.

 

[Lytehouse]

Lauren,

I hate it you are having so much trouble with zoanthids. Something is for sure going on.... If you had nudi's you would have seen evidence when you did the dip.

Did anything come off the colonies during the dip? What was in the bottom of the bucket?

I believe, if your colonies were already stressed, you could have gotten by with a salt water dip and a mixture of iodine(like lugols) and maybe revive.

If Paul says no nudi's you can about buy stock on that advise. Crabs can come in as hitch hikers on rock, can grow to quarter size in a smaller tank and aren't that easy to see unless you can sit back and watch patiently for awhile with just the actinics on. You wouldn't notice them until they got big enough to get hungry enough to do damage.

I sat at a lfs with the owner about 2 years back just after closing because something was messing with the primary display/sale tank for coral. We sat and talked for a good while before a gorilla crab crawled out. Harry little bugger. As soon as we noticed and moved to get a better look he was gone. Tank had been set up for a very long time.

Good luck in your search

 

[happysak]

If it isn't rabbitfish(they can do some damage),
If it isn't nudibranch(which still can be),
You can have bacterial infection(pretty common thing) or zoa pox(picture #5)

Cheers, Roman

 

[lauremf2002]

Ok, so my next plan of action is to stake out my tank with red light and Im thinking of setting a coke bottle trap as well.

 

[lauremf2002]

O yeah and for anyone else with this problem, or any coral problem for that matter. I found this very helpful http://www.coralpedia.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=384

 

[Lytehouse]

O yeah and for anyone else with this problem, or any coral problem for that matter. I found this very helpful http://www.coralpedia.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=384

For anbody that does not dip your corals, take a good look at this page for things that go bump in the night--- with zoanthids. :fish2:

 

[luvabunny]

Zoanthid eating SPIDERS!!! Ugh!
That's a face not even a mother could love!
I don't think I'm going to sleep tonight....

 

[pwhitby]

April,
Try these on for size:

Seaspiders come in many forms.

http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&...=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1353&bih=770

 

[kender]

Oh thank you very much. To know my one and only arch nemesis is in the sea too. Fantastic! I am going to have nightmares now. Spiders, why'd it have to be spiders!

 

[luvabunny]

Ewww! Ewww! Ewww!
What are you trying to do? Give my nightmares extra ammunition?
Gave me shivers just looking at the page!
I don't know what it is about yellow spiders, but they REALLY creep me out!

I think if I found ANY of the above critters running around in my tank, I'd just have to sell it! Take it all, I'm not sticking my arm in there EVER again!

BTW, What's the deal with the dude's nose on pg 13?

 

[lauremf2002]

Stake out complete. Luckily I did not find any spiders. or anything else for that matter. Bunch of hermits and bristle worms just cleaning house. Maybe it was just the excessive nitrates I had in the tank (I did a monster water change), or maybe the freshwater dip killed whatever it was, because the surviving zoa's are opening back up now. Chalk this one up to an unsolved mystery.