Zoa Nudibranch

[tamn3]

Hi Everyone,

Sorry for having you check but I found a couple of Nudibranches in my tank today :uhoh2:. Kinda freaking out and narrowed it down from the picture from the archives to either a Zoa, Monti, or Berghia (if I dream big enough) Nudbranch.

Can someone please verify?

Thanks,


Nudibranch by tamngo3, on Flickr

 

[dublo8]

It's a nudi for sure. If there is one especially that big there will be more.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[tamn3]

Do you know which kind? Any known treatments?

 

[philosophile]

Nudis are very particular in their diets... So the question is where did you find it? If you found it on your zoas then its probably munching on them.

Examine your polyps... Do they have spiral white dots on them? Those would be nudi eggs. You need to mechanically remove them all. A toothpick works well for this. Tweezers too. They stick remarkably well. Dip the zoas if you can to help get rid of any nudis hiding among them. You'll probably want to repeat in a week just to make sure you got them all.

http://zoaid.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=415

 

[Lytehouse]

Nudis are very particular in their diets... So the question is where did you find it? If you found it on your zoas then its probably munching on them.

agreed
what type it is will be easiest determined by where you found this critter in the tank.

also as stated, there will be others

 

[ct_vol]

Looks like a zoa eating nudi to me... Definitely not a monti eating or berghia... JMO...

 

[tamn3]

O Wow thanks Philosophile that was a cool site. I have a rock full of Zoas... Not sure how to remove that and dip it. Just got some Space Monster Zoa's too. This blows.

Upon further inpection, looks like some of the "fingers" of the Zoas are missing. Not sure if they're retracted or just gone.

Thanks everyone for the input. Any recommended action besides hunting them down? Should I get a Radiant Wrasse? Would that help?

Out of all the stuff to eat they pick the most expensive one.


Zoa Rock

 

[philosophile]

I wouldn't try to get a predator for this problem. You really need to just hunt them all down. Also remember to dip your new purchases, to prevent this in the future.

If you can separate your zoas you can do one rock at a time. Pull out one, stick it in a bucket of salt water, sit outside or a place with LOTS of light, and just be methodical looking at every polyp. Look under the rock, in crevices, etc. Poke at anything that doesn't look like a zoa. nudis can change color and when all scrunched up they look weird. Don't let your zoas dry out, so dip them in the water or keep them submerged if you can. then do it all over again in a week.

The alternative is to do a regiment of dipping. You'll get rid of all the unhatched nudis after a few dips, but the eggs will be there. They'll hatch in a couple of weeks. Dip again, and get the rest. But nudis can sometimes hold on really good. Second, it endangers your zoas from being eaten, and being stressed from the dips. Picking them out is less stressful on them I think.

 

[KoralKeith]

Get a six lined wrasse

 

[dublo8]

Six lines won't do jack on them. I have had 3 and none of them will touch a nudi, I can attest to this as well as many others. I sat and watched my 6 line look at a nudi and kept on picking around it and never even second guessed it. Use a high quality dip that says it will kill nudi's as well. I took my zoa rock out and did what was mentioned above. If you have a powerhead that has a stream type output (as opposed a wide flow pattern) use that in the bucket to blow the crap out of the rock. It will get any remaining nudi's but the eggs are pretty much what you have to worry about. The dip probably won't do much for the eggs at all.

 

[Lynnmw1208]

A lot of people say dipping in flatworm exit works to kill these guys. I dipped my zoa frag in seachem's reef dip and it didn't kill mine as I saw them a week later munching away and blending in with the red skirts. luckily I think they were the only ones.

 

[bobbychullo]

i dipped in revive.

i needed to "help" them off the zoas. i used a turkey baster and gently agitated the coral in the dip to create turbulence in the water to knock them off the coral.

the dip made them weak, it seems you need to leave them in the dip for quite a while to kill them, i did 15 minutes. i also made the dip solution a tiny bit more powerful than the directions. it irritates the coral for sure but i wanted them gone...

 

[MikeandNicole]

Flat worm exit, dip the zoas you can get out of the tank. The reason I keep telling people to use FWE and not the other dips is because it works plain and simple. Here is a great article for those who are still not convinced:

http://www.practicalcoralfarming.com/zoonudis.html

Also with FWE you can also treat the whole system if you can't get zoas off the rocks. You must obviously do this with caution but it works.