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Nudibranch hitchhiker?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by GoodGreef, Nov 20, 2012.

  1. GoodGreef Well-Known ReefKeeper

    681
    Clive, IA
    Ratings:
    +239 / 2 / -0

    /Portals/0/activeforums_Attach/defh.jpg

    So I haven't been able to take a picture yet and it is tiny. But this picture of an Aeolid Nudibranch is very similar to what I saw earlier in my pico tank when I was adding my new pom pom crab. All I can figure how it got there is either from a new zoa frag I added a month ago. Or it was attached to one of the two snails I added a week or two ago. I've never dealt with nudibranch pests before, if this is a pest, and I assume so as 99% of them are. Should I manually remove it and hope for the best? Or do some kind of coral cleaning dip and check for egg bunches? It's about 1/4 of an inch in length. I'm going to double check this evening and make sure it's not a lettuce sea slug which I would be fine with as I have plenty of hair algae on my live rock it can graze on.

     
  2. saltwaternewbee

    saltwaternewbee Inactive User

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    Looks like a zoanthid eating nudi...what color are the zoas you added? Weren't green by chance..
     
  3. GoodGreef Well-Known ReefKeeper

    681
    Clive, IA
    Ratings:
    +239 / 2 / -0

    No the one's I added we're red. But I have a good sized colony of radioactive dragoneye so I am wondering if the new frag had eggs on it and this one hatched and has been secretly munching on my dragoneye. Today when I first noticed him my Zoas were all strangely retracted and not coming out, normally they are fully extended and the water chemistry is usual and stable.
     
  4. saltwaternewbee

    saltwaternewbee Inactive User

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    Check your zoas frags...if there are eggs...they will look like a circle of white dots in a slime coat. Remove with a q-tip and be sure to get it all off. Coral Rx will kill the actual pest but I don't know of anything to kill off the eggs. You can also find pics and info on coralpedia.com for other tank pests.
     
  5. saltwaternewbee

    saltwaternewbee Inactive User

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    Sorry..I thought it was a pic of your pest. A nudis will take on the color of the zoas its eating. The problems you are having are signs of them eating. Blow off the frag so the polyps close up..usually you notice they once the close up. You will really see them under actnics or blue leds.
     
  6. GoodGreef Well-Known ReefKeeper

    681
    Clive, IA
    Ratings:
    +239 / 2 / -0

    Having problems adding pic from windows 8 for some reason. So posted imgur link below, best pic I could get with phone. It appears it was the nudibranch I thought. I used the qtip idea and scrubbed off 4 different spirals of eggs on the dragoneye zoa. I caught the nudi in the act of laying some more on the zoa and removed it. Thanks for the advice. I'm hoping it was just one. Zoas are all retracted and after inspection I see no more.



    http://i.imgur.com/MYmZM.jpg
     
  7. Glad you knocked out that pest! nice work
     
  8. erayk1 Well-Known ReefKeeper Board of Directors Leadership Team GIRS Member

    981
    Coralville, IA
    Ratings:
    +35 / 0 / -0
    I think they look sweet, but I wouldn't risk it either!
     
  9. Deleted member 1172

    Deleted member 1172 Guest

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    Get em now before they chew your zoas to pieces. I had them, didn't know what they were and slowly watched my zoas get overrun! Everything's under control now, but it took almost a month of dosing salifert flatworm exit to get it taken care of!
     
  10. iaJim

    iaJim Inactive User

    775
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    Do they feed exclusively on zoas?
     

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