zoa eating nudi's

cuz · #1 05-31-2010, 02:04 AM

basically, does any one have a method for either a tank treatment, or a natural preditor? read that wrasses are hit or miss, also read about flat worm exit but that would meen alot of snails to hunt down meaning close to a teardown. Dips would be difficult as alot of my zoa colonies are on huge rocks.
any ideas are welcome but prefer hands on experience with them.

Gooly001 · #2 05-31-2010, 02:18 AM

We've had great success treating nudis with PraziPro and it is somewhat reef safe.

Cheers,

Paul

cuz · #3 05-31-2010, 02:22 AM

hmm define somewhat reefsafe? quick read seems like its fairly toxic. not for use in fish food?
have you used it in a mixed reef set-up without problems?

noirsphynx · #4 05-31-2010, 04:31 AM

Looks like it might be worth a try

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

cuz · #5 05-31-2010, 04:39 AM

good link!! thanks!!
sounds promising!

Zoaelite · #6 05-31-2010, 04:59 AM

If your looking for a more natural option, read below but to completely remove them from the tank its imperative to inspect every zoa for the egg sacks. I found that yellow and purple corris wrasses worked very well.
Hope this helps.

Quote:

Zoa eating Nudibranch Eating Wrasses
Many of us have had the unfortunate experience of combating Nudibranchs in the past. I don't wish them on anyone as they will wreck continuous havoc on a zoanthid population. Many will only keep Palythoas as a sort of proactive measure to keeping their reefs Nudi free. It is still possible, if great care is not taken, to infest your tank with Nudibranchs. They will Hitchhike on rocks without a single zoanthid present. It certainly happened to me many moons ago, I simply forgot to dip and true enough, BAM, a Nudi. I have seen them in stores on rocks without a single zoanthid or palythoa on the rocks. From many hours of just watching them, they will consume one rock, then travel to find more polyps to consume and yes, they will travel across other rocks to get to the next colony they want to devastate.

Dipping, close visual inspection and QTing are the most noted ways of preventing infestations, but a good hunter always on the prowl will also decrease the amount of time the infestation will occur. For this reason, lets create a list of known Nudibranch consuming Wrasses for future reference. Listed below are a few that I have heard of, but I'm sure their are many many more, so please take a moment to share everyone. It could truly help a fellow reefer in need some day.
All WRASSES
1. Yellow Coris
2. 4,6 and 8 Line The 6line ( can be a real PITA ) MAY kill other wrasses
3. Lunar
4. Possum (reefsafe)
5. Orange Striped
6. Christmas ( questionable with inverts will kill starfishes )
7. Pink Striped
8. green coris
9. leopard wrasses ENEY
Not a wrasse the target mandarin,
Some have said most anything in the Halichores Family as they are serious stalkers.

cuz · #7 05-31-2010, 05:19 AM

only because of the availability of the yellow coris here in town i was planning on a 6-line wrasse tomorrow.
thanks for the help Levi!!
I have had 2 zoa colonies dissolve down to nothing but thats been over the course of 1 1/2 yrs so i ruled out nudis previously. Now its got me woundering!!

what is the differences between zoas and palys in a nudis eyes? as quoted above? keeping palys as a pro-active measure??

Zoaelite · #8 05-31-2010, 05:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cuz

only because of the availability of the yellow coris here in town i was planning on a 6-line wrasse tomorrow.
thanks for the help Levi!!
I have had 2 zoa colonies dissolve down to nothing but thats been over the course of 1 1/2 yrs so i ruled out nudis previously. Now its got me woundering!!

what is the differences between zoas and palys in a nudis eyes? as quoted above? keeping palys as a pro-active measure??

The nudies won't eat pally's, Nudies like certain other species (Starfish, Harlequin shrimp, ect...) eat really specific food sources.

Chowder · #9 05-31-2010, 05:48 AM

I use a melanarus wrasse . It is always hunting and picking at the zoas and other corals for food.

http://www.themarinecenter.com/fish/...lanuruswrasse/

I alos dip all my zoas when I get them an expect them for eggs. I use the salt water they came in and 5 drops of coralRX. It kills all inverts and nudis that are on the frags and colonies. I have a friend who swares by flat worm exit. Same thing adds it to the water they came in.

http://coralrx.com/

If you can remove your colonies and dip them and expect them I would.

Chris

kien · #10 05-31-2010, 07:56 AM

Melanarus and Leopard wrasses for me. Two very pretty wrasses that are extremely hard workers