Zoos eating nudibranch

[Pedro]

Man i tell you this hobby is as stressful as anything else. Just when you think things are going smooth, something comes up. I was wondering why my zoos have been closing up, and i have also noticed that they were also dissapearing slowly. This was most noticed on a rock that had alot of small zoos. So today i was looking around as usual when i noticed this nudibranch. Upon closer inspection i noticed that they were all over the rock. They take on the appearance of the zoos they are eating, so they blend right in. They also seem to just eat the crowns and move on. I have read that a freshwater dip of the rock will get them to release, but it doesn't do anything to the eggs. So i will have to dip numerous times. Since they are toxic, i will take great measures to insure i am safe. Maybe this is an indication to me to stay the course and stay fish only. I will deal with this dilemma as best as i can. I am just glad that i don't have much to treat since i have just set it up.

Now on to the culprit source. I truly don't know. It could be from some zoos i got from a vendor, or they could have come in on my new live rock. I will never know.

Here are some pics for reference. Notice how in some of the pics you will see the damage left behind after the nudi passes.

Back to lockdown it is. Sucks as i was starting to stack up.

If anybody has any more information, i would appreciate it!

 

[jhale]

pedro, sorry you have them in the tank,
but damn those are some great photos.

it's wild how well they camouflage themselves.

 

[zahner]

i've pulled off as many different color nudis as i have zoos, they are excellent at hiding, but no match for the turkey baster. . awesome pix

 

[scarf_ace1981]

awesome photos eventhough they are of a nasty little pest.

don't let this get you down. i found two of those in my seahorse tank and now found flatworms in that same tank. i'm ready to take them on. dont give up yet.

 

[digitalreefer]

I took my zoas out one rock at a time and fw dipped them for 3 or so minutes... killed them with no harmful effect on the zoas

 

[fritz]

If you've caught them early enough it may not be so bad. I was able to rid my tank of them with an aspirator. I would use the aspirator blast my zoos causing them to close and expose the nudis. I'd then suck them right off and toss them.

Hopefully they haven't laid eggs yet.

 

[jhale]

I took my zoas out one rock at a time and fw dipped them for 3 or so minutes... killed them with no harmful effect on the zoas

this is good but use RO, match the temp and the ph.

though if the zoo's are on big rocks this won't be so great to do.
this method is better for when you get a smaller zoo colony.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

The nudi is good looking though.

By the time all the good looking zoos are gone you still have good looking nudi that mimic your zoos :batangel: :batangel: - better than my case that leave me with a "seriously urgly" crap (oops crab).

 

[ShaunW]

this is good but use RO, match the temp and the ph.

You actually don't need to do this. Zoos are extremely hardy and can handle FW dips in RO water, just make sure the polyps are completely closed up first.

You need to go after the eggs above all else. Any zoo you find them on, cut it out and remove it from the reef when you FW dip. Those little bastards destroyed many of my prized zoos a year or more ago, . Good luck.

 

[noodleman]

only eating the crowns of the zoos huh :scratchch they must be the best part like the muffin tops :lol2:

 

[lfsmarineguy]

from experience I can tell you that the baster works awesome just make sure you don't sever parts of the nudi. Any part and I mean ANY that falls off will grow into a brand new nudi and just start all over again but much smaller. We had a GSP eating nudi (looked amazing lol) long purple tentacles everywhere with green tips. We started with sucking them out and the tentacles kept falling off. Within days we had so many that we ended up taking the whole rock out and blasted it with fresh water. Seems almost a shame to kill these slugs sometimes they do look amazing. Also, as a caution wear gloves when handling any of the tools for extricating the slugs. They often store compounds such as posions and other things in their bodies from their prey, it's entirely possible they contain palytoxin or other noxious chemicals from the zoas.

 

[simike]

VERYVERY nice pics...... at the next frag swap or mr event you have to give a class on how to set up to take nice pics for both pro setups and point and shoots

 

[Pedro]

Thanks guys. Since the rocks are small and easy to take out, i will go the freshwater route. I'll use ro/di. I am not sure if i can see what the eggs look like, but i'll use a manifying glass and look for them. I can dip now, and then dip next week. Hopefully that will kill them even if the eggs were laid.

The turkey baster is a good idea, but i noticed so many, all different sizes, that it's probably not the best thing for me to do.

Solbby, thanks for the pic, i can now identify the eggs. Here they are. So yeah, they have laid eggs! Damn it!

 

[ShaunW]

OH MAN! those eggs are going to be the hardest part. When I had the nudies, I spent alot of time inspecting each individual zoo for the eggs to remove them from the zoos. Use a small knife to scrap them off OUTSIDE the tank in some water containing container. In the end I lossed my patience and just ripped the zoo/eggs out with the cutting tool/sharp knife.

 

[ShaunW]

Pedro, you can win the battle, I did, but it will require constant dips and vigulence to get the eggs.

 

[ShaunW]

Thanks guys. Since the rocks are small and easy to take out, i will go the freshwater route. I'll use ro/di. I am not sure if i can see what the eggs look like, but i'll use a manifying glass and look for them. I can dip now, and then dip next week. Hopefully that will kill them even if the eggs were laid.

The turkey baster is a good idea, but i noticed so many, all different sizes, that it's probably not the best thing for me to do.

Solbby, thanks for the pic, i can now identify the eggs. Here they are. So yeah, they have laid eggs! Damn it!

Your going to have to do more than that. I was dipping twice (sometimes) three times a week until I didn't see a single nudi anymore. That took more than a month. The eggs required about three weeks until I didn't see them anymore. If any of the eggs hatch your going to have many nudies to deal with, so it is better to get the eggs above all else.

 

[House of Laughter]

Pedro,

Nice to be able to get pictures to see what is actually going on. I know it's not my money, but I would just throw them away and call it a day, start over and get a different strain of the colony you have.

Good luck with it, I remember how much of a toll it took on solbby, what a pain in the @$$

Wondering if a malenarus wrasse would readicate them?

House

 

[Pedro]

House, right now i am going to try a pedroneous wrasse. That's the only way i can guarantee myself some progress. I'll be doing more research on this and i'll report back any findings. I'll do the dip most likely on tuesday. I am curious to see just how many are on this rock alone.

Stay tuned!

 

[Pedro]

I also found one on my bubble gums. Just pay attention to the size. This is why it's so easy to miss them. You really have to stare at them for a while.

 

[Pedro]

Small update:

I think i found a cure to kill them. I siphoned off two of them and put them on a styrofoam plate. I then dripped one drop into them of flatworm exit. Immediately they started to disintegrate. I will post the FE result pics after. Here is an extreme closeup of what they look like. Notice what looks like the zoos pigments in the body. Seems like small reservoirs.

Solbby, did you ever try the FE treatment?