Nudibranc on zoa

[internetreefer]

I may have some Nudibranc on my Zoas. Anyone have this same problem before, how can I kill them?

Thanks

[Avi]

I've had a bout with them a few years ago. They do require serious attention if you want to maintain the zoanthids in your reef, as you, no doubt, do. You have to look closely and you'll see them...They're generally a reddish-brown color but they definitely can, in some cases, change color to a color more closely approximating the color of the zoanthids that they are attacking.

Here's a photo of one that I caught before I discarded it...



They breed very rapidly by laying eggs that are most often on the glass of your tank, so when dealing with these pests, you have to deal with the eggs as well as with the demons themselves.

Many people do dips to rid their zoanthids of these things, but I was unable to do that because many of my zoanthids had been mounted on the rockwork with epoxy. I also think that the dips cause more stress to the zoanthids, themselves. So, to address this, I used a turkey baster and it worked very well. I would use the water in the turkey baster to gently blow the zoanthids so that I could see between the "necks" of the polyps, which is most typically where they would dwell. Once I saw one, I sucked it into the turkey baster and put it in a container which I would discard afterwards. Being deliberate and going through each and every zoanthid colony two or three times a day makes this process very efficient with less and less nudis being found each time, although, depending on the number of zoanthid colonies you have (I had a lot) it will take up to two weeks to completely rid the reef of them.

As for the eggs....you'll see them, primarily on the tank's glass, as whitish-colored circles. When you see them, use the end of the turkey baster to squash them agains the glass and make sure they're dislodged from the glass. That destroys their viability.

With patience and attention, you will be able to rid your tank of these annoying creatures.

[internetreefer]

Thanks so much for your information. I have lot of Zoa Colony but they are not attached to any rocks, I used some Furan2 to dip them a couple of time within a week but they all come back in a week or so. If I setup a small tank and use the furan2 on that new set up tank for a couple of week, Do you think that will work? Is there a better med then Furan2?

[Avi]

You can take a look here, where there's some dipping info...It may be what you're looking for.....

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...ping+zoanthids

Remember, no matter which dipping procedure you may follow, there are probably eggs that will hatch even after you remove the zoanthid colonies for dipping, and then put them back in your reef, so it's not just a matter of killing the nudibranchs on the zoanthid colonies. So, keep looking for them in the tank. It does take some effort, whether you use a dip or not, to get completely free your reef of those pests.