Giving up on zoa's-to many nudi's!!!!

[ANNIESREEF]

I have dipped all the zoanthid colonies that can be removed. One really mass of large pink zoas cannot be remove. The rock they are attatched is a support for other rocks.
I do not want to do it, but I am going to let the nudi's have it til they are all gone. the ones I can remove and dip and check for eggs I will and give to my son. The rest, well I will never be able to eradicate those (&%&@#$ pests. maybe once they have eaten them all they will die!!!!
Everyday I remove 5 to 10 of them. No more zoa's tho I love them-they spread so rapidly and have so much color.
Good luck to the rest of you.

[ficklefins]

Sorry to hear about your nudi problem. Never thought I would say that!!!

Hopefully once they are all gone you will be able to get some more zoas and start again, pest free this time.

[MUCHO REEF]

Hello ANNIESREEF, I have to ask you something, and please don't take offense to this and I mean absolutely no harm. If you had a child, a child whom you loved dearly and was very sick as my son was, and you had to go through hell along with your son just to get him well, would you give up? If you had an antique car which you loved dearly, and you had worked diligently for years to restore. Just before completing the restoration, you just couldn't seem to find that one part to finish the project, would you give up and stop trying or looking? If your oldest child graduated at the top of his class from the University of Alabama, an sought gainful employment with 10 major companies, all of which he aspired to work for and no one hired him, would you tell him to give up? I know it may sound harsh, but I don't want you to give up on reefing just because of Nudibranchs. I have defeated them several times. If you want to leave the hobby because you are tired or no longer interested, then I support your departure 200%, but if you are leaving because of Nudis, then you are allowing a grain of rice size piece of nothing to cause you to do something of which you really don't want to do.

I had a 70 gallon reef loaded with well over 120 colonies if I remember correctly. I had some extremely rare zoos that can never be replaced as I still have not seen anything like them. I wasn't about to allow them to make me throw in the towel and give up. With diligence and persistence, I defeated them my friend, and you can too.

You can do one of two things to save your reef. You can continue to dip every other day, and check your reef constantly. Keep handy a long nose turkey baster, a tooth brush, a small set of tweezers and a pair of long nose surgical tweezers. Be ready to snare them as soon as your actinics come on in the morning. They will slowly try to run for cover, some will even become bold enough not to even move. Using the untensils I listed above, start your day with removing them. Use the baster on the small juvis. When you're finish, the actinic lighting will highlight the curly eggs sacks. Using the a dedicated set of smaller tweezers, lift the rock out of the water and remove the sacks. Or, if the rock is too large or impossible to remove, navigate around each polyp searching for egg sacks and remove them. Check your tank throughout the day and you will even see them out and about in broad day light my friend. Once your tank is dark for the evening, check your tank about 2 hours later with a flashlight, if you see one, go get the dude ASAP. Check your glass, they will even crawl out for you to see them as they like to lay eggs on smooth surfaces.

OR,

You can give up and allow them to defeat you. I know you love reefing, but how much do you love reefing? No, I'm not trying to call you out or embarrass you, I simply want to motivate you to do as I did. If I can do it, you, and anyone else who really wants to stay in this hobby, can and will do the same.


If you can set up another tank or allow a fellow reefer to hold your zoos that have been dipped, that will work as well.

I say try just a little longer, if it becomes too much for you to handle, then I would agree with your above statements. If I can say or do anything to help, don't hesitate to ask.

Don't think for a second that I am high and mighty with my remarks, and I meant absolutely no harm my friend.

Hang tough, Mucho

PS, just noticed you have a 36 bow front. My friend, you don't know how close you already are to defeating them. Even if you have to break down that entire reef, you can save it, I KNOW IT. I wish I lived close to you, I'd knock them out for you.

[Kelmen]

Yoh brother, you don't necessary to go for a full-stop on zoanthids.

As you planned, let your tank be with no-zoa for about 2 or months.

Say, after that whenever you are in the mood again, try go for a cheap zoa then. By that time, the nudis probably all been starved out.

And this time, you should play by all the safety-rules : quarantine, dipping, etc.


GL

[ANNIESREEF]

I haven't totally given up. I cuss the darn things and still suck up everyone I see and happily drown them! Some colonies are to large and thick or impossible to remove for dipping-and yes, I learned my lesson about dipping! I still remove the ones I can but several I cannot and I watch them slowly disappear. My yellow with green skirts, crazy zoa's, blues...
Mucho, I am not offended. Just really, really aggravated! It seems to be a no win situation. I am setting up a 10 gal tank with my next water change to place most of my zoas. I an cutting the rest from their rocks and glass and start dipping and watching. And guess what? Found a sundial snail!!!! Damn! Went for the baster and it was gone so now I have another predator to watch for.
I'm still fighting. Way to much invested to throw it away. My tank is still young and a work in progress. Our company is amazed by all the life forms.
I HATE NUDI'S!

[OCDP]

Great reply Mucho,

IMO this is what I would do... seeing as it's the easiest method of removal.. setup a small 5g tank or so, whatever size you desire, OR send your zoos over to another reefers QT or something.. let the nudis in the tank starve.. and once you know they're gone, re-add your zoos.

Wouldn't this be the easiest thing to do? IMO it would be.

[MUCHO REEF]

Good, hang tough my friend.

Mooch

[funkyman]

Here's a suggestion, and you can take it for what it's worth. I was fighting the same fight you're referring to. Every morning, I'd turn on the tank lights, and get the ones off the glass I could see. There were always a couple. It was pretty frustrating.

Then one day I noticed some flatworms in the tank. Of course, I got some Flatworn Exit and performed the instructed treatment. Actually twice. I did it again 3 or 4 days after the initial treatment to take care of any stragglers / eggs. It worked like a charm.

Some time went by, and it dawned on me one day that I hadn't seen any nudis in a while. I found it odd, and extemely coincidental, that after the Flatworm Exit treatment the nudis were gone as well.

Again, this may have been strictly coincidence and I can't prove it wasn't, but at the cross road you're at, what have you got to loose?

[ANNIESREEF]

I will try anything at this point. The nudi's in my tank are out day and night-not shy at all.
I havent seen any flatworms but I will try it!
How long before the eggs hatch?(nudi eggs) I have seen them but was afraid of tearing their tubes...

I am setting up a 10 gal. going to use the water from my next water change but I guess I need to let the tank cycle so the bio-wheel will be efficient and no ammonia...should I use carbon to?

[funkyman]

I'm not sure how long it takes eggs to hatch. I simply waited a few days in between treatments. Part of the process will be running some carbon. The instructions are very clear and specific that come with the product.

[jsn150]

what does nudi look like ?

[FragLife]

Hello,

I agree, a picture would be great.

[funkyman]

This is the best picture I could find.

[ANNIESREEF]

That is it...They can even turn the color of the zoo they are munching on. When on my crazy zoa's they turn bright orange on some they are typical brown and sometimes greenish. Nasty creatures! What is there purpose anyway? Some are so tiny you need a magnifying glass to see them and some are better than an 1/8th of an long and very visible!

[Reef Junkie]

Why not add FWE into a separate container with a nudi in it.
See what happens. Use the proper dosage for a smaller container.