Nudibranchs on my zoas...Help!

trinitower · #1 10/15/2007, 02:38 PM

My Zoas remained closed for a few days and upon close inspection I noticed about five or six Nudibranchs. They where hard to see because they camuflage so well...
Help... I dont want to loose my beautiful colony.

How do I get rrid of them without bringing fish into the mix?
Eric.

barbra · #2 10/15/2007, 02:51 PM

I had them for a while as well. I hand picked them off since it wasn't so widespread of a problem, then the eggs hatch and you have to go at it again. It has been about 2 months now and I haven't seen anymore in a while. If the rock or whatever they are on can be removed from the tank you can treat with medication if you are inclined to go that route.

trinitower · #3 10/15/2007, 02:55 PM

Thanks.
what type of medication? Can I use an "in-main tank" type of medication? Also... any recomended brands that have been used by reefers would be nice to know.

eric.

barbra · #4 10/15/2007, 03:05 PM

Look up battles with flatworms. I think most people are going with the dog medicine called Interceptor last I studied the problem.

trdofwrkin · #5 10/15/2007, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by trinitower
My Zoas remained closed for a few days and upon close inspection I noticed about five or six Nudibranchs. They where hard to see because they camuflage so well...
Help... I dont want to loose my beautiful colony.

How do I get rrid of them without bringing fish into the mix?
Eric.

I had them also i never used chemicals or medications to get rid of mine.. i took the colony out and set it in a bucket of ro/di water for about 5 to 10 mins then i turned the rock upside down and twisted it in the water...this will knock them off the rock. they die almost instantly when put in the ro/di water.....once your done with that get a pair granny glasses...you know the ones that are glasses but magnify everything..it makes it easier to see them ..get a pair of tweezers and while your zoos are closed look for the egg sacs...they look like a white dotted donut.....pull them off and clean off the tweezers after every pluck.....the last time i did this was 9 months ago..havent seen any since.......works everytime

trdofwrkin · #6 10/15/2007, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by trinitower
My Zoas remained closed for a few days and upon close inspection I noticed about five or six Nudibranchs. They where hard to see because they camuflage so well...
Help... I dont want to loose my beautiful colony.

How do I get rrid of them without bringing fish into the mix?
Eric.

I had them also i never used chemicals or medications to get rid of mine.. i took the colony out and set it in a bucket of ro/di water for about 5 to 10 mins then i turned the rock upside down and twisted it in the water...this will knock them off the rock. they die almost instantly when put in the ro/di water.....once your done with that get a pair granny glasses...you know the ones that are glasses but magnify everything..it makes it easier to see them ..get a pair of tweezers and while your zoos are closed look for the egg sacs...they look like a white dotted donut.....pull them off and clean off the tweezers after every pluck.....the last time i did this was 9 months ago..havent seen any since.......works everytime

trinitower · #7 10/15/2007, 05:23 PM

Thanks..
What is the longest time I can keep the zoas in the FW dip?
Eric.

trdofwrkin · #8 10/15/2007, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by trinitower
Thanks..
What is the longest time I can keep the zoas in the FW dip?
Eric.

i wouldnt leave them more than 10 mins ...i left mine in for about 2 or 3 mins the fw dip wont kill the eggs...thats why you have to pick them off

trdofwrkin · #9 10/15/2007, 06:13 PM

and if you have anymore colonies you need to do those also even if they dont have any on them and check them for eggs...the nudi branchs will travel across the rocks to get to other zoo colonies check them once a week....and as a precaution you may want to fw dip them once a week and do an egg check also just to be on the safe side

coastalaqu · #10 10/15/2007, 08:03 PM

I did mine in freshwater and left them in there 5 min. Zoas are tough critters, they can take a lot.

customcolor · #11 10/16/2007, 01:48 AM

i had some come in on a frag from some one in our group and we had a good posting on it. here are the 2 i found in my system the next day after we where told that we may have them.

now is is a pic of what the eggs look like. they are very tiny. i got the pic from another website and its a great pic of the eggs. they are the white dots on the stem of the zoa.

You can do a freshwater dip (just be sure that the ph matches) or you can take a gallon of tankwater and do an Iodine dip. If you have Flatworm X-it put a drop of that into the water with the Iodine and let the coral sit in the solution for 10-15 minutes. Swish the corals around a bit with your hand and the nudi's if you have them should come right off. Then take the zoa and look at it very close with a light and look for eggs and pick those off with a tweezers. its best to look for the eggs when the zoas are fully closed.

i hope you get rid of them.

reefwisher · #12 10/16/2007, 06:42 PM

I had my zoos closed on me one time and my lfs suspected nudibrachs. He told me to dip them in Lugol Solution for 30 minutes a day for up to two weeks to make sure that you eradicate all of them. Lugol Solution will not kill the eggs sacks. That is why you do it for so long, to give it time for the nudibranch to hatch out and kill them. I did it for 10 days and my zoos are now opened up and very beautiful.