nudi's really like yellow zoas

Runfrumu · #1 10/25/2007, 11:10 PM

I suggest anyone who has nudis get a colony of yellow zoa's. They will all migrate toward them and chow down, making it easier to target them. I noticed on a multi-rock I got a week or so ago, one by one, the yellow zoa's were closing up, then withering away. I chalked up the first 2 or 3 to stress, but noticed tonight one that looked exceptionally good had closed up. I flipped off the light and looked, and 30 seconds later nudis were all over the yellow zoa's.

So after a freshwater dip, and several dozen dead nudi's later, I havent spotted any moving in around 10 minutes. I'm sure there are more, and eggs as well. But I think I got a large portion of them tonight.

here's a fat, dead one , I hope chowing down on a few zoa's was worth the freshwater hell I sent him to:

glee · #2 10/26/2007, 01:25 AM

i don't think that is a nudibranch. it looks more like a copepod. go to www.zoaid.com to see a picture of a nudi.

CableGuy · #3 10/26/2007, 01:36 AM

That is not a nudi but an amphipod.

Colby

Runfrumu · #4 10/26/2007, 08:30 AM

Oh.....well..............................I'm sure he was up to no good.......

actually I lost another even after the FW dip.

delsol650 · #5 10/26/2007, 08:43 AM

Yup, thats a ampipods.. reports have been out there that some have been known to eat zoos. But a contingent here on RC seem to disregard this and give excuses that they are just consuming dying, unhealthy zoos.

I for 1 am a witness to this and can say this happens. If you do have the unlucky situation of having these RARE event.. a yellow coris/green coris or wrasse should do the job for you.

Bri Guy · #6 10/26/2007, 11:18 PM

I have problems with too many amphipods and ive personally seen them chew on healthy and unhealthy zoas. Dirty bas....

Runfrumu · #7 10/27/2007, 12:18 AM

So I'm not losing it!!! I'd flip off the light's and watch and those little buggers would shoot straight for the zoa's. They haven't touched any but the yellow. I bet they taken out 5 or so now. The one I thought I had lost is opening back up. Hopefully my problem is solved with the yellow's dying. They don't seem to spread as fast as the other zoa's, and they dont seem to make the "mat" that the rest make, just single polyps here and there.

Runfrumu · #8 10/27/2007, 12:48 AM

I was just watching again under the red light. And there are 4 or 5 of those little pricks on my yellow zoa's. Theres not a whole lot I can really do to stop it since the little pest's are all in my tank.

glee · #9 10/27/2007, 01:04 AM

have you considered getting a six line wrasse or other carnivore to control your pod population? when i introduced a six line into my tank, the pods disappeared...good luck@!

ficklefins · #10 10/27/2007, 08:35 AM

I was having the hardest time with my zoas and I suspected that those guys were the cause. I got a flameback angel who tuned out to be an active pod hunter. My zoas are all starting to come back, and the difference between before I got the angel to after is shocking.

delsol650 · #11 10/27/2007, 09:11 AM

Wrasses, pipefish, cryptic fish are best at killing ampipods..

Some say they just eat the algae/debris/detrius off the zoos, but when you actually see them decimate COLONIES ( SEVERAL new healthy ) thats a different story... I now run a wrasse tank and no more ampipod problems.. they're population is now small where they can eat off the left overs and not outcompete each other and feel the need to turn to new food sources..

Lytehouse · #12 10/28/2007, 12:50 AM

Think your getting good info here. It is one of the few things that affect zoa's adversly that has an easy fix. Any of these fish that fit withing your size tank and configurations will help you out very quickly.

Python73 · #13 10/28/2007, 11:05 AM

So let me get this straight... you are freshwater dipping corals, to rid yourself of a creature that you can't identify, because you are sure they are eating your zoanthids?

Ever buy liverock? Ever trade live sand with anyone to help "seed" your system? Yeah, you were doing that to get amphipods and copepods into your system. These two critters along with bristle worms (and there are still many people killing all of these they see) ARE your detrivore kit.

Do amphipods eat zoanthids? Anecdotal evidence says maybe. Scientific evidence is non existant. And before the anti-pod crowd gets all up in arms that they witnessed amphipod slaughter of zoas in their own tanks, that is ANECDOTAL. Please look up the term.

At any rate, if you feel you have too many amphipods in your display, simply get a sixline wrasse or something similar to check the population. And realize that you will never eliminate pods from a saltwater tank, unless you only have fake rock, dead sand and home mixed saltware and then NEVER add anything else from anywhere. They are there for a reason, it is a good reason, and you simply need to adjust to it.

Good luck.

S !