Glenn April 23, 2010 Share April 23, 2010 (edited) I saw this creeping across a piece of tile in the frag tank this morning .. any ideas as to what it is? and is it harmful to the frags ??? I've taken it out of the main tank and have it floating in a holding cell until I know what to do with it. Edited April 23, 2010 by Glenn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan April 23, 2010 Share April 23, 2010 (edited) It's a nudibranch. A predator. Do you have any zoanthids the same color as the nudi? Zoanthid nudis change their color to match their host so they can go unoticed. Montipora eating nudibranch stay white. Edited April 23, 2010 by Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind April 23, 2010 Share April 23, 2010 It looks like a zoa nubi to me too. One that has been munching on something green. If you have zoas you will want to dip and inspect them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leviathan_XE April 23, 2010 Share April 23, 2010 +1 for the zoa munching nudi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Camaron April 23, 2010 Share April 23, 2010 that is a a zoa eating nudi for sure, looks like its been munching on your dragon eyes or some nice green zoa. dip them in iodine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan April 23, 2010 Share April 23, 2010 You can also just dip zoanthids in fresh water to kill the nudis. Zoanthids handle fresh water dips just fine. The problem you will have is finding and killing the eggs. Look for the eggs in between the zoas with a magnifying glass. Wear gloves! The eggs appear as a tiny "C" shaped tight nit cluster covered with a jelly like membrane. You will have to scrape them off. It's best to look for nudis at night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn April 23, 2010 Author Share April 23, 2010 I do have zoa's, but nothing "high end" in the frag tank except a cluster of watermelons. There are a few colonies of 'basic green' zoa so I'll inspect all of them this evening. Odd thing is that this guy was at the opposite end of the tank (6') from my zoa 'farm' on a piece of slate that had four hard coral (pink birds nest and three similar looking pieces) pieces under the 250w MH bulb. The 4x4 tile is near the middle of a sheet of eggcrate that is 2" off the barebottom tank floor. IOW, he was a long way away from home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan April 23, 2010 Share April 23, 2010 Have you introduced any new zoas or corals into your system? Somtimes when they're new to a system they'll come off their host. Sometimes when there are many, they will wonder about looking for another host. I'm curious to know how your zoas appear. Have they been closed are are they shrinking? I do have zoa's, but nothing "high end" in the frag tank except a cluster of watermelons. There are a few colonies of 'basic green' zoa so I'll inspect all of them this evening. Odd thing is that this guy was at the opposite end of the tank (6') from my zoa 'farm' on a piece of slate that had four hard coral (pink birds nest and three similar looking pieces) pieces under the 250w MH bulb. The 4x4 tile is near the middle of a sheet of eggcrate that is 2" off the barebottom tank floor. IOW, he was a long way away from home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn April 23, 2010 Author Share April 23, 2010 here's a decent sample of the Zoa's in that are in the frag tank and it doesn't look like any of them are closed up. The last pic is the most recent - 3-4 polyps on a small plug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan April 23, 2010 Share April 23, 2010 Pic 3. How's that colony? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k April 24, 2010 Share April 24, 2010 (edited) It appears to be an Aeolid Nudibranch of some unknown type. You should let it eat some red zoas and see if it changes color. Next week it could be blue. If you're bound and determined to kill, I'll take it and do the experiments... Edited April 24, 2010 by zygote2k Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flowerseller April 24, 2010 Share April 24, 2010 You can also just dip zoanthids in fresh water to kill the nudis. Zoanthids handle fresh water dips just fine. The problem you will have is finding and killing the eggs. Look for the eggs in between the zoas with a magnifying glass. Wear gloves! The eggs appear as a tiny "C" shaped tight nit cluster covered with a jelly like membrane. You will have to scrape them off. It's best to look for nudis at night. haha They will leave to find a new host and thay do not discriminate where they land next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn April 24, 2010 Author Share April 24, 2010 After the fresh-water bath suggestion yesterday, I filled a two-gallon critter keeper with fresh RO water and floated it in the tank for a couple hours. Then I took all of the Zoa and put them in the RO water for about 10 mins. All of the Zoas closed up but the only thing to exit them was little bristle worms, small 'long spindly legged' stars, and a few copepods. @Jan - not sure what you're asking about Pic 3 ?? After the lights come on this morning (0900 actinics, 1200 T5's) I'll try to find that colony (everything is now repositioned after the FW bath :-) ) and take another pic. @Zygote - for now, the nudi is just staying in a critter keeper. I'll throw in a polyp this a.m. if I can find a 'fun' color and let you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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