Urgent, my sps have bug, the dreaded monti nudi

[ctxmonitor]

I just noticed my Montipora digitata bleaching pretty quickly.. I might have some bugs . I see white little bug crawling around. Not the red bugs that I see on some pictures. They don't have the red head that I saw on one of meelve's picture.

I don't know if they are just isopod or something. But I see some crawling around and I see patches of white stuff on the bleaching montiopora.

Anything have any idea?

[ April 20, 2005, 01:28 AM: Message edited by: ctxmonitor ]

 

[ShaunW]

Are any other corals (SPS) bleaching? The white stuff is most likely dead tissue. Do you have nudibranchs?

Are the bugs crawling on the montipora tissue that is still alive, since they may just be scavingers eating the already dead tissue.

Sorry for all the specific questions but we need more info to help you out better.

 

[Pseudo]

You have Monti Nudis

 

[ctxmonitor]

I don't think I have any nudibranchs. I see the white bug crawling on the tissue that is still alive. But so far only the montipora is bleaching.

 

[jenniebutterfly]

sounds like pods crawling around. they eat dead tissue from corals, so maybe your monti is dying. do you have it in a high flow area?

 

[cali_reef]

You have monti eating nudis, they are white and very small, usually 1/16th of an inch.

If you see holes on the white part of your monti, they are not bleached; instead the tissue has been eaten away by these little basters.

 

[jenniebutterfly]

here is a picture of a monti eating nudi

hope this helps you id it

http://www.reef-encounters.com/photos%20subpages/pests.htm

 

[jenniebutterfly]

but what makes me say pods is that they are crawling, which to me, i guess i am assuming means they have legs. so are there legs? or does it just glide along?

 

[ctxmonitor]

That a good point jennie. If what I saw was crawling then it couln't be the monti nudi. But I think you are that the pods just there to finish off the dead tissue. But I will have go home and wait till midnight and use a flashlight and hunt for the nudi.

 

[jenniebutterfly]

ok so you think they have legs lol. i wish i could get a pic of pods in my tanks, but they are so tiny about this size ---> .

my camera won't focus on them. so could be amphipods or copepods, but take a good look tonight

 

[ctxmonitor]

they were moving very fast, so I'm assuming they have legs..

Or at least I haven't seen anything crawl that fast .

But the weird thing is it look like there is white fluffy, or a bunch of white eggs all over the bleach part.

 

[ShaunW]

Originally posted by ctxmonitor:
they were moving very fast, so I'm assuming they have legs..

Or at least I haven't seen anything crawl that fast .

But the weird thing is it look like there is white fluffy, or a bunch of white eggs all over the bleach part.

Could be nudi eggs?

 

[ctxmonitor]

I guess my worst nightmare is true afterall. Came home today and took the monti close up to the glass for the close look and sadly.... There they were crawling slowly on my monti.. Damn... I see it had spread to a few other coral and I was cleaning and fraging for 4 hours trying to save my monti digitata, and orange cap. And after this I don't even know if I had gotten rid of all of it. I wonder where they had came from!!!

I took them off and dip them in fresh water and pick out as many as possible..

 

[Pseudo]

Do not fresh water dip your monti's. It will make them loose all of their zoozanthale (color). Take them out of your tank and place them in a large bowl of tank water. Get yourself a good turkey baster and a new toothbrush and a couple of toothpicks. Dose the bowl with either Luglos iodine at 3-4 times the suggested strenth or Seachem Reef dip until the water is red (good indicator for the right dose of Reef dip not the Iodine). Dip corals for 10-15 minutes.

Frag off where ever you see the bleached (dead)spots if on the edges. If they are in the middle of the colony then you have to look for any patches of eggs and anything that is moving. The newly hatched nudi's look like pods or little worms. You need to blow them off with the turkey baster. (Just for reference blow off anything that moves on the monti)

You will also see the adult monti nudis (white slugs with antennae) on the underside (sometimes on the top, they tend to hide from bright light)of the colony. They must be taken off. They hide in the cracks and crevices of the colony. Blow the hell out of those spaces with the baster. I know this is tedious but you will have to do it.They also lay eggs on or around the base of the colony and on the rock so baste there also. Use the toothbrush to brush off the eggs and the toothpicks to get into the hard to reach places.

After basting the colony with the iodine solution (do not place coral back in the bowl) rinse them with some tank water into the bowl. Place back in your tank. You are going to have to check the colonies every 2 days for at least a month to get them all.

When checking for the nudis bring the colony up to the surface of your tank water under the lights and you will see them moving under the water on the coral. Turn the coral around and check the whole thing while under the water. Once you take the colony out of the water they flatten up against the coral so it makes it hard to see them.

"You must check every monti in the tank" even if they look unaffected.

HTH,

PS: Sorry I didn't post this earlier but was running out the door. This is going to take you a while to fix and you may lose some of your stock. I would frag a few pieces if it looks like they are winning and toss the colonies. If you bought any type of bali colony or frags over the last 6 months that is where you got them from.

[ April 20, 2005, 02:51 AM: Message edited by: Pseudo Boy ]

 

[Pseudo]

I forgot to say that it may take several months to get rid of them. I wouldn't place any more monti's in the tank unless you are sure you are rid of them.

 

[cali_reef]

Here is my suggestion, throw a way all the typical digis and caps, only try to save rare stuff if you can't get them again easily. You can always get more montis after the nodis dies off from lack of food source.

You can also get them from frag trades, a lot of people don't know they have pest on their coral and trades them off. Coral QT is as important as fish QT now days, you never know what you getting with that nice frag.

 

[ctxmonitor]

Pseudo Boy, thanks for that great info and treatment. I will do that for a few months. I did noticed that the dip wash out the color from the monti..

I'm guessing the only choice I have now, frag and discard as many as possible.. TRY to save the rarer one.

 

[Pseudo]

Whatever you are going to throw away let me know as I have a 10 gallon QT tank and I am bored.

 

[jhale]

that sucks ctx, can you figure out where they came from?
that's scary.

I'll frag some m.digita, by the time you get rid of the nudi's I'll have some nice size pieces for you. it grows fast in my tank.

 

[ctxmonitor]

Thanks jonathan.. I dont' know.. I got a shipment of some sps on an ebayer with some zoo, recently.. But they aren't montipora or like pseduo boy asked, I didn't get any bali.

Could they have came in on other sps (not monti, or bali) or zoo?