Friend or Foe?

[Lee]

I picked up a few nice pieces from Manhattan Aquariums yesterday & I think I got this hitch-hiker as well. It looks like a nudibranch to me. It's only about 4mm long & a second after I took this picture it floated away from the glass, into the water column & disappeared into my live rock. If I see it again should I try to get it out of my tank?

 

[NYreefNoob]

monti eating nudi, one of the hardest pest to get rid of

 

[weirdbeard]

looks like a 'pod to me...Manhattan Aquariums is usually really on top of thier game when it comes to livestock, but the rule of thumb i use is if i did'nt put it in my tank, i dont want it in my tank. having said that i'll relinquish the floor to some more experianced diagnostitians...good luck!

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

It's a nudibranch. They usually eat corals, if you see one you have lots more. It is definitely a foe!

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=703240


RC thread

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/identification/82919-zoa-eating-nudibranch-pics.html

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum...rgent-my-sps-have-bug-dreaded-monti-nudi.html

2 threads from MR

 

[Lee]

Good news, I hope. As my tank is only a couple of months old, I don't have any Monti yet. Just some shrooms, zoas, and a very small piece of torch. More importantly, I THINK I HAVE REMOVED IT FROM MY TANK! I am hoping that since I have not seen it before today, it was a lone hitch-hiker that came with a frag I picked up yesterday. I found, what I am hoping was the same one back on the glass & siphoned it out. I'll keep my eye out for others.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

With these things there is no good news. There is no hoping. Some eat Zoas. Some eat mushrooms. Read the threads posted for ways to try and get rid of all of them. Like I said if you just see one then you have many more hiding and even more waiting to hatch from the eggs.

 

[jf2381]

Like stated before. Not a good sign. Be prepared for a long battle.

 

[TRIGGERMAN]

I think they have had a problem with these at manhattan aquariums for a while ozone park guy buys most of his corals there and he had a problem with them also, nudis SUCK I had the zoa eating ones in my tank for a while. If you see one take it out IMMEDIATELY.

 

[Manhattan Aquariums]

Our sincerest apologies, Lee -

All of us here at Manhattan Aquariums strive for rigorous quarantine process when it comes to livestock and I'm very sorry to see that such a hitchhiker came with your purchase. When dealing with such heavy volume of water, rocks and corals from all over the world on a consistent basis, it will always be an on-going effort for us to make sure we are as close to pest-free as possible when the corals finally reach our customers but unfortunately, few will slip through our radar occasionally.

We do ask of our customers to take the precautionary step as well when dealing with any livestock is added to their system by going through the process of dipping and QTing.

When dealing with nudibranchs, 20 ~ 30 mins dip in Melafix or FWE will kill them. Coral Revive is another excellent product to use for preventive dips. Afterward, a quick dip of a minute or two in fresh RO, shaking the frags / colony rigorously will ensure that any remaining nudibranchs will come off. Repeat this process every week or so to account for any possible eggs remaining on your coral and it's a bullet proof method of getting rid of these guys. Especially in smaller systems, it will be a very easy process for contain and control. Hope that helps,

 

[Lee]

Update: I went back to Manhattan Aquariums & spoke with the always very helpful; Eddie. I picked up Melafix and did a bath/dip on the all of my zoas, mushrooms & the small piece of torch coral I have Tuesday night. I think I may have killed 1 nudi doing the dip (it was so small it was hard to tell). Along with the 1 possible nudi there were a bunch of pods that came off of the corals. I haven't seen any sign of any additional nudis. Everything is looking pretty good, most of the zoas have re-opened, the torch is looking good, but the mushrooms have not fully opened back up again. They are not looking bad, just not as full as I have seen them. The 2 baby ocellaris clowns I got last weekend are looking good as well. I've also continued to dose & tested, test results are as follows:

Alk - 10.5
Calc - 395
MG - 1550 (I'm skipping a couple of days of MG dosing & doing a water change over the weekend)
PH - 8.2/8.3
Ammo - 0
Nitrate - 0
Salinity - 1.024/1.025

Thanks for everyone's input. I'll post if there are any changes.

 

[Lee]

Update: I really think I dodged a bullet. Since my last post I dipped one Zoa frag again because it is not opening & I just wanted to be safe. Everything else is looking good & I have not seen any sign of additional nudis. The Zoas that are not opening had fallen to the bottom of my tank behind my live rock for a couple of days before I could get to it. I was forced to move my rock around to reach it. The good news is that I reconfigured my rock & I think the new look is much better (I'll try to post some pics soon). Even after repositioning almost everything in my tank, still no sign of nudis. Thanks to everyone for their responses. I believe your replies caused me to act quickly & it seems I may have caught the nudi hitchhiker before it had a chance to lay eggs. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone. Now I'm ready to start adding more to the tank. Any suggestions?