Eggs? on my Zoas

[Jamie]

So I'm battling zoanthid eating nudis right now...going away on vacation for two weeks certainly didn't help.

I pulled out a bunch throughout today...probably about 25 or so. I pulled out the irritated colonies and did a thorough inspection and gave them a very strong dip. The zoas were pretty ****ed but are starting to open up under the moon lights.

All of the irritated zoas are on the left side of my tank. Carefully inspecting the right side of my tank...I found what looks like strands of eggs on the sides of a few zoa stalks. I've been scoring the web to try to ID the eggs....most of the pics of the zoanthid eggs look really elaborate and sort of wavy. The strands in question are white and are in a small curl.

Searching the web some more...they sort of look like cerith eggs...I happen to have about 100-150 ceriths in my tank...so maybe that's it.

Does anyone have a pic of zoanthid eating nudibranch eggs?

I'll try to get a pic tomorrow...my camera is dead right now.

Thanks,
Jamie

[Kristy]

Okay, follow the link on this thread

http://www.maast.org/forums/showthread.php?p=590935#post590935

and read all about zoanthid eating nudibranchs. There are photos of the nudis and another photo of their eggs. I would think it's unlikely that they are cerith eggs, because 1. are you really that lucky? and 2. the location of the eggs.

Good luck to you!

[Jamie]

Thanks for the link...unfortunately I'm pretty sure they are nudi eggs. This will be a tough battle, I'm sure. I'm setting up another QT tank and will be dosing flat worm exit and dipping etc. I love my zoos...hopefully I can keep them safe.

[clone]

good luck man im in the process of getting rid of these also.
dont for get to look under the rock the zoas are attached to,get a magnafing glass and take your time because even after dips they still seem to come back.

[SoLiD]

If you get a Yellow coris or Six Line Wrasse, I'd consider those guys toast. I didn't even know I had one (1 year ago) until I saw my Large Neon Coris Wrasse hunting one on a bunch of New Zoanthids I bought. He was pacing back and forth like a tiger ready to pounce.... then.... pow.... the nudi was history. I nick named him the "Banana Barracuda". He's a beast... :bareteeth:

[stoneroller]

Why flatworm exit? Nudis aren't flatworms. Dip each zoa frag or rock; the adults cannot tolerate the osmotic shock of RO water and a little iodine bath doesn't help them out either. Just make sure your zoa polyps are closed up. Inspect each and every polyp with a magnifying glass for the egg strands and pull them off with tweezers. I always dip every zoa frag and examine each and every polyp that goes in my main tank. As stated, get a good nudi-eating wrasse or two.

[Jamie]

Flatworm Exit because of this...

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1109378

I've ripped out all of the agitated colonies...(all but three older colonies which seem unphased...plus a few brand new frags) and removed the nudis and closely scoured for eggs, scraped them off and put them in a harsh solution of seachem's reef dip. So far so good...but we'll see. We just bought DarthTater's 30 gallon set-up...so it will conveniently be serving as our QT until this situation is resolved. I plan on dosing FWE a few times...probably 5-7 days apart to break the egg laying cycle. Apparently only mature adults can lay eggs. But maybe I'll get super lucky and be done with it.

The nudi toll...
About 25-30 Nudis removed/eradicated
about 15-20 egg sacks scraped off...I was surprised at how many I found...really had to look closely on the underside of the zoa stalks.

I've been planning on getting a 6 line...I guess now is as good a time as any.

I'll keep my progress posted.

R, Jamie

[SoLiD]

Dont Buy a Six Line Wrasse. I got an extra one for you. He's medium sized and a real nice guy compared to my other one. :bigsmile:

[Jamie]

Well, I just got finished treating two of the three colonies I hadn't messed with yet. Sure enough I peeked into the tank right before going to bed and I saw a nudi on my orange zoas...except the nudi was blue! So out came both colonies (blue and orange)...an hour later and the nudi toll rises by three and the egg sacks by 4. I will pray for all the helpless pods that have bit the dust today...caualties of war always stink.

Thanks David...PM sent.

[stoneroller]

Flatworm Exit because of this...

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1109378



Excellent! Good luck.