PPE Eater!

[ntswift]

My PPE's are slowly being eaten. I dont know who to blame because I am obviously not seeing anyone eating them. I have two suspects, a coral beauty and a sally lightfoot crab...There is also a Humu humu Trigger in there but I dont think he's it but who knows...Anyway, does anybody have any experience with any of these guys and them liking PPE's? I know Coral Beauties are a 50/50 chance on nipping corals but normally they will do it outright in front of you right? TIA!

Matt

 

[Faciosity]

I wouldn't trust any of them near my zoas! I will gladly take care of your PPEs!:lol: I've been looking for some of those ever since I first entered the hobby, why didn't you tell me you had some! If any survive, you gotta trade me! I have purple and blue hornets fraggable, plus tons of others. Good luck, I hope you find out what's going on and save some of them.

 

[baseballkid5]

The Coral Beauty will nip.. But My guess is the Trigger is for sure not reef safe.. If he gets a taste he might be going back whenever he wants a snack..

 

[kevinpo]

Hi Matt,
Are they closed up sometimes or do they seem open all the time? Check for Sundial snails. Baby ones can be quite tiny and hard to spot. Also check the coral after the lights go out for predators.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[returnofsid]

Matt, look over the effected colony very closely, for the Sundial Snails that Kevin mentioned AND for Zoanthid eating nudibranchs. Zoanthid eating nudibranchs are very difficult to spot, since they take on the color of the Zoanthid they've been munching on. Use a magnifying glass, to inspect between the polyps, for any egg strands.

As a precautionary measure, I'd suggest dipping the colony in a Melafix bath, and a CoralRx bath, separately. Each dip can be 10 minutes long, swish in saltwater in between and swish before returning to tank. Zoanthids also respond well to Iodine baths. Also, inspect the outside of the polyps, when closed, and look for any "whitish" blemishes, that may indicate Zoapox.

Inspect the "bath" water, carefully, after the dips, to see if any nasties came off.

 

[ntswift]

I wouldn't trust any of them near my zoas! I will gladly take care of your PPEs! I've been looking for some of those ever since I first entered the hobby, why didn't you tell me you had some! If any survive, you gotta trade me! I have purple and blue hornets fraggable, plus tons of others. Good luck, I hope you find out what's going on and save some of them.

LOL...I'll let you know if any survive this ordeal! I only had two left yesterday so now I am just hoping and prying I find the culprit before they all go away....I put it up high in my tank next to one of the jets so that way it would hopefully prevent the fish from going around it and nipping at it too long. It looks as if the whole polyp has been eaten down to the base. Not just little bites being taken out of it. I will go check down there when the lights are off to see if I can see any of those snails or nudibranches. I figured if I had any snails in my reef though the trigger would have eaten them!

But My guess is the Trigger is for sure not reef safe.. If he gets a taste he might be going back whenever he wants a snack..

I'm pretty sure he just isnt reef safe because he eats all of the snails and ornamental shrimp in the reef. Not because he eats corals...well at least I hope not...I talked to Kevin @ Aquatic Dreams and he said that the trigger was good to go. Just becareful around shrimp.

 

[returnofsid]

I agree that the Trigger probably won't eat any corals, but will make quick work of any motile inverts, such as shrimp, crabs, etc. You may also have trouble with clams.

 

[ntswift]

Yeah I chose him over getting clams but he is a pretty cool trigger so I dont mind too much!

 

[Jesse_emel]

And your sure there was no chemical warfare going on? I've seen my anemone kill some stuff and also my frog spawn will reach it's tentacles out and kill zoo's at will. Just something else to think about.

 

[ntswift]

yeah because it is only one here one there gone not all of them dying. the whole thing is gone all the way down to base.

 

[ntswift]

Well I found the culprit....Its my Purple tang! I just saw hit chomping down on one of my new zoas!