Zoa eating nudi's

[DonW]

How big are they? Do they lay egg and if so how big are they?


Thanks
Don

 

[Curtswearing]

Don,

I've seen them but I don't know if they lay eggs or not. I can tell you that they take on the color of their prey making it harder to find them. Spend a lot of time around polyps that are closed.

 

[mfinn]

They are usually1/8" all the way up 1/4". They do lay eggs usually in a little tiny circle on the zoanthid polyps.

 

[DonW]

So basicly there is no way for these guys to get through a filter sock??

Don

 

[mfinn]

The nudi's themselves wouldn't and I doubt the eggs would either.
Found my picture of a egg's.

 

[DonW]

The nudi's themselves wouldn't and I doubt the eggs would either.
Found my picture of a egg's.

Thanks,
What I'm contemplating is a 8" round x24" long zoa condo/qt below my stand. Basicly just water flowing in and exiting through a filter sock. In theory should work and stop nudis from exiting??

Don

 

[DonW]

This is the light that I have for it. Is it enough?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7726678217&category=46314

Thanks
Don

 

[mfinn]

Yeah, I would think so.
That light would work. I would even look for an additional actinic, just to bring out the colors. However, nothing brings out the colors like a 14k or 20k mh.

I have a small 20 gallon setup that kind of a q-tank that I use a 96watt power quad with a 55 watt actinic. Colors are ok, but not like the 40 gallon zoanthid tank with the 250 watt 14k mh.

 

[acrylic_300]

I got a good picture of a Nudi and its Eggs at the bottom (white circle looking thing).

I'm going to dip them in RO/DI Iodine water tonight and pick any eggs I can find off.
I wasn't too worried about them untill I saw my zoas closing up and 20 or 30 little baby Nudis covering a polyp (feeding on it I assume).

 

[NaH2O]

great photo acrylic_300!

 

[acrylic_300]

Iv'e been studying them intensly for the last couple of days....the little white specks on the two polyps above the eggs are baby nudis.

It takes them about 3 days to start darkening up...then they perch right in the center of the closed polyp so that it looks like a peice of skirt peeking out.

These things are tricky...the egg sacks look like new polyp growth...the babies look like a peice of flakey zoa skin...the juveniles look like a peice of skirt sticking out of the polyp...and of course the adults look like a full open zoa.

 

[mfinn]

Those pictures should help people realize just how difficult it is to spot these things.
Great pics.

 

[Curtswearing]

Finn and Acrylic,

Two thumbs up. Both of those pics are fantastic. I'm saving this thread to my 'favorites' list.

 

[NaH2O]

acrylic_330 - if you get a chance can you photoshop the pic again, and place a circle the egg case (just like the one on the adult)? I just want folks to be clear on which is the egg case. I'm not sure everyone can notice the spiral shape.

Here is a pic of an adult I took out of a friend's tank:

 

[aquarookie]

Gosh, those nudis are good looking... Well, not good looking enough to sacrifice your zoanthids, but still...

 

[VHO Guy]

Rule of thumb is that the nudis are the color of what they eat. And the same goes with some species of mini-stars. I have had good luck with Arrow Crabs eating the Nudis so you might want to try one in your planned Zoo Tank.

But in all actuality the nudis are easy to find. Since they are so small and slow they usually only effect a small (3-8) amount of polyps at a time. Look at which zoos are not open and you will find them.

 

[NaH2O]

VHO Guy - Welcome to Reef Frontiers!!!

 

[TWallace]

Just thought I'd throw in a pic of one I found in my tank last May. This is about as big as they get, so this one is easy to spot.

 

[JoshF]

Great photos everyone! Do the nudibranchs move around much, or do they just stay within their target colony?

Josh

 

[Beakerbob]

The ones I have seen stay on a colony of zoas until they have to move on to another food source. Here is one I found in an LFS last year.