Zoanthid hitchhikers

Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum

Help Support Reef Aquarium & Tank Building Forum:

mfinn

Surgeonfish
Joined
May 31, 2004
Messages
6,904
Location
Olympia, WA
Have you ever gotten free zoanthids on your live rock? I mean ones that you didn't know were there when you bought the rock.
Usually it's the plain brown ones, but I got these two freebies the last time I bought live rock by the box.
Anybody else?
 
Well, Gotta say when I bought your liverock Finn you really hooked me up! I have a bunch of colorful small colonies that started out as one or two here and there on your rocks. Took them a while to start going but now they are sporting tiny baby polyps all around the original starts. Still say if any of them are something you don't have I will replenish your stock in thanks. I also got those brownish blue ones on a nice hunk of liverock from that one store... EM... can I name it in good etiquette if I bought the speciment before I worked there? Anyways it has the zoanthids, plating brown algae which is cool looking and some kind of encrusting stony coral that has really taken off. Scored with that rock. Have seen others too, boss scored some blue zo's on that last batch. If you are into hunting ask to examine the uncured liverock the day it comes in as I have pulled some stuff out of the bins before the curing process fried the hitchhikers and gotten meat coral, plating coral, the zoanthids, sponges, clams, and plants to survive. Also the stinky mess at the bottom of the box sometimes has bonus frags. Course you want to quarantine uncured liverock lest you also get a new pet: Mantis shrimp!
I used to be a rockhound. Think that was a cheaper hobby.
Kate
Kate
 
Yeah, I knew there was some possiblities.
You mean Extreme Marine in Olympia, I picked up two new really nice zoanthid colonies in the last couple of days.
 
Ditto. Got 2 more nice rocks. Can't wait to see what they look like with the halides going, my hood is almost done. Am hoping my blue/brown hitchhikers will manifest a new color too. Can't wait!
Never did find that picture of a zoanthid eating nudibranch, where was that posted? I have little ones, about 1 mm long but they seem to hang out on the rock and glass more than the inverts, think they are eating biofilm or algae. Still, would be nice to know.
Kate
 
Zoanthid eating nudibrach and eggs
 

Attachments

  • zoaeatingnudi.jpg
    zoaeatingnudi.jpg
    95.6 KB
Nice pictures, you take them? I haven't seen anything like that yet but how big are they? Maybe I am not looking hard enough. Will watch out. The flatworms i have are tiny and rectangular.
Seems like lettuce nudibranchs are about the only safe one you can keep... other than aiptasia eating berghia.
Kate
 
I Have Never Been To Extreeme Marine In Olympia Finn Are You Associated With Them In Any Way? If Not Share Wher They Are I Live In Auburn And The Girlfriend Has Family In Oly. Besides I Go To Isaquaha And Belview Etc. I Would Like To See Whats In The South Area.
 
Kate, found these pictures on rc. The nudibranchs that I see are 2-3mm in length and the egg cluster is about 1/2mm in dia.

gobie, I am just a customer. They are the only store in Olympia that is dedicated to get saltwater fish and corals that are healthy and provide equipment to to keep them that way.
They are fairly new as a business and don't have the amount of tank space as Blue Sierra or Saltwater City. Give them time. I have found some nice corals there.
Extreme Marine is just off the Pacific Ave exit to the right about a mile.
 
how do u kill zooa eating nudis?
i put a few in a cup and put fresh water in it , they die after 10 min, will zoo live throw a long fresh water dip????
thanks
 
coralseas,
This information was posted from Reef Central by a member there that goes by the name MUCHO REEF. The following has been copy and pasted from rc.



Zoo Dip
I take no credit for this, it's really no big deal to do. All of the items used are most likely underneath your cabinet already. I have performed this for years on hundreds, yes, hundreds of zoos and it has worked every single time. No I'm not being cocky or anything like that, this really and truly works as many RC members have PM'd me directly saying so. No I'm not looking for a that-a-boy or anything, I just see that a lot of reefers have ask about it so I thought I would post it in its own thread.

Each and every zoo that goes into my tank, healthy or not, gets a dip. This dip has worked for most every ailments my zoos have had. Some will require a bit of surgery and in some rare cases where I have received a colony with a very nasty fungus, I have deviated slighlty and placed several drops of Lugols Iodine directly onto the infected colony after a bit of surgery. I see that a lot of people are dealing with the whitish, opaque to yellowish fungus or some sort on your colonies. For some reason this happens alot during shipment and I'm sure a lot of you will concur. The key to saving a colony with this issue is to act immediately. You must remove all of the fungus with tweezers outside of your tank. Now using a very sharp razor blade, cut down and around the entire area that was affected. If you have a large rock and you want to be sure that you have irradicated the problem, remove 2 or 3 rows of good zoos around the area that was infected. Rinse the colony well with tank water using a turkey baster or the like, still outside of your reef, now perform the dip with the dipping brew below. I sent it to someone last week so i just copied and pasted it below.

"Here's the dipping brew that I have used and most people on RC are using it now as well. If it is performed as soon as you see the signs in the proper manner, success is always attained.

1. Using a 5 gallon white bucket, add 3 gallons of RO water.
2. Now add 1 or 2 drops of Lugol's Iodine per gallon of RO water. ( I read that using 3-4 drops works better)
3. Set your PH to 8.2
4. Set your water temp. at 78 degrees
5. If you have some Flatworm exit made my Saliferts, add
2 drops per gallon to the RO water to kill any Flatworms

Place the colony in the white bucket right side up. Leaving it there for about 5 minutes. Then grab the rock and invert it and place it in the water 3 inches below the water surface. Now twist the rock as fast as you can in a clockwise and counterclockwise motion for at least a minute. While the rock was sitting still in the RO water, it was killing off all bristle worms, Nudibranchs, flatworms and parasites. It will not kill off any Nudibranch eggs so you will have to inspect the rock for what looks like a tiny white 1/8 of and inch curly white piece of thread. They won't detach from the rock as the sack is very sticky. Inside this egg sack is up to 40 or so eggs just waiting to hatch. If you see one, just remove it with tweezers before placing the rock back into your reef. By the way, once you have finished twisting the rock in the water for a full minute, pull it out the water and dunk it back into the water a few times, splashing and swooshing is good, it dislodges anything that didn't fall off in the twisting motion. You are going to kill off a few copepds as well, but this is ok, as you have tons more already in your reef tank and your sump/fug. The dip will not kill your zoos, trust me, if you do exactly as stated above, you will be fine. If your colony is in declined and has been for some time, it may be too late to save them, but if you always do a dip on the first or second day of the problem, I have had a 99 % success rate at saving my own. I don't care what anyone else says, I know what has and will always work for the above issues. Zoos are all I know and I truly like to help out if and when I can.

Oh, I forgot, once you place the colony back into your reef, make sure they receive some current as they will be a little stressed and might slim a little, but that's ok, they will be fine. Your zoos will open in minutes.Always, ....always run your actinics only for the rest of that day. Actinics will encourage them to open. Try not to introduce any food into the system as well until the following day. On the following day, go back to your normal photoperiod. As I said, the zoos will be a little stressed and your 10 or 12k lighting will only try to encourage them to fully expand when they really don't want to right now because of what they have just experienced. I believe the bright lighting after a dip has and will discourage them from opening as soon. Trust me, you will not kill them my friend."


It would be great if any of you who have tried this would post your results below. I know of several who have emailed or Pm'd me, but I prefer that you mention your experience with the above dip.

Safe reefing everyone

Mucho

PS, I chose Lugols for its medicinal/antiseptic properties. Please remember to wear reef safe gloves. The white bucket will allow you to see everything that you have just killed off. Two drops of Lugols will not hurt or harm the zoos. I use two drops most of the time myself. Best of luck to all of you.

Hobby Experience: 12 years, and one lucky August 2003 TOTM winner, http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/totm/index.htm
Current Tanks: 70 gallon zoo and ricordea reef


Last edited by MUCHO REEF on 10/13/2004 at 11:16 AM
 

Latest posts

Back
Top