Zoa Eating Nudi's

[EasyEd77]

I finally figured out why some of my zoa colonies are not opening. I discovered some small zoa eating nudi's on them. Is there any fish that will eat these that are reef safe? Or is the only way to get rid of them to manually remove them?

[jbird69]

There are some wrasses that have been known to eat them. Melanurus and six line but hteres no guarantee. Manual removal is the best move. If your colonies are mobile I would remove them and do some freshwater dips.

Zoa eating nudis are a nightmare and can be one of the hardest pests to irradicate

[LPS_Blasto]

Shoulda quarantined. :thumbdown Good luck.

[betamed]

yellow coris wrasse ate mine. FW dips work too, but not on the eggs. I've read six lines do eat them as well.

[dalston]

yellow coris wrasse ate mine. FW dips work too, but not on the eggs. I've read six lines do eat them as well.

+1 on the yellow coris, best wrasse for the job IMO. Inspect each colony/frag very closely for egg sacks, you will need to scrape these off manually as dips/wrasses will not harm them.

[EvoKnvl]

+2 I have a Yellow Coris who loves them...

[amheck]

I finally figured out why some of my zoa colonies are not opening. I discovered some small zoa eating nudi's on them. Is there any fish that will eat these that are reef safe? Or is the only way to get rid of them to manually remove them?

How hard are these to see? I have a few zoa frags not opening and I'm kinda wondering if I have them. Were they pretty easy to see?

[Sugar Magnolia]

They can be tough to spot considering they color up depending upon the zoa colors they are eating. http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-05/rs/index.php

[mfinn]

I finally figured out why some of my zoa colonies are not opening. I discovered some small zoa eating nudi's on them. Is there any fish that will eat these that are reef safe? Or is the only way to get rid of them to manually remove them?

I've used a green coris wrasse and a melenarus wrasse in my zoanthid tank.
I currently have a leopard wrasse in my zoanthid tank now.

One way to get rid of adult nudi's is to do dips in FWE, at 4X the recommended dose in the instructions.
Doesn't hurt the zoanthids at all but kills the nudi's in seconds, and it is easier on the zoanthids because it is done in saltwater.

http://www.practicalcoralfarming.com/zoonudis.html

They can be dipped in freshwater and lugols, which is very effective also.
But after seeing how FWE works, I like it better.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=451720

[jbird69]

How hard are these to see? I have a few zoa frags not opening and I'm kinda wondering if I have them. Were they pretty easy to see?

They are known to take on the color and shape of the zoa they are eating. They are usually very small. The best way to ID them is if your zoa colony is closed up, they will look like some are partiaally open. They actuall mimiic the tentacles and color.

I found what I concidered the "queen bee" in my tank. This Mo was 3/4" long and pretty. I killed it, not knowing what it was at the time. I spotted this thing right before I started having problems with my zoas.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/jbird35/DSC09856.jpg

[amheck]

Anyone know where you can get a magnifying glass easily? Not even sure where you'd look for something like this locally.

[Sugar Magnolia]

Anyone know where you can get a magnifying glass easily? Not even sure where you'd look for something like this locally.

Book stores like Borders or Barnes and Noble, or a craft store, like Michaels. Look in the needlepoint section.

[mfinn]

Anyone know where you can get a magnifying glass easily? Not even sure where you'd look for something like this locally.

Harbor Freight. I just picked up a great 4" dia. 5x one at Amazon.com

[gambitcobra]

Anyone know where you can get a magnifying glass easily? Not even sure where you'd look for something like this locally.

clear your messages #1 lol

and also you can see them at night on your zoas. Take a light and look closely at them and you will see them around the bases if you have them.

[amheck]

clear your messages #1 lol

and also you can see them at night on your zoas. Take a light and look closely at them and you will see them around the bases if you have them.

:thumbsup: thanks and thanks

[buildinboats]

The best time to find them is right when your lights turn on, before the zoanthids open up. You have to look very carefully though as they are very hard to spot. Forget about manually removing them to keep them in check. I've done this for a year, there's an endless supply. It's a chicken and egg thing.
Yellow Wrasse is arriving today, hope he's hungry.:fish1:

[usefulidiot213]

Shoulda quarantined. :thumbdown Good luck.

Don't you love it when you post something for advice, and turds like this show up. :uzi:

[LeslieH]

They are known to take on the color and shape of the zoa they are eating. They are usually very small. The best way to ID them is if your zoa colony is closed up, they will look like some are partiaally open. They actuall mimiic the tentacles and color.

I found what I concidered the "queen bee" in my tank. This Mo was 3/4" long and pretty. I killed it, not knowing what it was at the time. I spotted this thing right before I started having problems with my zoas.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/jbird35/DSC09856.jpg

That's the best image of one I've ever seen, probably good enough to identify. Why don't you post that over on the Sea Slug Forum & ask for an identification? Bill Rudman, who runs SSF, is always looking for more information on behavior & feeding & would be quite interested in seeing it. <www.seaslugforum.com>

[a9reef]

I hate those things!!! I have been trying to get rid of them for about 3 months now. Sadly over half of my 58g tank are zoos and palys so fresh water dip is not really an option. I manually remove 2-3 adults a week. Any other solutions other than a wrass? My tank is already super stocked with corals and fish and I don't like the idea of more fish in my tank

[jbird69]

That's the best image of one I've ever seen, probably good enough to identify. Why don't you post that over on the Sea Slug Forum & ask for an identification? Bill Rudman, who runs SSF, is always looking for more information on behavior & feeding & would be quite interested in seeing it. <www.seaslugforum.com>

Thanks! I got lucky with the camera.

Can you link me to the site you mentioned?

[EasyEd77]

I just picked up a yellow wrasse today and gave my zoas a dip last night. I removed about 4 nudi's last night and have yet to find more today. Hopefully the population in my tank has not exploded yet and the wrasse will be able to clean up whats left.

[SleepyMike]

It took me a few colonies and many questions to figure out I had nudis. I got a yellow wrasse and havent had a problem since. Although he is a little agressive and freaks out shooting all over the tank. Maybe I got one with add.

[crvz]

there have been some reports of using salifert flatworm exit to kill off zoa nudis. When I found some nudis, I bought FWE and actually treated my entire tank with it. It seems to work pretty well, but again effectiveness against eggs is questionable. I also had some of my corals (SPS exclusively, none of the LPS or softies) lose a lot of color after the first round. I was going to do 3 rounds (one every 5-7 days), but decided against it. but, if you're having a long-term fight against them, it may be something to consider (do a search, but I think it was a 2-3x potency dose than what the FWE instructions recommend).