Black/Red bugs killing Zoanthids

jtermini

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 27, 2020
Messages
25
Reaction score
10
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Hi All,
I see some posts on this subject but haven't seen any real answers or a lot of good photos or videos. Other posts have claimed these are copepods and they are beneficial, LOL. Don't worry about it! But I can say they are pests for sure and are harmful to zoanthids. Hoping this helps the community and maybe gets people some answers in the process. So I have a 30-gallon quarantine tank set up for new corals. In it, I have about 10-12 new zoas /palys and some zoa frags that I have been fragging from my main display. So I decided to get some high-end zoas from a random online supplier out of Georgia. And boy was it a mistake. I did a coral RX dip when they first arrived and it knocked off some black copepod-like creatures. But the dip wasn't really killing them. I didn't really think much of it as dips usually knock off/kill copepods and amphipods. I noticed that the psychosis and frankies acid trip were not opening after shipment. Then the grand master Krakatoa were closing up. So I dipped them again, and wow, the population had exploded. See the photos and videos below. Now the Rasta zoas and the everlasting gobstoppers are also closed up and not opening during the day. Punk rockers appear to be fine but also loaded with bugs. AKA a full-blown infestation. Hoping someone can help me ID them.

Did anyone beat these guys before? They really tick off the zoas into not opening up. Seems some species are fine. But some like GMK, rastas, gobstoppers, AOI all seem crazy affected. Palys...don't seem to care from my short experience with them. They did kill my Frankies acid trip and I am really worried about the psychosis as it hasn't opened in a week since I got it. I think I now need to continuously dip everything in my QT tanks every other day till they are gone.

Any help with an ID would be appreciated. They are fast! Run all over the plug and zoas. When they first arrived, the first dip knocked off black ones but in the recent dip, they also appeared reddish/brown in color. I assume these are younger ones.

Suggested treatment? Just coral RX and lugols dips? Has anyone tried Bayer or interceptor on Zoas? Please only suggestions that people have tried and had success with. I would like to have accurate and good information for all the reefers that read this post and are suffering from the same issue.

The moral of the store....buy your zoas from a reputable source. I never had issues from the large online vendors. The TSA, WWC, Austin aqua farms of the web never disappoint. Would have been worth the extra money to not deal with these nasty little bugs.

Thanks

All the Best,
James


IMG_20210923_014040564.jpg
IMG_20210923_014036990.jpg
 

vetteguy53081

Well known Member and monster tank lover
View Badges
Joined
Aug 11, 2013
Messages
90,861
Reaction score
200,135
Location
Wisconsin -
Rating - 100%
13   0   0
The little bugs are worse than a nuisance
You can dip but will bevv by temporary
Dr g’s found on eBay and Amazon will knock them down
 
Upvote 0
OP
OP
J

jtermini

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 27, 2020
Messages
25
Reaction score
10
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
The little bugs are worse than a nuisance
You can dip but will bevv by temporary
Dr g’s found on eBay and Amazon will knock them down
Thank you for your reply @vetteguy53081. They are really terrible! Reproduction rates are unheard of.

I have been looking into interceptor and Dr. G's coral dip as a solution. Have you ever used it as a tank treatment vs. a dip? Since I have a lot of corals in my QT system at the moment, dipping everything would be a pain. Also, I am worried these little guys would be still on the minimal rock I have in the bottom of the tank. So, I was thinking of treating the whole QT tank. I only have a handful of snails that I can remove. No fish, shrimp, clams, etc. I am also not concerned about the pod population.

If you have any recommendations for using Dr. G's I would love to hear them.

Thanks again,
James
 
Upvote 0

vetteguy53081

Well known Member and monster tank lover
View Badges
Joined
Aug 11, 2013
Messages
90,861
Reaction score
200,135
Location
Wisconsin -
Rating - 100%
13   0   0
.
 
Upvote 0

vetteguy53081

Well known Member and monster tank lover
View Badges
Joined
Aug 11, 2013
Messages
90,861
Reaction score
200,135
Location
Wisconsin -
Rating - 100%
13   0   0
Interceptor either works or not and can be a hassle to acquire
 
Upvote 0

Patientman

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Oct 25, 2007
Messages
540
Reaction score
2,388
Location
Bel Air, MD
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Interceptor either works or not and can be a hassle to acquire
I was lucky enough to convince my veterinarian that I was NOT overdosing my dogs with interceptor. I printed out a few articles which he readily took from me and after one week, three visits (showing pics of tank and pests), five phone calls (him to me with questions) he let me purchase several tablets! Two treatments four days apart and have not had a repeat occurrence in over three years! I adhere to a strict dip and quarantine regiment now as I do NOT want to have to go through that again! Not so much the labor part of it … but the anxiety!
 
Upvote 0
Back
Top