Can you starve out montipora eating nudibranchs?

MarshallB

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Good morning,

So unfortunately I bought a non-montipora frag from a LFS that must have had eggs on it. I dip all my frags on arrival and scrub with a tooth brush but one must have slip through. I was really confused at first because I have not added any new montipora to my tank in months, then all of a sudden I have nudibranchs. I visited my LFS the other day and the few montipora frags they had were being eating away. So its clear some must have hitch hiked on a frag I bought. I bought a duncan coral from there a few weeks previously, however I didn't notice any signs of problems on any of their coral at the time.

So my montipora is now slowly being eaten. I've gone the route of pulling out all my monitpora and dipped them ever few days, scrubbing and scrubbing. One, which happen to be my first coral ever, is heavily incrusted on a rock. I have taken a chisel to it, but it's still fairly large and there are just a ton of small openings that i'll never be able to scrub out. I thought I had them gone, but its clear they are back. My Leopard wrasse doesn't seem interested in the montipora so it does not help check their numbers.

I'm at the point where im just about to toss all my motipora. My question is, without any montipora in the tank, will they nudibranchs die off? I really do love montipora and i'd like to add some more eventually. If I go this route is there a specific time frame to wait out before its safe to add more? Should I just keep dipping and hope for the best?

Thank you!
 

vetteguy53081

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Starve, no. Combat- yes
- You can dip
- add wrasses such as yellow coris, 6 line, or lunare which will eat them
- chemically using salifert flatworm exit but be sure to siphon dead ones which can release toxins
 
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tnw50cal

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They killed all my monti's and 1 anacropora in my tank. i removed all traces of monti's in my tank and waited 3 months before adding more. So far so good and it's been 2 months since adding. I did use salifert flatworm exit at twice the recommended dose for 3 treatments every 7 days.
 
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MarshallB

MarshallB

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Starve, no. Combat- yes
- You can dip
- add wrasses such as yellow coris, 6 line, or lunare which will eat them
- chemically using salifert flatworm exit but be sure to siphon dead ones which can release toxins
Ah yes that was what i was fearing. well luckily they seem limited to 1 of my montis. My sps and branching montis seem ok. I haven't been able to spot any visible ones. I guess ill keep dipping for a few more weeks and see if I can find another wrasse. I re-dipped all my monties this morning and all i found were a bunch of dead pods,

Will flatworm exit kill the pod population too?
 
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Daniel@R2R

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If there's nothing in there for them to eat, they will die. I'm not sure of the timeframe, but it can and has been done by some.
 
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vetteguy53081

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Ah yes that was what i was fearing. well luckily they seem limited to 1 of my montis. My sps and branching montis seem ok. I haven't been able to spot any visible ones. I guess ill keep dipping for a few more weeks and see if I can find another wrasse. I re-dipped all my monties this morning and all i found were a bunch of dead pods,

Will flatworm exit kill the pod population too?
yes
 
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MarshallB

MarshallB

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I appreciate all the advice. I'll stick with dipping, if that doesn't work, get rid of the infected corals, if they spread then nuke the tank.

Really gotta tell my LFS how easy they made my life. That and its time to buy a light suitable for corals for my QT tank.
 
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