How to eradicate zoa eating nudibranch

Pete polyp

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I have answered this question at least 50 times in different threads so I decided to post directions here.

Zoa eating nudibranch happens! Eggs can come on a frag and within a week you can have quite the infestation. There's no need to panic about them, because it's very simple to eradicate these nasty boogers from your system. All you need to do is use salifert flatworm exit and they will disappear completely within 2 weeks. The nudibranch matures in 5 days and starts to lay eggs. The trick is to kill them before they start to lay eggs. The only variation to the original instructions is the dose. You need to dose one drop per 3/4 of a gallon. So 12.5 drops per 10 gallons of total system volume. This means of your tank is a 100 tank with 100 lbs of live rock you still treat it as 100 gallons and put 125 drops in the tank. The first dose you will more than likely see some flatworms floating around in the tank. If you can actually see any zoa eating nudibranch in the tank keep an eye on them and watch them die. If you witness one die then the rest will follow soon after. If you start to see the flatworms die wait about 15 minutes and start using carbon. When flatworms die they produce a very strong toxin that can and will harm all the livestock in your tank. Don't underestimate how toxic this can be! Make sure you're using a large amount of carbon to remove all the toxin. The directions will include that part and need to be followed closely. You repeat this process every 72 hours for 4 total treatments. At this point all the eggs will have hatched and they will have never laid eggs because they were never adults.

I have used this method twice and completely eradicated zoa eating nudibranch both times. Other reefers have often used this process and had the exact same result.
 

Sabellafella

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Thanks for the post.

I just had my first encounter with the nudi. I have to admit, the coloration on it was pretty cool...right up until I crushed it. Off to the store tomorrow to buy some Flatworm Exit.
Lol i had darth maul nudis snoopin around first time i encountered them but i started dippin all newcomming and zoas in peroxide, one thing you dont underestimate THEY breed like maniacs, thats good to kno tho, if it ever gets outa hand flatwormxit works good writeup
 
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GoFish

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This is great to know for next time thanks! Could've saved me a lot of headache this past summer dismantling the frag tank 3 times to dip everything in peroxide which killed some pretty nice zoas :(
 

Ryengoth

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Lettuce nudi's OK to keep? I brought 2 over from my biocubes that were overrun with algae.
 

Clayman

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Or they can send them to me, trying to get rid of zoas is a pain. No more zoas ever again!
 
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Lettuce nudi's OK to keep? I brought 2 over from my biocubes that were overrun with algae.
They're great algae grazers but they will starve easily without algae to eat. Not all nudibranch are bad or not reef safe. I don't really know if fwe would kill all nudibranch or not, but my guess would be that it will.
 

JSturman

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having a problem with montipora eating nudis. has anybody ran into that problem? will FWE kill them? Also, will FWE mess with my skimmer at all? thanks.
 
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I never noticed any massive die off with pods or mini brittle stars. Have you?
 

mfinn

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I never noticed any massive die off with pods or mini brittle stars. Have you?
Not so much with pods, but when I bombed my tank with FWE most of the mini brittle stars all gathered in a couple of balls and most died. It was very strange.
 

mfinn

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FWIW, I've been recommending FWE as a dip for zoanthids for several years too.
Great dip IMO.
 
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Not so much with pods, but when I bombed my tank with FWE most of the mini brittle stars all gathered in a couple of balls and most died. It was very strange.
That is strange. I know it will make some snails become lethargic for a while but never witnessed anything like that. I have tons of mini brittle stars too. I never had many flatworms in the system so it may be caused by the toxin in the flatworms.
FWIW, I've been recommending FWE as a dip for zoanthids for several years too.
Great dip IMO.
I have used fwe as a dip too but it won't kill the eggs. This is why multiple treatments are necessary. Zoa eating nudibranch aren't diet specific to zoa/paly so they will live and multiply regardless of the tank is fallow.
 

mfinn

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That is strange. I know it will make some snails become lethargic for a while but never witnessed anything like that. I have tons of mini brittle stars too. I never had many flatworms in the system so it may be caused by the toxin in the flatworms.

I have used fwe as a dip too but it won't kill the eggs. This is why multiple treatments are necessary. Zoa eating nudibranch aren't diet specific to zoa/paly so they will live and multiply regardless of the tank is fallow.


At the time I didn't really have a problem ( or noticed a problem) with flatworms.

Absolutely do repeat treatments.
 

khoff

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To preface, this is a little anecdotal, and just to be meant as a word of caution. I did this a couple years ago. I spread the doses out weekly, and re-dosed if I still saw nudis. The 4th or 5th and final dose, I upped by probably 25% (I don't remember the dose before, or after increase). Ultimately, all the micro-fauna & brittle stars died. The 12" brittle actually curled up like a dead spider for over a week, but finally recovered. I don't recall seeing flatworms floating in the water column, especially that many doses in, so I don't suspect toxins. Tank crash ensued, despite water changes upon the initial sense of decline... I lost probably 90% of SPS & LPS, and over half the zoas in the tank.

Lesson learned, now every frag gets FWE & bayer dipped before entering the tank without exception...
 

glweek

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just found my first about 5 minutes ago. Why do you recommend 1 drop per 3/4 gallon instead of the directed 1 drop per gallon? also is it recomended to do a water change X hours after application? thanks for the info! LET THE DRIPPS FLOW...or well...DRIP!!
 

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