INSANE AMOUNT OF ZOA SPIDERS

[PeterB113]

2 of my zoa frags were not doing so hot for a few days so i decided to dip them last night in a mix of iodine and revive and over 20 spiders came out...... Should i just throw these frags out? It was completely infested and i know they only way to rid my tank of them is to keep dipping weekly. Pls lmk what you guys think and lmk if this is the most spiders youve seen on a frag. The frags only have about 10heads each... So thats 1 spider per head....not good.

 

[TriggerFinger]

That would be a big no from me. If they have been in your main tank then you may have already let some lose. I would NOT put those frags back in my tank, there could be sooo many eggs in the frag from that many spiders in one spot.
Btw; I’ve never had a single zoa spider *knock on wood* that’s a lot.

 

[Jekyl]

Not a fan of spiders.... if they were in my tank too I'd probably move to a new house Lol

 

[PeterB113]

That would be a big no from me. If they have been in your main tank then you may have already let some lose. I would NOT put those frags back in my tank, there could be sooo many eggs in the frag from that many spiders in one spot.
Btw; I’ve never had a single zoa spider *knock on wood* that’s a lot.

Ive never seen a zoa spider before ladt night anf i dip EVERYTHING. Thats why im so scared i have a zoa garden.....

 

[TriggerFinger]

I see you’ve been having zoa issues since December? You may have already had a batch of eggs hatch with THAT many coming off one plug. Oh my...
@footgal any insight on what looks like (to me, bc F spiders) a big infestation of zoa spiders?;Nailbiting

 

[Sarcazian]

Wow, that's a lot of spiders. I remember seeing 1-2 in my old reef and then dipped in h2o2 and iodine and I never saw them again. Now a-days everything goes into a separate QT tank for at least 7 days (or more).

I use it for Seachem reef dip, Rally Pro, H2O2 dips, and close monitoring. I also like to enforce the corals with lots of reef-roids/food and CoralAmino's to make sure they are healthy... without worrying about my DT going out of wack with exceed food.

 

[ChiCity]

i'd move corals to a separate tank and let the display run fallow (of corals) for awhile...

then, treat the corals in your med tank and keep doing it until they’re all dead.
reintroduce everything after a long while.

 

[PeterB113]

i'd move corals to a separate tank and let the display run fallow (of corals) for awhile...

then, treat the corals in your med tank and keep doing it until they’re all dead.
reintroduce everything after a long while.

Ive heard people saying do a fresheater dip for 20mins??? What do you guys think? Seems like a long time for them to be in freshwater.

 

[Rooki3]

Start quarantining your corals before adding them to the display. Just so you don’t introduce new pests into the system.

 

[PeterB113]

I see you’ve been having zoa issues since December? You may have already had a batch of eggs hatch with THAT many coming off one plug. Oh my...
@footgal any insight on what looks like (to me, bc F spiders) a big infestation of zoa spiders?;Nailbiting

Yea 100% zoa spiders

 

[footgal]

Oh man... thats the worst infestation I've seen in a while. Only worse case than that were wild colonies that came in infected. If you want to save the frags, I would carefully frag off 1 polyp and dip that really well, brush it with a tooth brush, and generally follow protocol. If you have a microscope or magnifying glass use that to look for and target eggs. I might even look at a freshwater dip for this particular case since you have so many egg-laying adults. TriggerFinger is right, with that many adults coming out. I have no doubt that your entire tank has been infested. Im sorry to say this, but the best choice for you right now is to make single polyp frags of all your zoas (cleaning them with the above method) and throw away or QT the rest. Put them in the sump and change out whatever mechanical filtration you have with the finest mesh/felt possible and start running carbon. With all the zoas removed, the spiders should begin to starve to death and the upgraded filtration will stop larvae from entering the sump and finding your clean frags. The carbon is just a precaution because as the spiders die, their bodies will start polluting your water. I would leave the frags out of the DT for a good 3-4 months, just to make completely sure that all the spiders have died and you wont get re-infested. Good luck

 

[MohrReefs]

Please don't take this the wrong way but your thread history shows that you may rush into things a bit and you may not be taking the necessary precautions when adding things to your tank. I've had issues too but all of them were preventable if I had just slowed down a bit. Footgal is right on the money and it should help. Be sure to at the very least wear goggles and a face mask when handling the zoas just in case (probably not necessary but its better than a very slim chance of paly toxin exposure).

 

[PeterB113]

Please don't take this the wrong way but your thread history shows that you may rush into things a bit and you may not be taking the necessary precautions when adding things to your tank. I've had issues too but all of them were preventable if I had just slowed down a bit. Footgal is right on the money and it should help. Be sure to at the very least wear goggles and a face mask when handling the zoas just in case (probably not necessary but its better than a very slim chance of paly toxin exposure).

Yea i definitley took thing too fast. Dealing with the consequences now. Smh live and learn. I need to setup a small quarantine tank just hard with no space.

 

[dvgyfresh]

Wow saltwater spiders , anyway to bring fire underwater?

 

[PeterB113]

Wow saltwater spiders , anyway to bring fire underwater?

I wish lol

 

[dvgyfresh]

Anyway , do you have any type of fish that could eat them? I’m thinking something like a Spanish hogfish or wrasse idk if they do tho

 

[MohrReefs]

Yea i definitley took thing too fast. Dealing with the consequences now. Smh live and learn. I need to setup a small quarantine tank just hard with no space.

Things happen and you can only do what you can do with what you got. I dont QT my corals (I should) but I give them aggressive dipping methods and I only buy from very select places where I know the frags are clean. I've never had a pest issue and anything that made it past my dips were usually staring down the barrel of my wrasse shortly after. Do you have any fish that are utilitarian? I.e. pest eaters?

 

[bday1335]

Not a fan of spiders.... if they were in my tank too I'd probably move to a new house Lol

Same!

 

[PeterB113]

Anyway , do you have any type of fish that could eat them? I’m thinking something like a Spanish hogfish or wrasse idk if they do tho

Tank is fishless since jan 30th. Velvet.... So another few weeks ill be putting a wrasse in

 

[PeterB113]

Things happen and you can only do what you can do with what you got. I dont QT my corals (I should) but I give them aggressive dipping methods and I only buy from very select places where I know the frags are clean. I've never had a pest issue and anything that made it past my dips were usually staring down the barrel of my wrasse shortly after. Do you have any fish that are utilitarian? I.e. pest eaters?

No fish in the system right now do you have
any suggestions besides a wrasse? I have a 20g long