Taste the rainbow

Aqua Man

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Like skittles!! Must be tasty!! So what is it that seems to be bothering mine? Small colony of Gatorades gone in a few days!
Last couple nights I’ve been trying to find the culprit because IT has moved onto another colony.

Tank, 20 gallon long
Only 1 fish, yellow tail Damsel.

CUC, snails only unless my 1 blue leg hermit shows up again. Noticed his/her last shell has been vacant for couple days now.
9BF1B32A-AD5D-48ED-BC21-65EB1DCECA83.jpeg

photo courtesy of Algae barn.

These large Amphipods are the only thing I’ve seen around the Zoas. At least 15 with a quick count. At night, with a flashlight and was kinda shocked at how many I saw. Also shocked at how big they are, 1/4” long at least!!!

How to get rid of them??

As always, thank you for your time
 

MONTANTK

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I’m not really sure that amphipods are eating your Zoas. I have never heard of that. My best guess would be zoa eating nudis are probably zoapox (not sure of spelling). Do you have a picture of any of the zoas?
 
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Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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My best guess would be zoa eating nudis are probably zoapox
It is possible. I was looking at pics on google so I knew what a nudibrach looked like. Haven’t seen them so far. I can post pics later.

This is a recent issue, does Zoapox show up out of nowhere? Zoa can be finicky, most of my colonies are still doing ok.
 
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MONTANTK

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It is possible. I was looking at pics on google so I knew what a nudibrach looked like. Haven’t seen them so far. I can post pics later.

This is a recent issue, does Zoapox show up out of nowhere? Zoa can be finicky, most of my colonies are still doing ok.
I believe Zoapox have to be introduced but all it takes it one one polyp to have them. Just check for little white bumps on the polyp when it’s closed. If it is zoapox, a simple Furan dip should help
 
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There's multiple threads about amphipods eating zoas. I've experienced it myself. For some reason they only eat certain types of zoas. They love Sunny D's (I've purchased them 3 times and they ate them every time), people eaters (purchased 3 times as well). How do I know it's the amphipods? Because I have a frag rack high on the tank where little-to-no amphipods explore. My zoas will do great there. Sometimes the rack gets full and I have to move a frag to the sand/rocks. Then the feasting begins. Over the course of a couple of days, the zoas will get eaten up and I'll see the pods all over them.


There's always naysayers that hold strong on the beleif that amphipods don't eat zoas, but maybe they have a controlled population. My population is ramped. I don't have any predator for them so they get BIG.

Anyway, the solutions seems to be to get a wrasse.
 
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MONTANTK

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There's multiple threads about amphipods eating zoas. I've experienced it myself. For some reason they only eat certain types of zoas. They love Sunny D's (I've purchased them 3 times and they ate them every time), people eaters (purchased 3 times as well). How do I know it's the amphipods? Because I have a frag rack high on the tank where little-to-no amphipods explore. My zoas will do great there. Sometimes the rack gets full and I have to move a frag to the sand/rocks. Then the feasting begins. Over the course of a couple of days, the zoas will get eaten up and I'll see the pods all over them.


There's always naysayers that hold strong on the beleif that amphipods don't eat zoas, but maybe they have a controlled population. My population is ramped. I don't have any predator for them so they get BIG.

Anyway, the solutions seems to be to get a wrasse.
Wow this is news to me!
 
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Aqua Man

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Anyway, the solutions seems to be to get a wrasse.
These pods only come out at night it seems, so how is a fish going to help? I thought fish sleep at night. Most fish at least. I’m open to getting a wrasse if that would help.

The other thing I saw was a fresh water dip. Seems kinda hardcore, even for zoas. !!
44454EBB-A2A2-4350-AA74-BA83AEC0C993.jpeg
F21E00C0-192F-463F-A602-68673606C722.jpeg
91633738-7F1D-4003-9C97-DB5AA10644C2.jpeg
Tyree blue eyed girls, getting smaller every day. No bumps like pox that I can see.
 
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MONTANTK

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These pods only come out at night it seems, so how is a fish going to help? I thought fish sleep at night. Most fish at least. I’m open to getting a wrasse if that would help.

The other thing I saw was a fresh water dip. Seems kinda hardcore, even for zoas. !!
44454EBB-A2A2-4350-AA74-BA83AEC0C993.jpeg
F21E00C0-192F-463F-A602-68673606C722.jpeg
91633738-7F1D-4003-9C97-DB5AA10644C2.jpeg
Tyree blue eyed girls, getting smaller every day. No bumps like pox that I can see.
You could try a revive dip. I usually dip zoas in that when I get them and I’ve seen amphipods fall off of them
 
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There's multiple threads about amphipods eating zoas. I've experienced it myself. For some reason they only eat certain types of zoas. They love Sunny D's (I've purchased them 3 times and they ate them every time), people eaters (purchased 3 times as well). How do I know it's the amphipods? Because I have a frag rack high on the tank where little-to-no amphipods explore. My zoas will do great there. Sometimes the rack gets full and I have to move a frag to the sand/rocks. Then the feasting begins. Over the course of a couple of days, the zoas will get eaten up and I'll see the pods all over them.


There's always naysayers that hold strong on the beleif that amphipods don't eat zoas, but maybe they have a controlled population. My population is ramped. I don't have any predator for them so they get BIG.

Anyway, the solutions seems to be to get a wrasse.

So I'm a nay sayer, in my experience they only eat on stuff that's already dead or dying but I also have my stuff up on racks away from the live rock. I also have an incredibly fat yellow coris wrasse. The Amphipod situation mirrors that of asterina starfish. Are some good and some bad? Given the amount of evidence thats likely the case. Are we going to sit there and sort them all out? No, so I think @zoaprince nailed it with the wrasse recommendation... they'll also pick off any nudis that may or may not be there.

As for zoa pox it's most likely introduced on frags. However, I have seen it arise in situations where nothing new was added, but water conditions, flow specifically, was very poor. I *believe* it can arise for detritus and other organic crap sitting between polyps. So has been my experience.

Now, its wholly possible that you have some bacterial issue in there bouncing around knocking off stuff as well. This manifests itself mostly in a color-shifting of the polyp. When closed the polyp usually takes on a translucent appearance, the top might be discolored and have a cream color. I've dealt with this before. Its shocking how it can knock out healthy looking polyp(s) in the course of 24-48 hours.
 
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littlebigreef

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@Aqua Man you posted pics while I was typing. That looks bacterial to me.

As for dips here's a break down based on my experience:

Revive- crap for zoas, I tried for about 6-8 weeks (moving away from my normal way of treating) and I had considerably worse results.

Freshwater- I see this recommended occasionally. It works on fish because the parasites are large enough to swell with water and die. On coral, however, I doesn't make much sense since you're dealing with bacteria and I believe it to be harsh on the coral.

Peroxide- only useful for really tough nuisance algae issues. Even diluted this is also tough on zoas. I'd only recommend this 1) if truly necessary and 2) you're not targeting bacteria.

Lugols- This is the small hammer. A dip will help damaged tissue and if used early on will prevent the situation from getting out of hand.

Furan-2- this is the big hammer. There's different bacterial issues that come in zoas. Furan-2 can get inside the bacteria's cell walls for both gram negative and positive bacteria. For this to work though it's not 'one and done', you have to dip 4 days on and then take two days off. Might be necessary to repeat the cycle several times.

Chemiclean- a few caveats. It says on the label it doesn't contain erythromycin, but fish medications are not regulated by the FDA, so apparently it does. This is your global hammer and can be dosed directly into the aquarium. However, you have to make adjustments to your skimmer (google for more info). Alternatively I know more guys that have been using it as a dip. I can't speak to its efficacy there.

Perhaps I should sit down and write this all out in a post with pics for reference. At any rate this is what I do. I'm certain other folks have had different results with the same materials. Back to your zoas in the pic. If it were me I'd use a scalpel and sever the mat (with a decent gap) between the affected and unaffected polyps to prevent any further spread to healthy tissue. Dipping is easy once you've done it a few times. But it is a PITA. I'd either chemi-clean, let it 'play out' with the affected polyps, or triage and remove anything affected.
 
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KrisReef

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There's multiple threads about amphipods eating zoas. I've experienced it myself. For some reason they only eat certain types of zoas. They love Sunny D's (I've purchased them 3 times and they ate them every time), people eaters (purchased 3 times as well). How do I know it's the amphipods? Because I have a frag rack high on the tank where little-to-no amphipods explore. My zoas will do great there. Sometimes the rack gets full and I have to move a frag to the sand/rocks. Then the feasting begins. Over the course of a couple of days, the zoas will get eaten up and I'll see the pods all over them.


There's always naysayers that hold strong on the beleif that amphipods don't eat zoas, but maybe they have a controlled population. My population is ramped. I don't have any predator for them so they get BIG.

Anyway, the solutions seems to be to get a wrasse.
Very interesting, convincing personal observation & report including references. Very useful!!! :)

I thought that wrasse were active during the day vs. pods coming out at night? (If I was a pod I would hide from the wrasses! ) :)

At 20 gallons, I would probably consider a Bayer dip of all rocks, if they are moveable?
 
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Aqua Man

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So I'm a nay sayer, in my experience they only eat on stuff that's already dead or dying but I also have my stuff up on racks away from the live rock. I also have an incredibly fat yellow coris wrasse. The Amphipod situation mirrors that of asterina starfish. Are some good and some bad?
Curious what you’re seeing that looks like bacteria infection?
Been there with the asterinas too! Lol
Apparently all Zoa don’t taste the same, like skittles!

The pics above show quite a few new polyps. Most of my Zoas are doing good. Here is the other side of that rock and a pic of some other that are doing great too!
49DB8A58-7BA4-458D-9305-ACBBB5A21F4D.jpeg
273C26D1-FC64-4CA9-9BFD-3FF63E0A582A.jpeg

Ive seen these same pods in my other tank as well. Same issue with some zoas but not all. Saw a pod, like the one in first post, swimming around and both fish tasted it, then spit it out!! Guess not all pods taste the same!

At 20 gallons, I would probably consider a Bayer dip of all rocks, if they are moveable?
Yes, rock can be moved and dipped. I have Coral Rx, it’s recommended for quite a few pests. Not sure about pods though.
 
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Aqua Man

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saga continues….

Decided to dip a couple rocks in Coral Rx. One rock is pictured above, Zoa rock. The other rock has nothing glued down, it’s a frogspwan perch.
Around 20-30 pods came out of the Zoa rock!
After moving the Frogspawn, dipped the other rock, No pods. Interesting.

Went to check 24 hrs later with a flash light. Did not see the pods having a buffet of Zoa!!

Zoas do look better now. Coral Rx does say it helps with Bacteria issues. So a win either way. Now to find a fish that likes giant pods from hades!!
 
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Aqua Man

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Rusty Goby (Priolepis hipoliti). KP Aquatics sometimes has these.

Similar type of fish with similar habits.
Thank you. Everyone recommends wrasses.
Six line and Coris are neat looking fish. They look like they have real small mouths though! How do they fit these giant pods in there mouth?!! Lol
 
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Nano sapiens

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Thank you. Everyone recommends wrasses.
Six line and Coris are neat looking fish. They look like they have real small mouths though! How do they fit these giant pods in there mouth?!! Lol

Wrasses are great for amphipod control as they can open their mouths a bit more than we think they can, but not so much for eradication since the amphipods learn quickly that 'night time is safe time'. The nocturnal hunters like the Black Barred Convict Goby will gobble them up at night and even search for them during the day if they are really hungry. If I had a large system, I'd go with both wrasses and the BBCG to really put the screws to those little hunched-backed demons.

So I guess it just depends on the size of the system and what one is looking for...
 
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Aqua Man

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Wrasses are great for amphipod control
Going to pick up a six line wrasse. Have always wanted one anyway. Only fish I can get right now in my area. Also going to see if my fish guy can find the other 2 fish you mentioned.
 
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Nano sapiens

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Going to pick up a six line wrasse. Have always wanted one anyway. Only fish I can get right now in my area. Also going to see if my fish guy can find the other 2 fish you mentioned.

Can't say for sure how a six line wrasse and a BBCG would work out, but their habits and body shape are different enough that they could be okay in the same tank (as long as it's not too small).

Good luck!
 
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