Weird slug/nudibranch found in tank. Just wanna make sure it’s not something that will eat polybs or any sort of coral.

[AtomicUrchin1]

Here are the best pics I was able to get. He’s just going around the side glass which has a lot of film algae on it cause I mostly just clean the front. He doesn’t seem to be eating it tho as I watch him. Not once has he truly stopped moving and again I haven’t seen him actually eat the algae. But maybe he’s just looking for more hair like algae? I don’t know. I’ve never had a nudibranch and I didn’t really want one. But if it’s something that is safe to have in my tank then I’ll let it stay. Any help is greatly appreciated and I’ll stop the rambling here

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

You’re going to need some pics of it under white light for a solid ID here.

 

[formallydehyde]

Can you post a picture under white light?

 

[AtomicUrchin1]

I got it out in a cup. And took some pics under a white light as requested. Are these any better?

 

[JoJosReef]

Following

 

[formallydehyde]

I am guessing it's some kind of side-gill slug (maybe) so it's probably carnivorous but I other than that I have no idea.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Possibly dermatobranchus which I believe eats octocorals. Do you have any GSP?

 

[AtomicUrchin1]

I do. I have a ton of GPS. Do you think that’s what it’s been munching on? I have heard they can hitchhike really young and just grow over time in the tank. I’ve had the GSP for so long now and parts of it have died indeed but more so it grows like a weed where it wants to when it wants to. But I definitely have enough of it to feed off of if that’s the case.
Should I add some GSP stolon to the cup and see if it goes after it? I’ve just been doing hourly water changes why it’s in the cup. At least till I determine if it’s harmful to my tank or not.
And should I consider dipping the parts of the GSP that I can. Along with what else. You mentioned octocorals, what exactly does that category include? …..or should I just dip everything? Or maybe wait and see if I see another one first. Cause it’s the only one I’ve found.

Possibly dermatobranchus which I believe eats octocorals. Do you have any GSP?

 

[AtomicUrchin1]

I do. I have a ton of GPS. Do you think that’s what it’s been munching on? I have heard they can hitchhike really young and just grow over time in the tank. I’ve had the GSP for so long now and parts of it have died indeed but more so it grows like a weed where it wants to when it wants to. But I definitely have enough of it to feed off of if that’s the case.
Should I add some GSP stolon to the cup and see if it goes after it? I’ve just been doing hourly water changes why it’s in the cup. At least till I determine if it’s harmful to my tank or not.
And should I consider dipping the parts of the GSP that I can. Along with what else. You mentioned octocorals, what exactly does that category include? …..or should I just dip everything? Or maybe wait and see if I see another one first. Cause it’s the only one I’ve found.

I would be using classic coral RX for the dip most likely if that matters or not. I would think it should do the trick.

 

[KrisReef]

I’m thinking that if it eats gsp and you have plenty of it then let the creature eat its heart out. A natural pruning is better than having to harvest it and throw it away.

If you don’t want it then ask around on here because I think you should be able to find folks who are interested in having that in their tanks.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

You mentioned octocorals, what exactly does that category include?

See the quote below:

Sorry for the slow response; it seems to be an Arminid (taxonomic family Arminidae) nudibranch, possibly a Dermatobranchus sp., though top-down pics of the back would be needed for a solid ID.

If it is an Arminid, then it's not reef safe - they prey on Octocorals (soft corals, gorgonians, GSP, etc.) - so I'd remove it and check any octocorals you have for more.

 

[AtomicUrchin1]

See the quote below:

Thank you for this. And ya. I’ll check what I have. Cause altho KrisReef has a point about the amount of GSP I have. I feel like smaller frags of gorgonians/soft coral I have may be in danger. So I’ll move things around in my tank when I get back and take a closer look at my gorgonians/Xenia/GSP to see if I can find more. If it ends up being the only one I find then should I worry about dipping? Like is this creature something that in a matter of days can lay active eggs. Cause 3 days before spotting it I not only got a new medium sized 6 inch gorgonian. But a decent sized cabbage leather coral and a variety of frags. But overall it was 7 items. Ugggghhhhhh. I need to dip things more often when I first get them. I started to do that less and less but now it’s coming back to bite me in the GSP!!

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

If it ends up being the only one I find then should I worry about dipping? Like is this creature something that in a matter of days can lay active eggs.

If it’s the only one and you don’t see any eggs on your corals, then, to the best of my current knowledge, it shouldn’t be able to reproduce, so I wouldn’t worry.

(To my knowledge, these things aren’t self-fertilizing, so you’d need multiple of them for them to reproduce.)