Wild nudi in my system...good or bad?

[ciao]

After many trips hauling water to fill my tank, my tank is finally cycling! (clap)(I really should start a build thread....I can just get off my lazy butt and take pictures to post along with the thread!) My tank has been cycling with some premo live rock that I got from Brandon a couple weeks ago and some of the hitchhikers are starting to poke out there head. I've already identified some Stomatella snails, asterinas, tubeworms, mushrooms, copepods, Zoas, regular snails, and a big sand sifting chocolate starfish that was hiding in one of the rocks that is the size of a softball in size if you spread out all it's arms. Really surprised the heck out of me since when I was lifting out the rock I was more on a search and destroy mission of some majano I saw on some of the rock and noticed a long arm that I thought was a big bristle worm hiding the rock. To my great surprise when I searched inside the rock, it ended up being this nice starfish.

 

You missing any starfish Brandon?(whistle)

 

What is concerning me is I've seen a couple of nudibranchs crawling around in the tank that are the size of maybe a few centimeters. One of them had a slight greenish top on it that I wasn't sure if it was camouflage or some algae it picked up. Are these things good or bad? I know the Burghia ones are good for Aptasia but I don't have any in my tank nor do I think Brandon bought any Berghia for his tank.

 

I've taken out and killed the one in green already but when there is one, I'm sure there are probably a few more in there and wanted to see if I should pick them out when I see them

[Kevman]

What are Nudi branch?

[impur]

What color are the zoas? If they are green, you might have zoa-eating nudibranchs. Luckily you are in the beginning stages so if you do have them, removing all zoas will starve them out after a period of time. But its hard to say without a pic, not all nudibranchs are bad.

[ciao]

Well there are two types of zoas in the tank currently. One is a green Zoa which I think Brandon called Nuclear something and then there are some brown ones. I haven't noticed any zoas dieing are being eaten since there are only 2 colonies of them on two different rocks. I'll try to get a picture of the Nudi if I see any more of them. Hopefully my camera will take decent enough pictures through glass.

[Lowman]

If you are unsure of any hitchhiker, especially nudis, I would toss them as you find them.

[CA2OR]

if I were you I would snag a wrasse, preferably a Melanarus IMO.

[Lowman]

good call Eric

[ciao]

Well since I have a month or more to wait while my 210 Gallon finishes cycling, I can be on the lookout for them and see if I'll need one. If I start seeing them all over, I'll be sure to pick up one. I'm 85% sure it's a Nudi of some sort........just don't know if it's one I need to be concerned with. Are there certain ones that target Zoas and others that eat other types of corals besides Zoas? Just trying to gauge what sort of damage I should be on the lookout for if they become more prevalent.

[impur]

Well there are monti eating nudis, and zoa eating nudis. Those are the 2 you want to watch out for. Unfortunately its really hard to tell them apart, even to tell them apart from harmless ones. One way would be to inspect the zoas really closely. The nudis really blend in so a magnifying glass helps. You could also dip the zoas and see if any nudis come off.

[ciao]

Well there are monti eating nudis' date=' and zoa eating nudis. Those are the 2 you want to watch out for. Unfortunately its really hard to tell them apart, even to tell them apart from harmless ones. One way would be to inspect the zoas really closely. The nudis really blend in so a magnifying glass helps. You could also dip the zoas and see if any nudis come off.[/quote']

 

Well the one I pulled yesterday was flesh colored except for the top which was slightly green and the other one I saw was also flesh/beige colored

[impur]

The top being green is what scares me. As the zoa-eating nudis eat the zoa polyps, they use the zoothanthellae and the toxins in the polyp, transferring it to their cerata (the little spikes on their backs) which in turn will become the color of the polyps it is consuming.

 

Here is some good info on nudibranchs

 

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-05/rs/index.php

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/nudicompfaqs.htm

[Kevman]

Are these the little star fish ,or sea slugs?

[ThePremiumAquarium]

They are a tiny little sea slug. Some nudis are good but it sounds like Caio has some of the baddies from his explanation.

 

I would get a wrasse in the Halichoeres or Pseudocheilinus family. The Yellow Coris or Melanarus would be a good choice or if you prefer, a six or four line wrasse might also help with the maintanence and removal of the little bastards.

[nwcoralfarm]

The top being green is what scares me. As the zoa-eating nudis eat the zoa polyps, they use the zoothanthellae and the toxins in the polyp, transferring it to their cerata (the little spikes on their backs) which in turn will become the color of the polyps it is consuming.

 

Here is some good info on nudibranchs

 

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-05/rs/index.php

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/nudicompfaqs.htm

 

Hmmmm, I always wondered how they tend to blend in with the zoo they are eating. That makes perfect sense. I have generally only really seen them on green and orange zoos though.

 

The easy way to find them eating your zoos is just to find any polyps that are closed in the middle of the day.

[CA2OR]

Keep in mind ALOT of people have issues with 6 line wrasses due to aggression and not always right away....sometimes they have them for a year or more before the 6 line starts acting up

 

In my experience any nudi that you don't buy in a store is bad. If it appears out of no where you probably want to get rid of it. Seriously, I have lost very hard to get monti's and $100's worth of zoa's due to nudi's. From here in it's outright war. I am actually thinking of picking up a coralis wrasse in addition to my current Melanarus. And the Melanarus is an excellent fish. He hunts all day long. Eating nudi's, flat worms, all sorts of hijackers and problem causers....including bristle worms.

 

Melanarus Wrasse's are in my opinion a must in any reef tank. I prefer them over any and every other wrasse out there. But the Coralis is yellow....a color I don't have much of in my tank.

 

Here is pic of Melanarus

[CA2OR]

Hmmmm, I always wondered how they tend to blend in with the zoo they are eating. That makes perfect sense. I have generally only really seen them on green and orange zoos though.

 

The easy way to find them eating your zoos is just to find any polyps that are closed in the middle of the day.

 

I also found that by using a small flashlight at night works to find them. I used to have very bright LED's on my 36 and all I would do is scour my glass (acrylic) after my lights were out and I would find them everywhere.

 

But none since I added my wrasse. I would find bristles on rocks I was fragging and drop them in at the top. They would be gone before they got half way down. Final resting place.....Mel's stomach(naughty)

[CA2OR]

In my opinion, I would get a wrasse no matter if you see them again or not. Usually by the time you see them they are all over. You only see the one's stupid enough to go to the glass. A wrasse will protect you from all kinds of issues both present and future. Consider it part of your clean up crew.....or defense system if you will

[impur]

Easiest route would be to remove the zoas, maybe give them to someone who can go thru dipping and QT them.

[CA2OR]

Good idea Miles, I am in Beaverton and have dipping things for you as well as a wrasse. You could bring them by and dip them or leave them here until you are ready. My wrasse will take good care of them.