Big bristle worm & a spider

[epicenter]

I have lost a lot of zoas the past few months & did all that I know to try & save them, by way of fresh water dip, dip in iodine, & inspect for pests. I never saw any pests on corals or in the bowls they were dipped in. I lost 99% of the many different colonies. Now I have a Lobo that is clearly suffering from something. I made a bristle worm trap from used epoxy tubes & discover a worm at least 1/4" to 3/8" wide. The worm never crawled into the tube but he crawled up to & around it. He left a giant trail of something slimy/sticky that sand was bouned up in. The trail was probably 15" long. Stuck in the trail of slime I find this spider. Now what? I am lost on how to help the animals. Attached are bad photos but the best I can produce. Any ideas on what to do?

[Hoss]

If the worm is a bristle worm then I wouldn't blame it for the death of the corals, as bristle worms are really harmless scavengers that get a bad rap. The spider looks like a terrestrial spider that fell in your tank, but you could look up "pycnogonids" or "sea spiders" as these are sometimes known to be parasitic on zoos. My hunch is that it's something in the water though. Have you tried testing your water recently?

[epicenter]

I feel kind of foolish about the spider after my son said it also looked like a plain ol spider, & after searching I have not found a sea spider that looks like this one. So this still leaves me stumped why a thousand or more zoas disappeared & the sad looking lobo. Should I did the Lobo in Iodine? Could it be some sort of fungus? I have what looks like spongy material in the Lobo. Any help is appreciated.

[CA2OR]

hmm....what do your parameters look like?

[dsoz]

Sometimes Eunice worms will eat zoas. I caught an Eunice eating out of one of my Euphyllia. I just fed the pink hammer coral (the most expensive coral that I owned), and the lights went out. Not 30 minutes later I watched a large black worm work its way up the skeleton and into the center of the hammer. It went right into the center of the mouth and ate the food that I gave to the hammer. Over the next week, the hammer died of brown jelly disease.

 

I ended up Nuking the rock that held the worm. I think I got the bugger.

 

dsoz

[epicenter]

Sometimes Eunice worms will eat zoas. I caught an Eunice eating out of one of my Euphyllia. I just fed the pink hammer coral (the most expensive coral that I owned), and the lights went out. Not 30 minutes later I watched a large black worm work its way up the skeleton and into the center of the hammer. It went right into the center of the mouth and ate the food that I gave to the hammer. Over the next week, the hammer died of brown jelly disease.

 

I ended up Nuking the rock that held the worm. I think I got the bugger.

 

dsoz

 

That does not sound very reassuring, This worm is very shy & darts back in hiding at the slightest movement or light. He did not fall for my trap 2 times now. Water parameters. All Salifert tests

pH= 8.0/8.2

Calcium= 420

Alkalinity= 13.8 dKH or 4.91 meq/L (Been using seachem reef salt)

Magnesium= 1170

Nitrates= 6 or 7

Phosphates= .01

Could the Lobo be infected with some kind of fungus? It looks like there is spongy type of stuff in the skeleton.

[impur]

Those spiders eat zoas.

 

 

Read about them here:

 

http://zoaid.com/index.php?module=Gallery2&g2_itemId=396

[undrtkr_00]

The spongy stuff could be brown jelly disease. Google that and see if it matches what you are seeing. Could be secondary problem, though, after stress from some predator/parasite.

[epicenter]

impur that is one ugly spider, I feel grateful that is not what I found.

undrtkr_00, The white rubbery stuff was not slimy at all. My zoas spread out & became like a linked network at their bases. I also found these little white/yellow cotton ball type stuff on the bases. Someone mentioned zoa pox so I will read more on that.

Here is the best pic I could get of that worm last night. If any body has ideas on how to get him out I am all ears, or eyes in this case. Thanks for all the responses, makes a guy feel not so alone & lost.

[ciao]

Could you post a picture of the white/yellow cotton ball stuff on the bases. I'm really curios to see if it's the same stuff on my Paly's that I got. My Paly's have stayed close or only partially open around the time the stuff started to appear. I would really appreciate it if you could snap some of pictures of it and post it. If anybody knows how to cure it, I would love to hear what the cure is. I've tried a coral dip on it once and that seemed to help a little but not a full cure

[epicenter]

Could you post a picture of the white/yellow cotton ball stuff on the bases.

 

I really do not know what this stuff is, maybe some body else can chime in & identify.

 

 

Yellow spongy stuff

 

White cotton looking stuff

 

strange purple stuff on sick zoas, to right white cotton stuff from zoas.

 

& what is this stuff to the right of chalice? Is it sponge?

[undrtkr_00]

I'd say the "yellow spongy stuff" and the bottom pic are both sponges.

 

I have some yellow sponge a lot like your top pic.