Montipora Eating Nudibranch

[GobyWanKenobie]

What's the best way to get rid of montipora eating nudibranchs? I found some in my QT tank, and I've been dipping any coral that looks suspicious, but each night I find more. Does anyone know if the Bayer insecticide will work, and if so, how do I use it?

I already have a six line wrasse. He's a great fish, but he's not helping. I also dip all my new corals and QT them so obviously the dip doesn't get the eggs. Anyone have any new ideas or experience?

 

[Greg Hiller]

I had these in a frag tank many years ago. If they are not in a display tank you can beat them pretty easily, particularly if there are not a lot of Montipora in the tank. Once a day or so take ALL the Montipora out and dip them in one of the common dip chemical, Revive would probably work well, or you can use maybe 10 drops/liter of providone iodine. Just a minute or so of the dip should cause the buggers to drop off. Be a good idea to blast the underside of the coral with a turkey baster, or a powerhead to help knock them off. Do this for a few weeks and you should beat them. All the babies will hatch and none of the adults will have a chance to lay more eggs. You can also look for egg masses on the corals, they will be in the areas that have been denuded of live tissue, but just adjacent to the live tissue.

Good luck...these are not hard to beat if you stay on top of it.

 

[GobyWanKenobie]

Thanks for the response, Greg. I just started doing exactly what you suggested. Since I got tired of dipping them individually, I made a rack, put all the montis in it, and every day I lift the whole thing out and dip it. Originally I was only dipping pieces I suspected were compromised, but now I'm dipping all of them. Do you think I need to worry about similiar species like stylos and neptastrea? They have me so crazy, I think I seem them on everything. lol

 

[Greg Hiller]

My experience was not extensive, but I never found that they laid eggs on anything other than Montipora. However, I think it's quite likely that they might wander around the tank when they are adults looking for new food sources. That said, if you dip regularly for a few weeks, you should get all of them. On average they are much more likely to be hanging out on Montipora. I never saw them damage anything other than Montipora. But they did 'enjoy' several different species of Montipora, including M. digitata. Good luck, don't stress, but DON'T let them get into a display tank.

 

[GobyWanKenobie]

Thanks for the advice. If I have them, chances are others out there do too. Maybe they just don't know it.

 

[Greg Hiller]

They hide during the day on the underside of corals. At night they come out and munch, leaving large white patches of the coral as they denude the flesh. Lovely!

They are easy to see. Look like little white snowflakes about 1/8 in diameter when mature.

 

[SteveDola]

Its when you have an infestation in mature colonies in the tank that they do a lot of damage. if you can remove and dip to stop the life cycle you should be able to wipe them out in no time as long as you say on top of it.

 

[GobyWanKenobie]

I haven't seen any for a couple of days, but I'm still dipping. My frags look great. I think they actually like the treatment.

 

[jason401]

hey barb let see some pics

 

[Greg Hiller]

>but I'm still dipping. My frags look great. I think they actually like the treatment. <

It's nice that there are some mild dips these days. I had to use iodine in water and the Montis were really not very happy about it.

 

[GobyWanKenobie]

I have been using Revive. I think it stuns them more than actually kills them, but at least they fall off. It's been about a week since I've seen any so I am hopeful. I lost most of my purple digi and flower petal and half of my rainbow monti. It could have been worse. I need to post a picture, but the only one I took isn't that good.