Amphipods eating zoas

[DSFa]

Hi guys,

I had just noticed some amphipods feeding on a purple patch of my zoa, it seems to be bruised should i introduce a mandarin / copper band today to get rid of them.

I understand they eat decay etc but i see them crawling on my other zoas also but no purple patches like seen in photo.

Thank you

 

[Flippers4pups]

Picture is a bit blurry, so I can't 100% confirm amphipods. Yes, they will clean up dieing or dead tissue, but as for them directly attacking healthy tissue, I've never seen nor heard of them doing that. Rogue amphi's, anything possible.

On the I'd confirmation, I have seen and have read that certain isopods will do this.

I wouldn't recommend getting a mandrin just for the sole purpose of eating these if there isn't a healthy, mature supply of copepods to sustain them. Copperband would be your call, depending on what other fish you currently have and size of the tank.

 

[DSFa]

Picture is a bit blurry, so I can't 100% confirm amphipods. Yes, they will clean up dieing or dead tissue, but as for them directly attacking healthy tissue, I've never seen nor heard of them doing that. Rogue amphi's, anything possible.

On the I'd confirmation, I have seen and have read that certain isopods will do this.

I wouldn't recommend getting a mandrin just for the sole purpose of eating these if there isn't a healthy, mature supply of copepods to sustain them. Copperband would be your call, depending on what other fish you currently have and size of the tank.

I’ve heard of people having similar issues but it’s hard to confirm if they are the culprit of the damaged tissue to begin with, the colony is 6 heads always open so it’s hard for me to believe they’re innocent.

I syphoned one out a small one half the size of biggest i’ve seen in my tank.

 

[ScottB]

Pods are good; they are just doing some needed clean up.

Mandarins are awesome fish, but you need at least 50 lbs of old established rock to supply them with enough pods. Or, plan to spend $30 a month on bottles of pods. Otherwise they starve.

 

[DSFa]

I

Picture is a bit blurry, so I can't 100% confirm amphipods. Yes, they will clean up dieing or dead tissue, but as for them directly attacking healthy tissue, I've never seen nor heard of them doing that. Rogue amphi's, anything possible.

On the I'd confirmation, I have seen and have read that certain isopods will do this.

I wouldn't recommend getting a mandrin just for the sole purpose of eating these if there isn't a healthy, mature supply of copepods to sustain them. Copperband would be your call, depending on what other fish you currently have and size of the tank.

have a healthy population of copepods as well in a refugium, just been running fallow as i had a fish death I couldn’t identify cause so i quarintined everything. It’s been a little over a month now maybe 1.5 months so not sure if I’m rushing things but I definitely don’t want my zoas being eaten or annoyed.

 

[William Mumford]

Hi guys,

I had just noticed some amphipods feeding on a purple patch of my zoa, it seems to be bruised should i introduce a mandarin / copper band today to get rid of them.

I understand they eat decay etc but i see them crawling on my other zoas also but no purple patches like seen in photo.

Thank you

Six line wrasse will crush them. Emerald crabs eat them as well.

 

[Flippers4pups]

I

have a healthy population of copepods as well in a refugium, just been running fallow as i had a fish death I couldn’t identify cause so i quarintined everything. It’s been a little over a month now maybe 1.5 months so not sure if I’m rushing things but I definitely don’t want my zoas being eaten or annoyed.

If going fallow, 76 days is advisable.

 

[DSFa]

Six line wrasse will crush them. Emerald crabs eat them as well.

Bit iffy about a wrase in the tank as I have a pair of sexy shrimps, do emerald crabs eat zoas or any corals? I heard they can sometimes be non-reef safe unfortunately, if they're safe then i'll probably try get some thanks for the suggestions!

 

[DSFa]

If going fallow, 76 days is advisable.

I know I should but I really can't stand my corals dying from something like this, I'm just gonna hope for the best as I wasn't sure if it was parasites or just an odd death but took safety precautions anyways so hoping it's nothing as my other fishes didn't show any signs of parasites.

 

[DSFa]

Pods are good; they are just doing some needed clean up.

Mandarins are awesome fish, but you need at least 50 lbs of old established rock to supply them with enough pods. Or, plan to spend $30 a month on bottles of pods. Otherwise they starve.

I've read stories of pods just not having enough food then going after corals SPS / Zoas there's a whole lot of posts of others running into these issues, From what I could see it seemed like they had caused the bruising as I could see the larger ones actively feeding on the zoa multiple of them around the bruised area.

I think I'll just go with natural fishes /inverts to keep the pod population in check / not getting large enough to really harm my corals.

 

[William Mumford]

Bit iffy about a wrase in the tank as I have a pair of sexy shrimps, do emerald crabs eat zoas or any corals? I heard they can sometimes be non-reef safe unfortunately, if they're safe then i'll probably try get some thanks for the suggestions!

A crab will eat anything at all. I have had them chop of a hammer head once but it wasnt eating the coral more eating what the coral caught. The sexy shrimp does throw a wrench in the pot because the wrasse might eat them as well. Doseing phytoplankton might help to curb the pods appetite as another suggestion.

 

[DSFa]

A crab will eat anything at all. I have had them chop of a hammer head once but it wasnt eating the coral more eating what the coral caught. The sexy shrimp does throw a wrench in the pot because the wrasse might eat them as well. Doseing phytoplankton might help to curb the pods appetite as another suggestion.

Ahh bummer I thought so, are porcelaine crabs the same? I was keen on getting some later on awesome crabs. Yeahhh they'll be goners hoping CBB + mandarin will cover any pests I encounter. I'm dosing phyto as well as gonipowder every day and reef roids every 2/3 days so I was hoping they'd be staying off my corals jerks!!!

 

[Lwedin]

Bit iffy about a wrase in the tank as I have a pair of sexy shrimps, do emerald crabs eat zoas or any corals? I heard they can sometimes be non-reef safe unfortunately, if they're safe then i'll probably try get some thanks for the suggestions!

I caught vide of my emerald crab eating my zoa. Used the fish net to separate them.. Not sure if it will survive the attack.