Are these Amphipods eating my zoas?

[MONTANTK]

So the past few days my seduction Palys have been closed. My other zoas are looking normal but my rastas were also closed one day. I shined a light on my tank tonight and saw amphipods all over the seductions. Is it possible they’re eating them? Fwiw I saw them on another frag as well

 

[zoaprince]

it's a debated topic that has been brought up a few times before. most people do not think amphipods eat zoas (at least healthy ones) however, there is a minority (including me) that does think amphipods eat zoas

 

[Spieg]

Look like spiders to me.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/zoanthid-eating-spiders.817035/

 

[Uzidaisies]

I can’t even tell if they’re amphipods, they kind of look like tiny aiptasia

 

[Uzidaisies]

Look like spiders to me.

Or that

 

[Chrisv.]

I can't say if amphipods eat living healthy coral.

What I can say is that I have observed amphipods on my healthy thriving coral, with something that it is the same fluorescent color as the coral they were next to in its gut.

I can also say that I'm looking for a good fishy friend to chow down on my amphipods.

Many people will say that they don't eat healthy corals.

I say: Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius.

 

[Goaway]

They very well could be. If you have a reef dip, pull that frag and kill those things.

 

[Chrisv.]

Those look like sea spiders to me too. Be careful, they are hard to kill. I had some survive Bayer. Sigh.

 

[MONTANTK]

I can’t even tell if they’re amphipods, they kind of look like tiny aiptasia

They’re definitely an amphipod of some sort. I couldn’t get a better quality photo

 

[MONTANTK]

Look like spiders to me.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/zoanthid-eating-spiders.817035/

Hmmm I know the photo quality is poor but they don’t really look like spiders but that thought did cross my mind. I’m going to take a second look in a minute and see if I can find some spiders. I added a clove frag and zoa frag and dipped both in revive for 10 minutes and I do recall seeing a spider of some sort fall off of a frag

 

[Chrisv.]

They’re definitely an amphipod of some sort. I couldn’t get a better quality photo

Bottom right is an amphipod, is the other one an amphipod too?

 

[MONTANTK]

Those look like sea spiders to me too. Be careful, they are hard to kill. I had some survive Bayer. Sigh.

I did see a spider come off a recently added frag in a revive dip and coincidentally that’s when the Palys started acting up

 

[MONTANTK]

Bottom right is an amphipod, is the other one an amphipod too?

Both were amphipods. I find it suspicious that they’re crowding that one frag and it happens to be the unhappy one. Going to look now for spiders

 

[Critteraholic]

If you saw a spider, there are more. Get the two new frags out of there and any frags you think should come out, Make a quarantine something. If you've got a small tank, good. If not, get a plastic shoe box or suitable bowl. Plop them in and add an air stone. Like Now. I had them and it took three months to get them all. They lay eggs that you have to wait to hatch and then find and kill. Peroxide is your new best friend. Any polyp that is squishy or off color gets torn off. Eyebrow tweezers are handy. Drop the polyp in the peroxide and tear it apart to check for spiders. Sometimes it will be a sick polyp and no spiders, so don't get upset. The spiders can hide within the zoa polyps and nothing you put them in will kill them. And also check the bottoms of the polyps. They sometimes make slits to get in if the polyp isn't open. A small soft craft water color paintbrush is good to brush the gunk off so you can see better. A flashlight to backlight the polyps will sometimes show you the spider in the polyp. Good luck!

And, yes, amphipods will eat your zoas. They cleaned out three beautiful frags and then went after my RFA. In looking for a way to get rid of them without killing everything else, I came across someone who used a high salinity quick dip to stun them off the rocks. It works. I then put a molly in the tank to keep after them.

 

[Chrisv.]

If you saw a spider, there are more. Get the two new frags out of there and any frags you think should come out, Make a quarantine something. If you've got a small tank, good. If not, get a plastic shoe box or suitable bowl. Plop them in and add an air stone. Like Now. I had them and it took three months to get them all. They lay eggs that you have to wait to hatch and then find and kill. Peroxide is your new best friend. Any polyp that is squishy or off color gets torn off. Eyebrow tweezers are handy. Drop the polyp in the peroxide and tear it apart to check for spiders. Sometimes it will be a sick polyp and no spiders, so don't get upset. The spiders can hide within the zoa polyps and nothing you put them in will kill them. And also check the bottoms of the polyps. They sometimes make slits to get in if the polyp isn't open. A small soft craft water color paintbrush is good to brush the gunk off so you can see better. A flashlight to backlight the polyps will sometimes show you the spider in the polyp. Good luck!

And, yes, amphipods will eat your zoas. They cleaned out three beautiful frags and then went after my RFA. In looking for a way to get rid of them without killing everything else, I came across someone who used a high salinity quick dip to stun them off the rocks. It works. I then put a molly in the tank to keep after them.

A molly? Really? Is this an otherwise fishless tank?

 

[Critteraholic]

A molly? Really? Is this an otherwise fishless tank?

Wellll, therein lies a story. The first molly was in with a green clown goby and a tailspot blenny. Though I put the molly in to terrorize the amphipods, she also became a dither fish for the other two. Yay! Then in my fervor to get rid of the really big amphipods, I did a high salinity dip and swish of the rocks. That got rid of about 60 of them. They also hide in the sand, so I stupidly took the sand out by cupsful and rinsed it saving all the worms, etc. to put back in the tank. Guess what I got? DINOS! I tried not to water change, but the tank began getting this sweet nasty funky smell that I could smell across the room. And if I stood next to it, I got a nasty taste in my mouth and got kinda nauseous. Enough. Sooo, I decided that in the morning I was water changing. Got up the next morning and all three fish were dead. I was absolutely furious and very very sad at the same time. Went on to lose some corals and apparently nearly all my worms and it looks like all the mini serpent stars too. That was a killer too. I'm still trying to save some of the corals. The dinos are mostly gone and I figure in another week or two I should be good. In the meantime, the amphipods are loving all the extra food. Nope, they didn't die at all. They're multiplying and running around in the daytime. ;Rage I found a couple of amphipod eating amphipods in the tank. There're not doing a very good job. So I've got another molly being acclimated to saltwater. After I put her in, I don't think I'll be adding more fish till I get a 10 gallon set up. Too much retail therapy during Covid. So now I have three picos. *Sigh*

 

[Chrisv.]

Wellll, therein lies a story. The first molly was in with a green clown goby and a tailspot blenny. Though I put the molly in to terrorize the amphipods, she also became a dither fish for the other two. Yay! Then in my fervor to get rid of the really big amphipods, I did a high salinity dip and swish of the rocks. That got rid of about 60 of them. They also hide in the sand, so I stupidly took the sand out by cupsful and rinsed it saving all the worms, etc. to put back in the tank. Guess what I got? DINOS! I tried not to water change, but the tank began getting this sweet nasty funky smell that I could smell across the room. And if I stood next to it, I got a nasty taste in my mouth and got kinda nauseous. Enough. Sooo, I decided that in the morning I was water changing. Got up the next morning and all three fish were dead. I was absolutely furious and very very sad at the same time. Went on to lose some corals and apparently nearly all my worms and it looks like all the mini serpent stars too. That was a killer too. I'm still trying to save some of the corals. The dinos are mostly gone and I figure in another week or two I should be good. In the meantime, the amphipods are loving all the extra food. Nope, they didn't die at all. They're multiplying and running around in the daytime. ;Rage I found a couple of amphipod eating amphipods in the tank. There're not doing a very good job. So I've got another molly being acclimated to saltwater. After I put her in, I don't think I'll be adding more fish till I get a 10 gallon set up. Too much retail therapy during Covid. So now I have three picos. *Sigh*

Haha don't feel too bad. I'm on my second covid tank. Looking to expand it too!

Freaking amphipods. All over my rocks. Day and night. I'm going to try a possum wrasse. Can't stand six lines. Too likely to turn on the tank mates. It's a shame. Beautiful fish. GL with the dinos.sorry for your crash.

 

[Critteraholic]

What really hurts is that -I- am 100% responsible for those #$%^ing dinos. ;Meh

OOooo I would love to have a possum wrasse! Have fun getting one!

 

[MONTANTK]

Haha don't feel too bad. I'm on my second covid tank. Looking to expand it too!

Freaking amphipods. All over my rocks. Day and night. I'm going to try a possum wrasse. Can't stand six lines. Too likely to turn on the tank mates. It's a shame. Beautiful fish. GL with the dinos.sorry for your crash.

Pink streaks are a nice alternative to the six line but I can’t say mine is eating the amphipods. Little guy is spoiled now and only waits for frozen

 

[Chrisv.]

Pink streaks are a nice alternative to the six line but I can’t say mine is eating the amphipods. Little guy is spoiled now and only waits for frozen

God that would annoy me to no end! Have you found any useful amphipod control fish? I guess not given this thread.