*INFESTED* Zoa Eating Nudi's, the Battle Begins

[petemichelle]

following....

 

[CodyRVA]

Quick update for everyone...

I found maybe 3 more small nudi's tonight, all on the same colony. The other colonies seem to be unaffected, palys still unaffected. I ordered some EXIT from BRS, should be here tomorrow so ideally I can do direct testing on some nudi's and dip the entire rock again.

Still no sight of eggs. I'm sure there are some in there, but I'm debating if I just keep dipping and manually removing the small nudis, they won't get big enough to lay eggs. Assuming they have to mature before having the ability to reproduce. If that's the case, keeping them from getting large (manually removing them when they're small, before they grow) this should limit the opportunity for eggs. The only downfall is it might be dang near impossible to make sure I have all the large nudi's. If i keep finding small ones, I can assume there are larger nudi's in there still laying eggs.

The key benefit I have right now is they all seem to love this one colony which makes targeting them that much easier. If they were all over the system... yea...

 

[joshporksandwich]

Great thread thanks for this. I've had nudis chomp on plays btw

 

[CodyRVA]

Great thread thanks for this. I've had nudis chomp on plays btw

Thanks for the info. Since doing a fresh water dip I have not seen many at all. Checked again this morning and found nothing.

Kind of hoping I can find some more, I'm sure I will, so I can do more testing.

More to come!

 

[jboone82590]

Thanks for the update.
Have you thought about getting something to eat the eggs and small ones?

 

[CodyRVA]

Thanks for the update.
Have you thought about getting something to eat the eggs and small ones?

I have. There's a local melanarus wrasse available, but I'm sure it'll turn on my snails. I have added a coral banded shrimp, works for keeping my amphipods in check, testing to see if it does much for the nudis. Can't say I really want a coris wrasse so I'd rather try treatment first.

Other options?

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

I did some testing... Keep in mind these are things I already had around the house. No clue if the Lugols, Cupramine or bleach would even be up for debate here. As stated, just exploring and having a bit of fun doing some research. These are 1 ounce portion cups, I started with 1 drop for each besides the control which is saltwater and the RODI which is self explanatory.

By least affective to most affective:

#1: Lugols (worst):
This was almost a joke, maybe a better iodine solution should be explored, but i poured this stuff in and the nudis did eventually die, but it took nearly 45 minutes. Bodies didn't melt or deteriorate, they just curled up. 1 drop of solution did absolutely nothing to the nudis.

#2: Cupramine:
Again, a different copper solution may yield different results. This one did work very well for about 5 drops for the 1 ounce of saltwater. 1 drop didn't do much of anything. Same as the Lugols, the bodies just kind of curled up, no break down.

#3: H202:
Kind of surprised wit this one, the bodies really just turned to nothing. I only added one drop, they just did not do well with the h202 at all. They did crawl around some, but within 5 minutes they were dead. Minor body deterioration, but still mostly intact.

#4: Bleach:
The nudi's did not last long before they died. Some crawled around temporarily, but eventually died and not only did they die, but their bodies pretty much turned to mush. I would obviously be leery about using bleach to treat for nudi's, but bleach does pretty much kill everything.

#5: RODI:
Hands down the most affective. It took seconds to minutes to kill the nudis. Their bodies didn't break down, but the just went stiff. Didn't even crawl around. To double check, i pulled the nudi from the salt water control test, which this nudi was crawling around, and dropped him in the RODI and in less than a minute the thing was dead. This would be an ideal treatment if you were dipping zoas directly.

#6: Two Little Fishies Coral Revive (best):
So this was my main dip. I knew, or at least hoped, this stuff would kill them. I soaked the rock in 1 cap of solution for every quart of water. Before returning the rock to the tank i did a fresh water dip for a few seconds, really just to rinse the solution from the rock. I was also slightly compelled to rinse in RODI due to its extreme effectiveness on the other test nudi's. This is everything that came off of the rock. Not sure if this is mostly detritus, but there are many large pods, collateral damage , and you can see many nudi bodies.

You know, you can use Lugol's in much higher concentrations. When I use Lugol's to dip, I usually add enough to make the water look like tea. I'd bet the iodine is much more effective at these doses, and I've used that concentration to dip corals with no ill effects. FWIW.

 

[jboone82590]

I have. There's a local melanarus wrasse available, but I'm sure it'll turn on my snails. I have added a coral banded shrimp, works for keeping my amphipods in check, testing to see if it does much for the nudis. Can't say I really want a coris wrasse so I'd rather try treatment first.

Other options?

I remember you talking about that.

 

[CodyRVA]

Have you looked at potassium permanganate? It has been useful to treat monti eating nudi and eggs.

I have not, what is that?

 

[LbulletM]

Awesome stuff, Cody. This will be a great resource for others with the same issue.

Any chance you can get a hold of some Bayer and see if you can show some more Nudis the bright light at the end of the tunnel? I'd be interested to see results with one of the latest fads in dipping.

 

[CodyRVA]

Awesome stuff, Cody. This will be a great resource for others with the same issue.

Any chance you can get a hold of some Bayer and see if you can show some more Nudis the bright light at the end of the tunnel? I'd be interested to see results with one of the latest fads in dipping.

Thanks! Yea I'll try it assuming I find more nudis. I have some ugly palys on the frag rack; I may try and actually breed them and use the palys as food, to do some more testing.

 

[LbulletM]

Thanks! Yea I'll try it assuming I find more nudis. I have some ugly palys on the frag rack; I may try and actually breed them and use the palys as food, to do some more testing.

Haha this is something I would totally want to do if I had an infestation and a spare tank. Props to you for stepping up!

 

[pickupman66]

So, jus tto throw this out here, but I dip almost all my incoming corals in bayer. Zoas and SPS expecially. Have you tried Bayer for killing them?

 

[LbulletM]

Me thinks the lady doth not read enough.

 

[CodyRVA]

So, jus tto throw this out here, but I dip almost all my incoming corals in bayer. Zoas and SPS expecially. Have you tried Bayer for killing them?

I have not, but absolutely will test it. Keep in mind if dipping eggs, which is how I believe they got into my system, to my knowledge dipping won't kill them. A full QT is idea.

 

[CodyRVA]

Flatworm EXIT update:

So EXIT calls for 4 drops for every 5 gallons. I wanted to test this on a frag first before mixing up a bunch and I didn't want to deal with toxin release in the display tank. So, I used a measuring cup, 1/2 a cup, filled with water from my display and 1 drop of EXIT. The frag I selected definitely had a nudi on it. I placed the frag in the measuring cup for 2 hours. After inspecting, the nudi was still alive.

If the recommendation is 4 drops for every 5 gallons, then .8 drops for every 1 gallon of water; or .025 drops for 1/2 a cup of water (assuming I'm doing my math correctly ). I mixed up my solution far more potent then what's recommended and it sat for 2 hours. I'm not saying EXIT doesn't work, especially because so many folks have had success with it killing nudi's, but so far I can't say I would recommend it. The RODI/Coral Revive dips are 100% the most affective at this point.

Hoping to try bayer this weekend. The RODI really cleaned house; I'm actually having a hard time finding any nudi's. I'd like to note that some of the polyps that the nudi's were on have white spots like this (not my pic). Looks something like this... thoughts?

 

[LbulletM]

Eh, if they're actually palys, it's probably just sand. Palys can incorporate your substrate into their tissue. If they're zoas, keep an eye out for pox.

 

[CodyRVA]

Eh, if they're actually palys, it's probably just sand. Palys can incorporate your substrate into their tissue. If they're zoas, keep an eye out for pox.

Yea i thought pox, just zoas not palys. A simple brush with the tweezers and the white spots come off; they don't disintegrate, they just break lose and fall off. Seemed hard to imagine i'd get pox and nudi's on the same colony at the same time though...

 

[LbulletM]

I don't think pox wipe off, so probably just a small piece of something that landed on them or possibly an egg considering your current adventure haha.

 

[CodyRVA]

I don't think pox wipe off, so probably just a small piece of something that landed on them or possibly an egg considering your current adventure haha.

gotcha, i thought eggs, but was looking for the spiral, not a spot... guess time will tell haha