Soft coral eating Nudibranch on LA corals

[MixedFruitBasket]

This is not a hit at LA by any leap of the imagination because I'm telling you, these nudies can be VERY hard to see. Most move so slow they can look like a sponge, an anemone, or just some frilly detail on a coral. Some even mimic the coral so precisely they look like they are carrying the polyps on their back (look at Xenia eating nudies). Anyhow, I've found a few of these here and there on colonies I've gotten from LA. Most are the white, very very very HARD to see kind. Anywhere from 1/2 inch to 1/4.

Here is one type I found the other day: http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/invert-index/tritoniopsis-elegans-nudibranch-19315/#.X8jxiS9h2i4

I've also found these in bright orange.
It's easy to say "that's why you should dip" which I'd agree except, 1: it doesn't kill the eggs and 2: there's about a 60% chance with stereonephthya you'll kill it. I've learned that the hard way. Nothing like dipping a coral and then watching it scatter into a trillion particles over the next day. I suspect it kills stereo so easily because the corals are literally filled with water so when you put them in dip, they can pull it inside their bodies and you can't rinse it off and it just sits inside them and kills tissue. That's just a theory of course, based on disasters using other common aquarium chemicals that have no effect on other corals.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I'm a bit surprised that in nearly a month you didn't get any responses here.

 

[Scorpius]

There's a pest for everything out there. Sigh.....

 

[gabrielw94106]

I'm a bit surprised that in nearly a month you didn't get any responses here.

Agreed. Its surprising to me as well.

This is not a hit at LA by any leap of the imagination because I'm telling you, these nudies can be VERY hard to see. Most move so slow they can look like a sponge, an anemone, or just some frilly detail on a coral. Some even mimic the coral so precisely they look like they are carrying the polyps on their back (look at Xenia eating nudies). Anyhow, I've found a few of these here and there on colonies I've gotten from LA. Most are the white, very very very HARD to see kind. Anywhere from 1/2 inch to 1/4.

Here is one type I found the other day: http://www.captivereefs.com/forum/invert-index/tritoniopsis-elegans-nudibranch-19315/#.X8jxiS9h2i4

I've also found these in bright orange.
It's easy to say "that's why you should dip" which I'd agree except, 1: it doesn't kill the eggs and 2: there's about a 60% chance with stereonephthya you'll kill it. I've learned that the hard way. Nothing like dipping a coral and then watching it scatter into a trillion particles over the next day. I suspect it kills stereo so easily because the corals are literally filled with water so when you put them in dip, they can pull it inside their bodies and you can't rinse it off and it just sits inside them and kills tissue. That's just a theory of course, based on disasters using other common aquarium chemicals that have no effect on other corals.

Dipping is kind of those things that there will always be sort of an argument about I think. Theres a pretty big pros and cons list. For the Nudibranchs I think they’re not the xenia specific kind sadly. Im not sure the size tank you have but I have been reading this book called the world beneath by Dr Richard Smith. It says that with the species Phyllodesmium Rudmani that his way of distinguishing is to fund the polyps that werent opening and go from there. My option to you would possibly be to spend a lengthy time trying to find them manually. Hope this was of some help