Zoanthid Nudibranch questions

DracoKat · Jan 3, 2017

Hi all,

I am finding zoanthid eating nudibranches on my zoas. ugh. explains why they're closed most of the time now.

I need help figuring out what to do.

I've been manually pulling them out when I see them
I have Yellow Coris Wrasse, Leopard Wrasse and Red-head Solon wrasse- I feel like they are not doing their jobs (Especially the yellow coris)

The rocks they're on are just too big and all attached for me to take out to dip. I can't do that without destroying the tank.

I am looking at Flatworm Exit.. can someone tell me if this is ENTIRELY safe, meaning my inverts (Shrimps too) will be OK? will it hurt my feather dusters?

any other ideas how I can get rid of the nudi's?
Are they generally isolated around the zoa's, or could I find them near my SPS?

ReeferMaddness843 · Jan 3, 2017

The issue with the zoa eating nudis is that it's not only the nudis you need to remove, but also the eggs. They look like little white swirls on or in your zoas. Dips won't remove or kill either. You'll need to do manual removal in order to ensure they're removed. If unable to remove rocks you could siphon with a piece of airline tubing and pick them off and allow them to be sucked out the tank. I haven't personally had to deal with them as I caught a single nudi that snuck past security and that was the end of that. Was veeeeery lucky.

cloak · Jan 3, 2017

I was able to eradicate mine by siphoning them out one by one with some airline tubing and then I would use a brush to scrub the areas where I found them. It was definitely a little tedious and it took some time, but they're gone now.

Btw the best time to hunt for these things is in the middle of the night with a flashlight or as soon as the lights come on in the morning. GL.

inetjnky · Jan 3, 2017

Flatworm exit is safe, even in large doses which is what you'll want to use. Not sure how big your system is but I was able to rid them by dosing like 80 drops in a 20g total water system over a period of a few weeks. Some stuff got ticked off but I didn't lose anything and I had shrimp, anemone, coral, fish. The key is going to be able to dose and kill any before they lay eggs. I managed to get rid of all of mine by dosing once a week for 3 or 4 weeks straight. At the end of each week I'd do a 20% water change before dosing the next round.

DracoKat · Jan 3, 2017

thanks everyone!

I did pull some smaller pieces and dipped in Coral RX, had some nudis anf bristles fall off and pulled off some egg sacs.

@Morangus - thank you for the feedback. I will order more upon seeing some more experienced reviews too

joshporksandwich · Jan 3, 2017

I've had zoa eating nudes as long as I can remember. What @cloak said is right on the money. Just symphony them out and try to get the eggs or they will go crazy. I don't like nuking my tanks so I just suck them out.

dbassan09 · Jan 3, 2017

I had a huge infestation of them, three doses one week apart of 40ml sfe on my 150 did the trick # I would keep it in the tank for 6-12hrs you literally see them melting away then do 30% wc plus carbon right after every dose...
Feels great to be able to get some nice zoas again and not feel they are going to be melting...

wattson · Jan 3, 2017

hoping some coral dip will come along one day soon to "break the barrier" and kill the eggs of nudies one day..

DracoKat · Jan 4, 2017

wattson said:
hoping some coral dip will come along one day soon to "break the barrier" and kill the eggs of nudies one day..

that would be nice!

I ordered the flatworm exit. reviews on the site looks good.

wattson · Jan 4, 2017

potassium permanganate,,,heard some talk about using it in the saltwater world but never seen any more developments with using it for corals or fish in the saltwater world..

DracoKat · Jan 4, 2017

never heard of it. I'll probably steer clear if it's unclear with fish or corals

tankstudy · Jan 4, 2017

DracoKat said:
I am looking at Flatworm Exit.. can someone tell me if this is ENTIRELY safe, meaning my inverts (Shrimps too) will be OK? will it hurt my feather dusters?

For a majority of corals its pretty safe. Straight up flatworm exit and corals, its pretty safe. The problem with flatworm exit is that whatever it kills tends to release a ton of toxins. Not dealing with the toxins fast enough is usually what wipes out tanks.

For some invertebrates, the product is safe and some are not. Cerith snails from my experience can tolerate flat worm exit to the levels required to kills nudis and flat worms while Nassarius spc. snails do not tolerate the treatment at all. As for your shrimp and feather duster, it will also vary. I've had cleaner shrimp survive the treatment but I have not kept anything other than those. For feather dusters, the miniture hitch hiker species that are reef safe seem to survive the treatment, so there is a good possibility that the larger dusters may as well but I haven't personally tried so I can't guarantee you anything.

DracoKat said:
any other ideas how I can get rid of the nudi's?

Sometimes if there are few enough and your lucky enough, you can just pluck them off but from my experience the best way to do this is 3+ weeks of flatworm exit.

DracoKat said:
Are they generally isolated around the zoa's, or could I find them near my SPS?

Generally, they are around their food source but you can find them literally everywhere from my experience.

saltyfilmfolks · Jan 4, 2017

tankstudy said:
Sometimes if there are few enough and your lucky enough, you can just pluck them off but from my experience the best way to do this is 3+ weeks of flatworm exit.

I found that it was an 8 to 15 day hatch out. if you see an adult on the glass it means it laid eggs. IME

DracoKat · Jan 4, 2017

saltyfilmfolks said:
I found that it was an 8 to 15 day hatch out. if you see an adult on the glass it means it laid eggs. IME

You read my mind, I was going to ask how long it takes for eggs to hatch, lol

wattson · Jan 4, 2017

DracoKat said:
never heard of it. I'll probably steer clear if it's unclear with fish or corals

I DO NOT Suggest using Potassium Permanganate in a saltwater tank enviroment,,it is a oxidizer of all organic matter,,,turns your water purple,, but I used to use it to breed freshwater fish in bare bottom tanks,,,works very good to clean the fish with pest and get them into breeding condition..Also had to do 90% plus water changes after the treatment was neutralized with peroxide..

petemichelle · Feb 6, 2017

dbassan09 said:
I had a huge infestation of them, three doses one week apart of 40ml sfe on my 150 did the trick # I would keep it in the tank for 6-12hrs you literally see them melting away then do 30% wc plus carbon right after every dose...
Feels great to be able to get some nice zoas again and not feel they are going to be melting...

what is sfe??? please... don't know all the abbreviations

wattson · Feb 8, 2017

SFE----Salifert Flatworm Exit,,,,its a flatworm medication made by salifert Company,,the same company that makes water parameter testing test kits

petemichelle · Feb 12, 2017

how much flatworm exit per water volume. I have a 150 gal tank with 135 gal of water in it.

wattson · Feb 12, 2017

4x the normal dose per the directions for flatworm issues is what I did in the past,,Please make SURE YOU DO YOUR RESEARCH on line to confirm the current dosing for nudibranch treatments and any other issues/side affects that may arise from using this medication for any treatment ,prior to you dosing the flatworm exit medication..