Amphipods eating zoanthids

[Jeremiah]

So I have steadily been losing polyps.

i thought it might have been my emerald crabs, sexy shrimp, or pom pom crabs so I removed them all from the tank.

still noticing Zoa going missing so I stayed up Kate and sure enough I have very large amphipods eating Zoa...one was actually holding a small Zoa.

Can I dip all of my rock? Will that just destroy the beneficial bacteria and cause a tank crash? Will a freshwater dip kill off all of the mini brittle star fish? What is the downside to doing this dip? Corals are all Zoa they should be fine for 30 to 60 seconds right?

or is it basically just get a mandarin or wrasse and they will reduce the population enough? Which fish puts in work at night?

Edit: 100% sure it is these monster amphipods some are like 1/4 inch.

 

[Blindrage]

Mandarin will only eat the tiny ones. Their mouths are too small to eat the others.

I was told Wrasse is the way to go to clear them out. I may give another Solorensis a try.

 

[fishguy69]

A yellow coris wrasse could be another good choice.

V

 

[FinsUp]

Are you sure they're not zoa eating nudibranchs? See my thread on them - I fought those things for months, and nothing killed the eggs. Bayer killed the nudis, but they kept coming back as the eggs would hatch. Eventually tossed all my zoas, waited twice as long as their life cycle so the eggs would hatch and nudis would die from starvation, then started over again. Also got a sunset wrasse and a coris wrasse. Have had zero issues since.

 

[Jeremiah]

Are you sure they're not zoa eating nudibranchs? See my thread on them - I fought those things for months, and nothing killed the eggs. Bayer killed the nudis, but they kept coming back as the eggs would hatch. Eventually tossed all my zoas, waited twice as long as their life cycle so the eggs would hatch and nudis would die from starvation, then started over again. Also got a sunset wrasse and a coris wrasse. Have had zero issues since.

Yes, it is the pods doing it...100000000% sure. I wish i could have caught a picture of I pod rip a tiny zoa off the frag plug and carry it into his little cave. These things are huge...

 

[Jeremiah]

A yellow coris wrasse could be another good choice.

V

and the Solorensis that Blind suggested...

My problem is the tank is only a 16 gallon nuvo so really like 12 gallons or something in the DT side. Both of those wrasse are huge...I'm not worried about my inverts since everything was moved to the other 16.

So assuming an empty 16 gallon tank no other fish...6 line only get about 3" according to what i've read, just everything i see says needs 30 gallon tank for one of them. I don't have a problem putting a smaller one in and when they out grow the tank then hand them off to someone with a larger tank. Just would rather find something that could stay forever.

Possym Wrasse maybe? I know they are small thou, same issue as mandarin...mouth to small?

 

[CRW Reef]

Should pm fred aka smiley about pouring Bayer straight into your DT.

* would love to see a pic of one of these boogers!!!

 

[Blindrage]

Should pm fred aka smiley about pouring Bayer straight into your DT.

* would love to see a pic of one of these boogers!!!

Really? Is this story a tragedy or does it have a happy ending in his case?

 

[Jeremiah]

I didn't get any pictures, but to me they look just like the ones in this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FZleSPmtqw

 

[ReefCheif]

I would reccomend a Mexican Rainbow Rock Wrasse for this exact job. I have one and all he does is pick at the rocks, he swims in and out fo all the small holes, nooks and crannies and eats whatever he can find, they are a bit larger than choris and will be able to mouth them large pods.

 

[Blindrage]

Is he eating the amphipods or wiping out the copepods that I would want for my Mandy?

 

[ReefCheif]

I have such a strong population I couldnt tell you. I have a dragonette as well who is about 3" long and 3" wide, LOL. All I know is Ive never had a problem with godzilla pods eating my zoas! LOL

 

[Jeremiah]

Ok, so everything a wrasse could go after has been moved to my new tank (crustations)...and i'm definately going to get a wrasse. What I'm thinking is one of the smaller types meant for a tank my size...I don't really want to get a fish that I have to rehome later.

The problem with the smaller wrasse even if i find a full grown one and might not go after the godzilla pods. So I've read a few times people doing freshwater dipps on all the rocks and that kills off ALOT. So then the wrasse is around to keep them from living long enough to get that big?

The reason i'm thinking about the dip still is because that should GREATLY reduce the Godzialla population...so then my wrasse will be able keep anything left under control...before they get large.

Pink-Streaked Wrasse
Tanaka's Pygmy Wrasse
Yellow Banded Possume Wrasse
White Banded Possume Wrasse

OR do you think that is should just go with a larger 6line or something and let them live in the tank alone? would they be ok with my tailspot blenny? (clowns are being moved to my new tank with the anemone_
6 Line Wrasse
Scarlet Pin Stripe Wrasse
Other wrasse for smaller tank sizes besides these? ones that grow in the 3" range?


Do I need to do anything special with doing a freshwater dip on the rocks? I'm going to kill off ANYTHING alive right? I read that a short freshwater dip shouldnt effect the bacteria much.
Mini brittles/hair worms/micro snails etc...so all that dead stuff going to cause a cycle huh? Think it will be enough to cause a crash - any percautions i should take?

I was doing reading about the bayer someone suggested and they said bayer didnt effect the pods...i'll do more reading on it.

 

[SkyDiv3r17]

If you blow them off into the water column, I wouldn't doubt other fish would eat them.

 

[kmcmurtry]

Maybe there's a shortage of the food that the pods eat normally. I only ever see the big ones and regularly shake out some big filters over my skimmer outlet which releases a ton of them for my hungry foxface. Haven't seen polyp loss but have heard of it. I feed pretty heavily and have some algae on my back glass so maybe that all helps keep them away from inappropriate food sources. Who knows. I can't have wrasses competing with my scooter and diamond goby.

 

[Jeremiah]

I guess i really don't have much to eat...i feel like i don't skimp on feeding, but don't feed heavy. (definatly don't have a much algae)

My tailspot and 2 clowns pick at rocks, but like i said they sleep at night and that is when these pods come out...i don't see them during the day to blow them into the column. Plus my flow isn't strong enough anyways they can swim to wherever they want to go right now...and they are fast. Need to find me an mp10 for this tank since i moved my old one to the new tank.

That is kind of my worry about the wrasse if they sleep at night then i'm still in the same boat.

 

[Jeremiah]

Also, I started dropping more food into the tank at night and now in the morning hoping that they go after pellets and leave the zoa alone till i have time to deal with a dip this weekend.

I have such a large population of scavangers...bristle worms, brittle stars, hair worms, you name it i probably have some. Nothing i drop in lasts longs so my guess is the pods coming out so late have nothing left.

 

[Blindrage]

Dang. I need a cup of your sand!

I think I am lacking in some of the useful critters in the sand. I have never seen a worm or star in the tank, but I have a mess of pods just like you.

 

[jda123]

A strong dose of Milbemycin Oxime will kill most pods - you can get some Sentinel locally at most vets - read up on Acropora Red Bug treatment for instructions. Levimasole (flat worm exit) will also kill them at large doses, but might also wipe out lots of worms.

 

[jahmic]

For wrasses look at the Halichoeres genus...

A small-medium yellow coris wrasse won't grow terribly fast, and mine forages for pods all day long. I have small copepods everywhere, but he makes short work of my larger amphipods once they hit the DT. I also have a red-lined wrasse (H. biocellatus) that only gets to 4"...he also pics at the rocks and sandbed throughout the day.