Decided to start a new thread since I now have pics of the nudibranchs.
So here is what happened: Received "Diver's Den" Zoanthid rock from LiveAquaria one week ago. Yesterday I notice the polyps aren't open and I discover the nudibranchs. Last night I picked as many as I could, did a 3 minute freshwater dip on just that rock, and scraped what could have been eggs off the zoas.
This morning as I was rushing out the door and late for work, I shined a flashlight at my other zoas and sure enough, they have spread.
I was debating whether or not to call LiveAquaria. This is the first time I've ordered anything live online that had to be shipped. Spoke to a super sweet lady named Laura. They did EVERYTHING RIGHT when it comes to customer service. She apologized NUMEROUS times, was very sincere, said she felt so terrible, and overall fixed the situation. They DID NOT question me about if I was sure they came from their zoas or somewhere else. I received the $69.99 for the rock, $34.99 for shipping, AND another $50 for the hassle. She said I could have store credit or have it put back on my card. I choose store credit since I felt they did everything right and wanted to put the money back into their company. She didn't know a solution, but had a manager call me back within an hour to suggest a way to help me out.
The manager suggested a product called Pro Coral Cure and I think she said a FW dip too? They even went as far as suggesting a product they don't even sell, something rare, just to try to help me out. My LFS doesn't have this. Rob had sent me an email earlier in the day on something he found online saying Flatworm Exit and FW dip. The flatworm exit may not help as much, but I buy it anyway.
I took out most the zoas on the right side of the tank and FW dipped them for about 5-10 minutes. I also put a few drops of Flatworm exit. They were dieing before the Flatworm Exit went in, but I wanted to make sure they were extra dead. Once I hit the frags/rocks with a turkey baster, the nudi's were flying all over the place!!
I'm pretty sure the problem is still in my tank, but I will keep fighting the battle.
There are 2 in the picture and one is about the size of "RICA" on a penny. Very small.
__________________ Gwen - 2008 Atlanta Reef Club Board MACNA XX Committee 125g RR AGA "The Simple Reef Tank"
I'm not sure what the next step should be. I shined the flashlight in the tank this morning and did not spot any nudi's. As of right now with the lights on, I can't see any.
The zoas that were dipped all on the right side of the tank are in so-so condition. I dipped about 10 "flavors" and about 50% of the polyps are opened on all types across the board.
The pink zoas that the nudi's came on were dipped twice 2 nights in a row and they have less than 1/4 polyps open.
I speculate a few reasons:
1) the nudi's did some damage
2) they were FW dipped, Flatworm exit was added to the dip
3) I added PhosGuard to the tank for the first time ever last night
The zoanthids on the left side of the tank seem to be behaving normal, polyps fully open. There are some green zoas in the center that were not dipped and are the closest to the infected zoas. These green zoas have 4 polyps that look upset and I have a close eye on them. I may FW dip them just to see if I find any.
Does anyone have recommendations of where to go from here? How often should I keep dipping?
__________________ Gwen - 2008 Atlanta Reef Club Board MACNA XX Committee 125g RR AGA "The Simple Reef Tank"
Not much Info Gwen, but I DO know Drs. F&S have great customer service, they have gone above and beyond a couple times for me. Most memorable was when they held an order of LR because of the heat and sent it when the temp went down super speedy overnight air out of thier pocket over what I paid for the shipping I chose.
On the zoas that were dipped, only 1/2 are open so I can see pretty good.
However on the zoas that look healthy, do you think they could be on there? I am assuming if they are there, then the polyps will close and look upset. Kind of like when a hermit tramples by, the polyps close.
If I do happen to find one, would you FW dip the same coral 24 hours later?
__________________ Gwen - 2008 Atlanta Reef Club Board MACNA XX Committee 125g RR AGA "The Simple Reef Tank"
I don't know, I think that I would have to consider how the coral was looking. If it was starting to bleach, or shrivel up then no I would just remove the nudi and give the coral a chance to recover a bit. If it looked good just closed and I thought there was more then yes I would re-dip but for a short time. Probably best to remove the nudi and give the zoas a day or so.
ZOANTHID-EATING NUDIS 101This article was originally meant to be a multi-page essay with detailed instructions on how to go through the painful eradication process. Thanks to a fellow reefer and zoanthid enthusiast, we all have much less work now: I only have to write a page or so, and everyone with a nudi problem can get rid of these pests in 5-minute for $20.00. For all those who have some interest in reading more about zoanthid eating nudis, dive right in. If you just want to kill them, skip to the very bottom of this article.Origin
To the best of our knowledge, our nasty little predators originate in the Pacific, notably the Solomon Islands.
Natural Predators There are a number of fish that reportedly prey on zoanthid eating nudis, however, we’ve tried many and experienced a limited amount of success. We attribute this to the nudis’ ability to adapt to their predators, which we will discuss in detail later in this section.
All fish supposedly preying on nudis belong to the Halichoeres category of the Wrasses, and the Chaetodon family of the Butterfly Fish. Both have a number of downsides that make them unfit predators for most tanks.
Chaetodon: Too large for most tanks; preys on the same zoanthids you are trying to save; the most vicarious nudi eater, Chaetodon Semilarvatus, is, at $120 and up a pricey option.
Halichoeres: Not nearly as efficient as the Butterflies; suicidal jumpers; nudis seem to be an acquired taste that varies from individual fish to fish, many are not reef safe.
Zoanthid Hit List Just like any other animal, nudis have preferences when it comes to food. Some polyps are much more likely to become infested than others. In general, your Paythoa and Protopalythoa (People Eater Varieties) will remain nudi free, even in case of serious infestations. Palythoa have too hard of a skin to eat or lay eggs in, Protopalythoa have on occasion found stray nudis getting too close to their tentacles to be a nice treat.
Next on the list of least likely to be affected zoanthids are Caribbean morphs of the zoanthus sociatus family. While closely related to Pacific zoanthids, we have observed very little infestation. This may simply be due to the absence of zoanthid eating nudis in Caribbean waters.
Extermination As promised above, this solution will take 5 minutes and cost all of $20.00. First, get yourself enough Salifert Flatworm Exit to treat your tank two times. Each Package contains enough solution for 300 gallons of water. Then dose your tank according to instructions and watch the nudis turn inside out and die. Since the process does not kill eggs, you will have to repeat the process a week later. Since no adults are left to lay more eggs and eggs hatch within 3-4 days, you will have a 100% success rate. Additionally, since there are only few nudis in a system at a time, you won’t have to do any water changes to dilute toxins. (even a few hundred in a large tank is considered little compared to the number of flatworms you could have)
I’ve tried this method myself and seen others use it. It works! Grab a beer, lay back and savor victory.
I just reinspected the green zoas in the center and they are indeed infected. I can see 2 of them in the tank now... I am hoping the exit will kill them....
stay tuned...
__________________ Gwen - 2008 Atlanta Reef Club Board MACNA XX Committee 125g RR AGA "The Simple Reef Tank"
I have been reading threads over on RC- it's very depressing. I have found threads started, and one year later the original poster still has the nudi's.
No one mentions Flatworm Exit as a cure.
One hour after dosing Flatworm Exit, they are still crawling on my zoas....
__________________ Gwen - 2008 Atlanta Reef Club Board MACNA XX Committee 125g RR AGA "The Simple Reef Tank"
Once I hit the 
