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Thread: How to treat corals that are infested with Montipora Eating Nudibranch

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    Apprentice xtmreef's Avatar
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    How to treat corals that are infested with Montipora Eating Nudibranch

    Sup Fellow Stick Keepers,

    I'd like to share my experience with the notorious pest Aeolid nudibranch that preys on Montipora species, and how I (successfully) treated a M. Confusa. I saw that Rob had already posted a nice article about Red Bugs, so I think it's a good idea to post something about the nudibranchs. IMO, the nudibranch is more voracious and more difficult to eradicate than any other SPS pest, as it requires both manual removal and a series of chemical dips.

    A little background...

    Based on my experience and reading a few articles, these aeolids seem to reproduce asexually-- meaning one nudibranch can lay hundreds of eggs and does not need a female to do so. In my experience, they seem to like M. Confusa and M. Capricornis the best, but in no way are limited to those species of Montipora. These pests are very voracious as I've seen 3 adult nudibranchs consume a 3" Confusa in one day.

    Monti eating nudis are very easy to spot.. but the eggs is a different story. You will have to stare at the coral closely (and maybe use a magnifying glass) to see the egg clusters. By the way, a regular nudibranch lays eggs in a spiral fashion - which is easy to see. Monti eating nudis lay eggs in a cluster formation. To make matters worse, their eggs are semi transparent!



    Recently, I made a trip to some of my LFS and sure enough, I saw some infected pieces. I spoke to the owner and was shocked to hear that most of them don't even know that these pests do exist - one guy thought that the reason his corals are losing flesh was because of their new lighting! One LFS even offered me free (infected) colonies for me to take home and try my luck at curing them. All specimens that I treated have fully recovered by the way.

    Here's a M. Confusa that was heavily infested when I acquired it





    Treatment

    There are many treatments for this pest including Lugols dip, FW dip (not recommended), and Levamisole, but most of these can only eliminate the nudibranchs but not the actual eggs. Here's what I did::

    1. Break the infested part and throw it away. No matter how clean the coral looks, the eggs are usually hidden in deep crevices so you can't take a chance here. ONLY KEEP the top part of the coral and throw away the rest.

    2. After you cut the coral, again you will have to visually inspect it carefully for eggs. Remember you are looking for CLUSTERS of eggs. If you see them, you need to scrape these with a soft toothbrush and clean it with tankwater.

    3. After the coral has been cleaned, prepare two containers - one with three cups of tankwater + 20 drops of Lugols and the other with just tank water. You will now dip the coral for about 10 mins while still inspecting for eggs



    4. If you see more eggs, scrape it again with your toothbrush. When you are done, dip the coral one last time. This time into the clean tankwater.. this is to finally rinse it off.

    5. You're done. Here's the actual piece that I treated-- This Confusa has grown way bigger than what's on this pic.



    Summary

    If you find a nudibranch in your tank, you will have to do this procedure for EVERY Montipora that you have. An ideal solution is to transfer the "treated" colonies to a treatment tank and observe them for a week or two. If no nudis show up then you can put them back in the display. This procedure should also be used when acquiring NEW specimens - regardless of whether or not the nudis are visible. Look for areas that are white and no flesh - this is a dead giveaway that a nudi is present.

    Some people have reported good results by keeping wrasses in their display tanks. While this is a good "natural" population control method, it is just a temporary band-aid solution and the original problem usually comes back after a while.

    As always. a quarantine procedure on NEW specimens is highly recommended.

    Please post any questions that you may have, and I'll try to answer them.

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    SPS Reefer / TR Admin lReef lKeeper's Avatar
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    thanks for the post !! i took the liberty of STICKifing it ... ha ha STICKify.
    Last edited by lReef lKeeper; 01-31-2008 at 06:10 PM.
    lReef lKeeper (Bobby) Admin and Reefer

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    Insightful Reefer nay,kid's Avatar
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    how long do the eggs take to hatch? and how long should you quarantine? thanks for a great thread.
    Matt

    150 gallon mixed reef
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    Apprentice xtmreef's Avatar
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    I think it's safe to say that the eggs usually hatch in 2 to 3 days, but some people have reported longer times (I doubt it) I would quarantine for about 2 weeks and watch for more nudibranchs.. if nothing pops up in this timeframe, I'd say it's safe to move it to the display.

    Oh yeah, whatever you do, DO NOT squish or pick up these nudibranchs with your bare hand!! Read THIS story to find out why

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    Grand Master Reefer Reefbaby's Avatar
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    geez...that's scary. I'm glad the guy was okay!

    Great info. Thanks!
    Christi

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    SPS Reefer / TR Admin lReef lKeeper's Avatar
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    i had heard of the zoanthid eaters being toxic before, but i did not think that it was to that degree. i guess it would have to be toxic to eat something that is toxic. thanks for sharing that article.
    Last edited by lReef lKeeper; 01-31-2008 at 06:11 PM.
    lReef lKeeper (Bobby) Admin and Reefer

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    Master Reefer Small Fry's Avatar
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    Hey, very good thread to bring up. I've noticed that the bases of my birdsnest and my hairy green acro have white bases. Is this due to a lack of light, or is this this nudibranch you're talking about? I have not seen any of these things on the corals. just wondering if this is the only thing that will cause the bases to die off.
    Josh

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    120 almost ready for re-cycle


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    Apprentice xtmreef's Avatar
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    Hey Josh,

    Fortunately, these nudibranchs have been found on Montipora species only (so far). Corals in the genus Seriatopora (Birdsnest) and Acropora are not known to host this pest. The whitening base of your birdsnest and acro may be attributed to something else-- like a lack of flow and lack of light as you mentioned.

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    SPS Reefer / TR Admin lReef lKeeper's Avatar
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    i agree with xtm, your corals are suffering from lack of light or flow.
    lReef lKeeper (Bobby) Admin and Reefer

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    Curious Reefer
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    Nudi I.D.?

    Hello, xtmreef

    I have a 300 gallon reef that has been up for about 2 years now. Every or 5 months, I have spotted the tiny nudibranch seen in the photo (that I hope gets attached to this post, I'm new here). It is tiny, about 1/4 inch long. At first I was excited, especially after seeing it again now. But upon searching the net looking to identify it, I came across your post, and now I suspect that it is possibly a parasite. I have never seen eggs, and do not seem to have any coral damage or infestation. But can you tell me anything about this particular guy?

    Thanks.

    Jerry
    Attached Images Attached Images

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    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    Hi Jerry and to TR.

    That is a great picture! Check out The Sea Slug Forum - Feeding on Palythoa and see if you think that is your guy.
    Carmie


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    Curious Reefer
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    Hi, Carmie.

    Well, maybe. But I think that the similarity is so great that even if it is not, it must be feeding on something besides algae, which was my dumb assumption at first. Ergo, I think it probably is feeding on some coral in the aq. Now I will just have to keep a much closer watch on things (I was already keeping a pretty close watch!). Interesting thing is that I don't have that many possible sources of coral that would fit the needs of these things. Also, I have never seen more than one, and then it was 5 months between those sightings.
    So I'll just keep watching and see what happens.
    Thanks for the quick reply!

    Jerry

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    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    Keep us posted. What camera equipment are you using?
    Carmie


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    Curious Reefer
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    For the photo or for the aquarium?

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    Curious Reefer
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    For the photo, it is a Canon 5D with my old Canon 35-135mm lens, and a cheap close up magnifying lens I bought at a camera store.
    The aquarium is a 300 gallon glass, with bio-balls in the overflow, a sump (2 socks and a protein skimmer) and a separate "circulation" system that runs through a pleated filter and a refrigeration unit). I run it at 77 degrees.
    Lighting is two 150 watt Current USA hoods that are both metal halide and fluorescents. I don't run the moonlights because I can see no use for them. Two separate timers turn off the halides first, then 30 minutes later the fluorescents go off. The lights are on aproximately 10 hours per day.

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    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    Thanks. I was wondering about the photo but always like hearing about peoples tanks. If you are interested I'd urge you to start a thread in the Member Tank Projects - The Talkingreef Community. Please post plenty of
    Carmie


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    Apprentice xtmreef's Avatar
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    Hi Jerry,

    sorry for the late reply (well it's ONLY a year late... better late than never, right??? )

    That is a definitely NOT a montipora eating nudibranch.Carmie nailed it as a zoanthid eating aeolid (or close to it). remove it with a turkey baster.

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    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    Hi Joseph! How are things going with you?
    Carmie


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    Apprentice xtmreef's Avatar
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    Good Carmie, thanks! I always think about you guys here at TR but I never have time to visit. How's everything? Still slow? Tell my buddy Bob (aka ireef-ikeeper) I said Hi...

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    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    Will do! Glad things are going well.
    Carmie


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    Apprentice xtmreef's Avatar
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    **breaking news**

    Bad news guys..

    After about six months (yes - six months) of NOT adding anything to my tank, I spotted about 5 white nudibranches under my huge (unidentified) blue-polyped encrusting Montipora. I am very, VERY stumped as I have never seen these kind of nudibranch before. They are WAY different that the original nudis that I spotted when I started this thread. This new group of aeolids have longer cerata and generally bigger. They also appear to munch slower than the previous species, but I am POSITIVE that they are munching on the coral, as the rim already has white marks where the flesh used to be.

    Note that I also keep "old yeller", which is my 2 year old Yellow Coris Wrasse. I assume that Old Yeller was eating the nudis and that is why they were somewhat under control and their proliferation was somewhat limited.

    Unfortunately, I just sold all my lenses including my Tamron 90 macro (to fund my move to full frame - D700! woot!!) so now I don't have a macro lens to take any pictures. I will try to snap a few shots if I get lucky.

    Anyhow, it's almost impossible to move the coral outside the display to get treated, since it has encrusted to the rockwork pretty well. I'm still looking for solutions as we speak. Stay tuned........

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    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    Oh my goodness! That is amazing.
    Carmie


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    Last edited by Captinsmooth; 12-13-2009 at 11:02 AM.
    The problem is not to manage the reefs but to manage human population and their activities.
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