monti eating nudibranchs

[naka]

I've been fighting these little bast**** for over 3 months now. I've tried the dip w/ lugols and quick cure. I did the flash light w/ toothbrush method already, but they keep coming back. So far they only attacked my caps. I'm going to loose it if I see them on my encrustiong montis.

Did anyone try the Salifert Flatworm Exit? If so, did you dip or treat the whole tank?

I'm thinking of breaking off a frag and throwing away the whole colony. I saw a post by JBNY doing this method, and I think it worked for him.

Thanks,

Naka

[invincible569]

Who gave them to you? LOL

[gqjeff]

Any pics of them Naka?

[GTR]

I think I've finally got rid of them in my system. Their first choice where my caps, second digi and last was the encrusting types. I could tell they were on the encrusters as the PE would be almost non-existent, I never had any losses though with them. I took to dipping in lugols and FE though I'm not sure the FE helped. I used a bowl that held maybe 1/2g or so and added logols until I could see the tint of brown. FE I always use as a dip at a very high dosage, maybe 10 drops in the bowl. After the bath I use a five gallon bucket with tank water about 1/2 full and wash off the montis in that water. I get wet everytime during this step as I think this aggitated rinse might be doing more than anything else. I tried dipping complete colonies with deep folds and the montis would return in days. I just decided at one point the only way to have a chance would be to frag off flat pieces and toss out the rest.

SteveU

[GTR]

Edward... Mine came in on a wild colony.
SteveU

[naka]

This is from reef farmers website. It looks exactly like the picture.
I did all the treatment on my green cap, but they keep coming back, so I just got rid of the green cap. That was 3 months ago.
I found couple on my purple cap last month, so I got scared and threw away the whole colony. Then again last week I found them on my orange cap, so I threw that away. Now I see them again on my purple rim and leng sy. I don't want to throw them away, so hopefully FW Exit will work. I just don't want them to attack my encrusting montiporas.

[gqjeff]

What size are these critters?

[GTR]

Jeff... they are so small I have to use a hand lens to see them. When you remove the host coral from the water it makes it almost impossible to see them at all.
As they eat the live tissue you see the coral skeleton and they blend in with that all to well. Viewing them with a hand lens with the colony or frag under water you see the frilling protrusions on their body. I use a bamboo skewer after roughing up the tip and that works ok for manual removal since they stick to the "hairs" on the bamboo.
SteveU

[gqjeff]

Steve, TY for letting me know.. I do not have them THANK GOD just like to know what to look for... I do not forsee to many new frags or corals in my tank so I hope I am good and bug free all the way around...

[naka]

Hey Jeff, look under your monti caps at night or early in the morning before your lights come on. It's sord of like red bugs, once you know what to look for you can see them on acros better.

Oh yeah, do you still want frags from me?

[gqjeff]

Will do for sure just to make sure...

[spongebob]

Flatworm exit won't work

Note: Always use a quaranteen tank

I had 'em and I killed 'em here is how. Note this is long involved process, not an overnight fix. If you have unusual monti's go for it. If you have run of the mill digi's and caps, you are better off throwing them away, leaving your tank monit-free for a few months and starting with some new monti frags when you know you are nudi-free.

Always use a quaranteen tank.

REEF TANK - Starve them
you have to remove all of the Monti's to a treatment tank, or they will not survive, then you starve the ones in your reef tank. I had them about 3-4 months ago, my reef is now free of them and my caps are growing back. You will need to remove your monti's for 8-12 weeks to insure the nudi's are dead.

TREATMENT TANK - active nudibranch killing :shoot5:
dip monti corals in the following solutions

solution #1
Malachite green & Quinine (commercially tetra OOmed or Super Ich Plus):shoot:
use .75ml/liter of tank water for a dip. Monti's will tolerate this solution well. It kills/injures the nudies. Due to it's green coloration it also dies the monties blue green so they are eisier to see, and remove. Dip for 10-15 minutes. Then dip in solution #2

Solution #2 Lugols and tank water
use 10-12 drops per liter for the dip. This also kills the monti's. Dip for 10-15 minutes. Then rinse in tank water to reove dead/dying nudi's. Use a large syringe to rinse the corals. pay attention to the back sides of the corals and any grooves not easily cleaned out. Once rinsed return to treatment tank after the next step is completed. :shoot5:

Treatment tank elimination
While the monti's are being dipped, remove all saltwater from the treatment tank and fill treatment tank with fresh tap water (I like to use really cold water - revenge). This will kill any remaining in the tank as they "walk" around looking for new monti's to eat. Once they have been in freshwater for 10 minutes, they are dead. Remove freshwater refill with clean saltwater.

Do this treatment cycle every 1-2 days as they are always laying eggs.

Once you have killed the majority, you have to keep treating for 2-3 weeks in order to kill the new ones that might be hatching from eggs you missed.

Large caps and other pieces with lots of crevices are not going to be easy to rid them of, you may want to frag off some pieces and treat the frags. IME

Good luck

Always use a quarenteen tank - Did I say that already!

[naka]

Thank you spongebob. I'll follow your instructions.

[nyfireman3097]

Awesome bob Thanx
Nick

[Diesel3443]

Boy do I hate these things.....I had an outbreak once and lost 4 colonies I almost lost a 4in blue and red danae. Now my pieces are the size of peanuts