Montipora Eating Nudi's

[CWD]

Gents, i have just noticed an outbreak of the dreaded montipora eating nudi's on a large aquacultured monti, this has been in my tank for several months and was basing out onto near by rock. the nudis have attacked from the base and it is only due to the sudden die back at the edges of the base that i have noticed them, and even then they were very difficult to identify as nudi's untill i sucked them of with a syringe, i now have a tub full of the little $%£^'s, I only have one other monti frag which i have removed 1 nudi from so im hoping these are target eaters and dont start on my other SPS frags.

The question really is , is there an effective dip i could try, would i fresh water dip be effective or is it a fight to the death with a syringe.

:thanx:

[SPS Hoover]

Hi Colin

Not easy to get rid of according to various threads i have read in past. I notice on reef central they are saying that banana wrasse's are effective against these nudi's.

They will only eat monti's but it is all types digi's cap's etc. One cure is to stave them out but will mean removal of all monti's for a period of at least two months.

Good luck

Si

[CWD]

Thanks Si, ive been removing them by syringe and was clear for about a week, but i noticed last night that a few new very small ones had appeared, luckily the new tank only has two so i dont have to look far for them :rolleyes:

[SPS Hoover]

Originally posted by CWD@Jan 20 2006, 10:50
Thanks Si, ive been removing them by syringe and was clear for about a week, but i noticed last night that a few new very small ones had appeared, luckily the new tank only has two so i dont have to look far for them :rolleyes:
Hi Colin

If you do a search on RC i am sure there are some threads which show the eggs it is these you also need to get rid of as well as i suspect with most pests they do breed like rabbits.

Si

[CWD]

Si, i have seen the pictures of the eggs but because the nudis are so small i suspect the egg spirals will be very very small. Had thought about dipping the base in kalk, just up to the area where they seem to hide :angry:

[SPS Hoover]

Hi Colin

I would be very reluctant to dip in kalk the ph of 12.5 is going kill the coral instantly, could try scoubbing undreside with old toothbrush.

Si

[CWD]

Si, done some more reading and Iodine dip seems to be the way to go, kills the adults but not the eggs so may take a few regular treatments to get them all :angry:

[marc]

One cure is to stave them out but will mean removal of all monti's for a period of at least two months.



This is what I had to do, both at home and in the display tank. FW & Iodine dips didnt solve the problem for me.


All gone now though :rolleyes:

[CWD]

Just a little update, this is the monti that had the nudi's on the 18th Dec and the second is how it looked at the end of March, its been clean of nudis for at least 8 weeks, soooooked them of every night with a syringe for about a month.:)

http://www.reefpark.net/forums/uploads/post-877-1143140754_thumb.jpg

http://www.reefpark.net/forums/uploads/post-877-1143140849.jpg

[SPS Hoover]

Hi colin

Glad to see things back on track

Si

[ricordea]

....just to add that when I had an outbreak about a year or so ago I did the same as Marc - take all monti's out of the tank...wait a month or so and then put them back in. I have not had a recurrence and my frags from my montis have been used to restock the tank of my friend (who gave me a the infected free monti frag in the first place, after all his montis add passed on to the other side!)

NB: I used a tooth brush to get rid of the eggs etc from the monti and kept them in a large plastic bucket with heater, maxi jet and a metal halide.