Infestation! QT your livestock or pay the price!

papagimp · 02/11/2008, 10:53 AM

Just thought I'd share my most recent situation with the newbie. Came home Saturday to find another montipora (encrusting) mostly dead, little bits of tissue hangin in their but with little hope for a recover. Have had multiple colonies/frags die off in the past few months, attributed this to the high nitrate/phosphate levels i've been battling lately. Well, pulled the dying frag out, stuck him in a smaller 2.5g nano tank that I keep a few softies in. An hour later, I found the 2.5g covered in aeolid nudibranchs. (no camera available so if ya got a picture of one, feel free to post for me).
So naturally i ran back to the display tank. (A dual 75g system) and found several other frags dying and spotted a few nudi's on them as well.

It's been weeks since i've added anything new to either tank so can't say where it came in on, but had i been in the habit of QTing new frags and fish, may have avoided losing my favorite monti's.

Just a little story to let ya'll know that even somewhat experienced hobbyist can make a big mistake and pay the price for it.

Heres an article on these pests and the havoc they can wreck. Enjoy:

Potential Molluscicides Useful Against Aeolid nudibranchs....by Eric Borneman

DawnOctopus · 02/11/2008, 02:39 PM

Sorry for your loss. I have just started dipping my new coral arrivals, and it's amazing what junk comes off of them sometimes!

papagimp · 02/11/2008, 02:56 PM

No biggie, this is my second bout with something that could've been avoided with QT. I should have known better. In fact, I have a nice little QT tank (20g long) not 4 feet from my display tank. I just didn't feel like diggin' out the 4 bangaii babies I have in there so i could QT more stuff. And to make matters worse, I have a nice little prophylatic dip treatment sitting under the QT tank. Didn't do that either. For shame!

If ya wanna see some cool stuff, take a new piece of rock, uncured would probably give more stuff, but dip the rock for a minute in some 1.031 saltwater. The critters and inverts just jump off. Won't get em all that way, but you can find some awfully neat hitchikers that way, plus it'll allow ya to toss in the stuff ya wanna keep while leaving out the bad.

02/11/2008, 10:53 AM	#1
papagimp COMAS Rocks! Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 8,185 Blog Entries: 2	Infestation! QT your livestock or pay the price! Just thought I'd share my most recent situation with the newbie. Came home Saturday to find another montipora (encrusting) mostly dead, little bits of tissue hangin in their but with little hope for a recover. Have had multiple colonies/frags die off in the past few months, attributed this to the high nitrate/phosphate levels i've been battling lately. Well, pulled the dying frag out, stuck him in a smaller 2.5g nano tank that I keep a few softies in. An hour later, I found the 2.5g covered in aeolid nudibranchs. (no camera available so if ya got a picture of one, feel free to post for me). So naturally i ran back to the display tank. (A dual 75g system) and found several other frags dying and spotted a few nudi's on them as well. It's been weeks since i've added anything new to either tank so can't say where it came in on, but had i been in the habit of QTing new frags and fish, may have avoided losing my favorite monti's. Just a little story to let ya'll know that even somewhat experienced hobbyist can make a big mistake and pay the price for it. Heres an article on these pests and the havoc they can wreck. Enjoy: Potential Molluscicides Useful Against Aeolid nudibranchs....by Eric Borneman __________________ 58g Softie & 75g Stoney Member, Central Oklahoma Marine Aquarium Society Current Tank Info: 58g Mixed Reef Project - Started June 2011

02/11/2008, 02:56 PM	#3
papagimp COMAS Rocks! Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Oklahoma City, OK Posts: 8,185 Blog Entries: 2	No biggie, this is my second bout with something that could've been avoided with QT. I should have known better. In fact, I have a nice little QT tank (20g long) not 4 feet from my display tank. I just didn't feel like diggin' out the 4 bangaii babies I have in there so i could QT more stuff. And to make matters worse, I have a nice little prophylatic dip treatment sitting under the QT tank. Didn't do that either. For shame! If ya wanna see some cool stuff, take a new piece of rock, uncured would probably give more stuff, but dip the rock for a minute in some 1.031 saltwater. The critters and inverts just jump off. Won't get em all that way, but you can find some awfully neat hitchikers that way, plus it'll allow ya to toss in the stuff ya wanna keep while leaving out the bad. __________________ 58g Softie & 75g Stoney Member, Central Oklahoma Marine Aquarium Society Current Tank Info: 58g Mixed Reef Project - Started June 2011

02/11/2008, 02:39 PM	#2
DawnOctopus Octopus in Training Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Billerica, MA Posts: 113	Sorry for your loss. I have just started dipping my new coral arrivals, and it's amazing what junk comes off of them sometimes!