Full Version: did pods eat my Zoanthids?
I picked up a small patch of zoanthids about 2 months ago. When I first put them in the tank it opened up nice. After a few days I noticed that some of the heads did not open. And a few more days later more heads did not open. Of course I tested water everything was fine did a partial water changed anyway. But still they would not open. Then one night I was looking around my tank with a flash light and notice a bunch of pods all over the zoanthids. A few days later and they were all gone I mean nothing left on the rock. Did my pods kill and eat my zoanthids or did thy die and then the pods ate it. I would really like to get another one but afraid it won’t last.
Really long thread on here yesterday about this.
From everything I know pods do NOT eat zoanthids.
If the zoanthids are not in great shape the pods will nibble on excess stuff from the zoanthids, which can usually stress them out and they end up dead.
Pods are known for eating misc dead debris in tanks... which helps keep your system clean... In theory this would mean the zoas were already in bad shape, and as the dead flesh was being gobbled down... they ended up PO'd and probably died...
Not saying that the pods didn't contribute to the problem, but I don't think that they just ate them either. I have never had a problem with this, but reading the topic yesterday it seemed that many others have.
From everything I know pods do NOT eat zoanthids.
If the zoanthids are not in great shape the pods will nibble on excess stuff from the zoanthids, which can usually stress them out and they end up dead.
Pods are known for eating misc dead debris in tanks... which helps keep your system clean... In theory this would mean the zoas were already in bad shape, and as the dead flesh was being gobbled down... they ended up PO'd and probably died...
Not saying that the pods didn't contribute to the problem, but I don't think that they just ate them either. I have never had a problem with this, but reading the topic yesterday it seemed that many others have.
TY for the info and Sorry for the repost I will see if I can find the thread from Yesterday
Pods can eat zoanthids (not all are pure herbivores), but the debate usually is whether they are eating healthy tissue and if the zoanthids would have survived without the pods.
I used to think as many do that Amphipods only attack diseased, decaying zoas, but my experiences prove otherwise.
Case in point: Many months ago I bought a small colony of 3 green 'people eaters' that soon grew to 5 polyps and was very healthy. One day I noticed that many of the polyps were starting to close up and that some of the fleshy 'tentacles' were missing. Besides the missing tentacles, the polyps looked very normal, but I did notice a really large Pod hovering nearby. At night I caught the little devil physically pulling apparently healthy individual tentacles right out of the closed up polyp ball and happily muching away. Soon, not one of the polyps had any tentacles left, but surprisingly 3 polyps survived to this day with only the oral disk and foot intact. I'd bet good money that if I were to isolate this small colony in a tank without Pods the tentacles would grow back.
Before the attack on these green PEs, I lost quite a few nice colonies of fleshy Zoas and Palys, but I assumed it was some type of weird disease that only affected these types of corals. I do have a few colonies of different Zoa types that the Pods have never touched, so the assumption is that they are either toxic or perhaps just don't taste good.
Case in point: Many months ago I bought a small colony of 3 green 'people eaters' that soon grew to 5 polyps and was very healthy. One day I noticed that many of the polyps were starting to close up and that some of the fleshy 'tentacles' were missing. Besides the missing tentacles, the polyps looked very normal, but I did notice a really large Pod hovering nearby. At night I caught the little devil physically pulling apparently healthy individual tentacles right out of the closed up polyp ball and happily muching away. Soon, not one of the polyps had any tentacles left, but surprisingly 3 polyps survived to this day with only the oral disk and foot intact. I'd bet good money that if I were to isolate this small colony in a tank without Pods the tentacles would grow back.
Before the attack on these green PEs, I lost quite a few nice colonies of fleshy Zoas and Palys, but I assumed it was some type of weird disease that only affected these types of corals. I do have a few colonies of different Zoa types that the Pods have never touched, so the assumption is that they are either toxic or perhaps just don't taste good.
i catch pods eating my zoas all the time. I like throwing the light on at about 3 in the amas a surprise visit to see whos doing what
Ok...after reading this post im not crazy. I have noticed my amphipods crawling all over my zoas like nobody's business. They don't seem as healthy as they were when i first got them in...maybe i will try to move them to an isolate area in the tank. this sucks...
QUOTE (Nano sapiens @ Dec 23 2009, 07:38 PM) 
I used to think as many do that Amphipods only attack diseased, decaying zoas, but my experiences prove otherwise.
Case in point: Many months ago I bought a small colony of 3 green 'people eaters' that soon grew to 5 polyps and was very healthy. One day I noticed that many of the polyps were starting to close up and that some of the fleshy 'tentacles' were missing. Besides the missing tentacles, the polyps looked very normal, but I did notice a really large Pod hovering nearby. At night I caught the little devil physically pulling apparently healthy individual tentacles right out of the closed up polyp ball and happily muching away. Soon, not one of the polyps had any tentacles left, but surprisingly 3 polyps survived to this day with only the oral disk and foot intact. I'd bet good money that if I were to isolate this small colony in a tank without Pods the tentacles would grow back.
Before the attack on these green PEs, I lost quite a few nice colonies of fleshy Zoas and Palys, but I assumed it was some type of weird disease that only affected these types of corals. I do have a few colonies of different Zoa types that the Pods have never touched, so the assumption is that they are either toxic or perhaps just don't taste good.
Case in point: Many months ago I bought a small colony of 3 green 'people eaters' that soon grew to 5 polyps and was very healthy. One day I noticed that many of the polyps were starting to close up and that some of the fleshy 'tentacles' were missing. Besides the missing tentacles, the polyps looked very normal, but I did notice a really large Pod hovering nearby. At night I caught the little devil physically pulling apparently healthy individual tentacles right out of the closed up polyp ball and happily muching away. Soon, not one of the polyps had any tentacles left, but surprisingly 3 polyps survived to this day with only the oral disk and foot intact. I'd bet good money that if I were to isolate this small colony in a tank without Pods the tentacles would grow back.
Before the attack on these green PEs, I lost quite a few nice colonies of fleshy Zoas and Palys, but I assumed it was some type of weird disease that only affected these types of corals. I do have a few colonies of different Zoa types that the Pods have never touched, so the assumption is that they are either toxic or perhaps just don't taste good.
if that was true then no one would have a reef tank everyone has amphipods,copepods etc they crawl over coral and irratate them and that's it
get a mandarin if your worried
QUOTE (Phyto4life @ Mar 17 2010, 12:48 AM)
if that was true then no one would have a reef tank everyone has amphipods,copepods etc they crawl over coral and irratate them and that's it
get a mandarin if your worried
get a mandarin if your worried
Words of wisdom, "Consider that you may not know everything"
Amphipods *can* attack certain types of healthy Zoanthids, plain and simple factual statement experienced first hand by many reef keepers. May be some unknown environmental factor that influences behavior or possibly different species of Amphipods have different dietary tendencies. Doesn't mean that all reef tanks (or even a majority) will have zoanthid munching Amphipods.
BTW - I hope you aren't seriously considering a mandarin as a permanent solution for a small nano tank. A mandarin in my 12g would have food for about a week unless it could be induced to accept regular feedings...which is very often not successful.
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