Amphipods eat my corals,photos.

[boxboy]

I think Ill rent a scooter blenny.

[awpong]

Six line wrasse will cure your problem

[boxboy]

Six line wrasse will cure your problem

 

Well I think I can rent a wrass for a few weeks. for like $5. I dont wanna keep it.

[DaJMasta]

The pods are not eating your live corals, they are eating the dying debris off of unhealthy ones.

 

You are feeding too much. A geometric pygmy hawk is a small fish that doesn't swim a lot, so feeding even every other day is a little excessive in my book. I don't know how much you feed when you feed the hawk, but honestly 5-6 small pellets would be PLENTY if you're feeding daily. In fact, if you just cut out the daily feedings and keep your once a week reef roids that's probably still plenty. Some CUC members or what have you may start getting frisky if you only feed once a week, but it's probably enough to survive in an established tank.

 

So let's get down to the basics: what are your parameters, how much lighting, and how much flow? I think the most likely thing happening here is that the water/lighting quality is poor for the coral and they're reacting negatively because of it. There is a chance of parasites, but since its affecting very unrelated corals, I doubt this is the case.

[boxboy]

The pods are not eating your live corals, they are eating the dying debris off of unhealthy ones.

 

You are feeding too much. A geometric pygmy hawk is a small fish that doesn't swim a lot, so feeding even every other day is a little excessive in my book. I don't know how much you feed when you feed the hawk, but honestly 5-6 small pellets would be PLENTY if you're feeding daily. In fact, if you just cut out the daily feedings and keep your once a week reef roids that's probably still plenty. Some CUC members or what have you may start getting frisky if you only feed once a week, but it's probably enough to survive in an established tank.

 

So let's get down to the basics: what are your parameters, how much lighting, and how much flow? I think the most likely thing happening here is that the water/lighting quality is poor for the coral and they're reacting negatively because of it. There is a chance of parasites, but since its affecting very unrelated corals, I doubt this is the case.

 

Aparently you did not read this entire thread.

 

#1 I DO NOT own a hawk fish at all.

#2 I already do feed 1 chromis every 2nd day. 6 pellets (eats them all)

#3 Im really sure that Vertex lights are more than ideal lighting.

#4 I will post tank prams tomorrow, Before n after water change.

#5 If your in need of detialed info. PLEASE click my banner. Info is on the top of the fist page.

I watched the pods chomp on 1 sps frag and zoas with my own eyes. yesterday the sps frag was fine. now its missing flesh excatly right where the pods where eating.

If my water was suffering. Im sure the fray would have started to show signs before the last 2 weeks its been in my tank. I doubt its a parsite also. I dip with coral rx when I het new stock. I buy my stock from another reffer who also dips and quartines all livestock for weeks before there sold.

Thank you for your input!

[solefald]

if you get a 6 line, good luck getting it out of your tank. those things are crazy fast and they hate you

[boxboy]

if you get a 6 line, good luck getting it out of your tank. those things are crazy fast and they hate you

 

Truthfully Id rather find a way to reduse the pods without a fish lol

Other than sucking them out during water changes and fw dipping coral or rock. Im unsure of other soultions. Ive been searching since last night. lol

[metrokat]

i stab 'em with a tooth pick in the pico. Then I laugh a very evil laugh. I've also found my clumpy macros like chaeto and ochtodes infested with them, so occasionally i rinse those off in salt water. Then I pick out the bastards from the rinse and feed them to the sun corals and cup corals. Pour back the rest of the rinse as it's got good pods for my Mandy.

[Dani3d]

no, not at all, no wrasse are going to work and yes YES amphipods are eating healthy zoanthids all the time. I have seen it over and over and have lost colonies to them, then I got my copperband, solved the problem. ONly a copperband takes care of them because that's a fish that does not sleep at night and it is active 24/7 but it is a delicate fish to keep and surely not good for a nano.

 

No wrasse is going to make any significant dent in the population because they sleep at night while the amphipods are active.

 

Interceptor will kill them and other pods, but you have to remove the invertebrates before treatment. If you don't want to add any fish and there is really no point in doing it for getting rid of amphipods, then use Interceptor in your tank...bye bye pods for good.

 

There is NO way a mandarin will eat them, first they are too big and WAY too fast, second mandarins also sleep at night while the amphipods are active.

 

OH and zoanthids are not SPS, they are soft corals. Amphipods don't eat SPS, but they will eat zoa.

 

six line wrasse takes care of 'em

[metrokat]

I <3 Dani.

 

Yes the bastards are too big for a Mandy, I was referring to the good pods that are also hiding in the macros which come out in the rinse I do, that is why after removing the amphipods from the rinse with tweezers, I pour the rest of the rinse back in the tank.

[YankeePete]

I know you are not wanting to add as fish but if you do I had GREAT luck with a yellow tail blue damsel. He hunted them with a passion!

[boxboy]

i stab 'em with a tooth pick in the pico. Then I laugh a very evil laugh. I've also found my clumpy macros like chaeto and ochtodes infested with them, so occasionally i rinse those off in salt water. Then I pick out the bastards from the rinse and feed them to the sun corals and cup corals. Pour back the rest of the rinse as it's got good pods for my Mandy.

 

Lmao. By far the funnyest suggestion yet.

 

Maybe there eating corals due to that I really dont feed alot? lack of food for them. I dont know.

Im going to be exta carful as to not get any in my.pico. if its even possable.

 

last night I riged up a moon light. and most of the pods stayed in hiding. I guess it was to bright. even tho its blue.

[got2envy]

Get a sixline..it will kill em' all...the sixline lives to hunt and destroy pods...and they are fun fish to have because they are so active

 

mine was a clown

 

the pic is not sideways...he is

[Dani3d]

well that's the thing with amphipods...if you feed a lot the population bloom and grow as much as there is food and eventually they will run out of food at some point and then you'll have a much bigger problem.

 

Those little bastard come out at night and 6 lines wrasses and all other wrasses are asleep and not doing anything about the amphipods eating your zoanthids. Yes they will eat them during day time but during day time they hide very well in the liverock and cracks and won't come out so the wrasses can't get them.

 

Plus 6 lines are often too aggressive.

 

Lmao. By far the funnyest suggestion yet.

 

Maybe there eating corals due to that I really dont feed alot? lack of food for them. I dont know.

Im going to be exta carful as to not get any in my.pico. if its even possable.

 

last night I riged up a moon light. and most of the pods stayed in hiding. I guess it was to bright. even tho its blue.

[boxboy]

well that's the thing with amphipods...if you feed a lot the population bloom and grow as much as there is food and eventually they will run out of food at some point and then you'll have a much bigger problem.

 

Those little bastard come out at night and 6 lines wrasses and all other wrasses are asleep and not doing anything about the amphipods eating your zoanthids. Yes they will eat them during day time but during day time they hide very well in the liverock and cracks and won't come out so the wrasses can't get them.

 

Plus 6 lines are often too aggressive.

 

Yup. I decided against the 6line. or any new fish. Im gonna start going loco with a pin glued to a stick. haha.

[boxboy]

well. I lost a few more zoa heads. like just gone.

Ive decided on getting a scooter blenny. My coral guy said if I need to bring him back at any point. its no problem.

The one he has is small. less than 2". $20 tho. woah. I dont like pods anymore lol

[systemtool]

A sixline will kill the big ones. I had a sixline for three years and recently lost him. Never saw an amphipod bigger than a few mm. Now after like 5 months of not having the wrasse, I have the big pods that you have, like a half-inch. like someone else said, they are relentless hunters, and they will knock down the pod population (the bigger ones cannot hide as easily as the tiny ones). Thinking of getting another wrasse, my zoas are always closed up now too.

 

Also I live in Kingston too. We got big ass pods here. haha

[acropora1981]

I have a suggestion, but some may think its a bit drastic.

 

Use interceptor. Remove any shrimps, crabs, etc. Then dose interceptor as if you had black or red acro eating bugs. It will kill any and all crustaceans. If nothing else, it will allow your zoa's to recover, and it generally doesn't cause any long term issues..

 

I didnt read the whole thread, so pardon me if someone already suggested it.

[patback]

My YWg eats them all day. I used to be over run, and now I can hardly see any. Btw, does anyone think that rock with the bubble algae look like a bullfrog? ( the bubble is its eye)

 

Edit: sorry, when I clicked I thought it brought me to the last page, not te first, I did not know you didn't want more fish suggestions.

[Caronte]

well. I lost a few more zoa heads. like just gone.

Ive decided on getting a scooter blenny. My coral guy said if I need to bring him back at any point. its no problem.

The one he has is small. less than 2". $20 tho. woah. I dont like pods anymore lol

I got a similar problem like yours in a much more smaller scale. I never lose anything on my tank before until I get a very nice 3 polyps Lunar Eclipse Zoas. Proudly I place them in a VIP section of my tank.

A week after that I lose 1 of the polyps, so I was start watching close to found the problem until I catch a big amphipod eating a second one. Luckily I manage to save the remaining polyp but I found about a dozen of those big amphipods (about one centimeter large) Exactly like the ones on your video

My tank is BB, fishless and corals, a peppermint shrimp, an emerald crab and a tuxido urchin is all I have. I manage to catch half of those amphipods so far. My solution was simple, taking advantage of my BB, everytime I saw one of those large amphipods, I blow them with a big turkey baster I got, when they reach the bottom they're defend less and very easy to catch. Now, hardly I see another one and I don't losing any more polyps so far. Maybe if your remove your sand until you get rid of them can works for you too

[cindyp]

sorry to bring back this topic from the

grave, but i'm having the same problem.

well, i'm not sure if they are eating my

zoas--only because the half inch bastards

are stealing from my sexy shrimp.

 

i have a less than 3 gal pico and the

amphipods are aggressive and thriving.

they don't even hide in the day time!

i have one sexy shrimp that stands its

ground but the other isn't getting its pellet

fast enough. so half the time, i wind up feeding

the amphipods!

 

alas, i think my tank is too small to support

any fish that might help solve the problem?

[Lynaea]

It seems to me that in the OP's tank and your tank the lack of food is the issue. There are lots of other animals (fish, hermit crabs, etc, even sexy shrimp) that will start eating corals if there isn't enough food available. The OP stated a couple times that he only fed what his fish would eat 2-3 times a week, that means no leftover food for the amphipods. They can't survive on poop.

 

Since there seems to be a divide between people who have this issue and those who never have, it is likely that those without issues have more extra food in their tank for whatever reason (broadcast feed, more/messier fish). It is common practice to advise newbies that they have to feed their CUC, amphipods fill the same niche.

 

I don't see the issue with letting the amphipods have a few pellets a week, this is hardly the same as leaving un-eaten food in the tank. If they steal from a sexy just give it another one, or maybe scatter a few pieces first then direct feed the sexies.

 

I think amphipods are cool and they definitely provide a service for anyone who broadcast feeds, it seems worth it to me to feed a little extra or even broadcast a cheap flake food a few times a week to keep them happy. Especially if the alternatives are eaten corals or skewering them with a stick. Eeewwww!!!