Helfrichs Chick Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 Dont worry LOL their not in my display. I picked up the sickest frag of palys, they look like Purple Deaths with long pointy skirts, and about the same size, but lavender, with a yellow mouth, they have the metalic dark purple rays from the center to the skirts like RPE do. They are awesome! They were a wild caught colony for sure and about 30polyps. I split the colony with a friend. SO were dipping them and he starts pulling off these spiders. They look like something out of a horror film. They didnt want to QT and I REALLY want to keep them so I set up a 10g with PC lighting and gonna QT all of them. I have never seen in person zoa spiders but I know that they are NASTY! Laying their eggs in the bas of the tissue of the zoa, and eating away at the stalks. I do not know what the life cycle is nor the time before eggs hatch. I have read to QT for like 4 months, dipping every week. Has anyone ever had these? They are in QT now, after a dip before going in. They havent opened yet which is weird IMO but still look fine. Definatly palys, they have tons of sand in their tissue, its cool. As soon as I can get a pic I will but seriously the coolest paly I have seen in a LONG time. Just goes to show you DIP DIP DIP DIP DIP and examine your corals. Can you imagine if I would have put them in my tank with over $1000 of Zoas? Link to comment
clifford513 Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 Whew! Glad you did catch them. Those things are so ugly. What did he use to pull them off, tweezers? Link to comment
Helfrichs Chick Posted October 28, 2007 Author Share Posted October 28, 2007 Yea tweezers. These were full grown ones, but I do NOT trust that there are no eggs. I took pics but will have to post tomorrow. Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 You're right, they're majorly ugly. I haven't had any experience with their eggs, but I've found that they don't even drop off in a FW dip, like most pests will. The dip just weakens them to the point that you can pull them off with tweezers. They really blend in, so you have to really watch for them. I can't wait to see pics of what you got, they sound awesome! Link to comment
clifford513 Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 You're right, they're majorly ugly. I haven't had any experience with their eggs, but I've found that they don't even drop off in a FW dip, like most pests will. The dip just weakens them to the point that you can pull them off with tweezers. They really blend in, so you have to really watch for them. I can't wait to see pics of what you got, they sound awesome! I'm really let down. You didn't even suggest Aceteminophor! Link to comment
andrewkw Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 i've had them before, and have found FW dip does kill them. It's true you may have to knock them off but just dip for a long time say 10 minutes and they should all be dead. I haven't done it personally but I know of some people who run their zoa colonies right under the tap to get unwanted pests off. Link to comment
bluebastion Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 I'm really let down. You didn't even suggest Aceteminophor! ^^^^ LoL Aceteminophor FTW! Link to comment
bustayanky Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 I would love to know about these spiders also before i get more zoas. It seems as if something is messing with mine. Slowly seems like less and less. Thank god i only have cheap zoas. How big are they usually? I don't see anything on the rocks but i just see the zoas decreasing like crazy. Link to comment
c est ma Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 FWIW, and in case you haven't already seen it: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-01/rs/index.php Not very encouraging... SO wonderful that you caught it in QT!! --Diane Link to comment
nanu-nanu Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 Yeah I just read a thread somewhere and the guy had pics of the spiders and everything. Super nasty. Link to comment
mascencerro Posted October 29, 2007 Share Posted October 29, 2007 I got a frag from someone on RC once that had them. I notified the guy, and after looking, he found them on a couple other frags he had as well. I just pitched the first frag and he sent me a replacement. Of course, you've got a colony and not a frag, so it would be a little harder to just let go like that. Link to comment
Helfrichs Chick Posted October 31, 2007 Author Share Posted October 31, 2007 Well they are still in OT, and NOT happy lol. I did another dip and didnt see any spiders at all. I looked with a mag light but these are palys and have sand all in the base, makes it harder to see stuff. Here are the pics Link to comment
barrman Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 those things are freakin creepier than land spiders Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 I'm really let down. You didn't even suggest Aceteminophor!I knew it, I KNEW I heard the squeak of new flip-flops following me around the last couple of days, but every time I turned around there was no one there!You move FAST Clifford!those things are freakin creepier than land spidersYES THEY ARE!!!! Blech!!Land spiders don't even bother me that much, but these guys do!I hate to admit it, but I do the whole "girly" routine whenever I have to pick them off. Link to comment
clifford513 Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 Here are the pics Man, those are uggglyyy! I knew it, I KNEW I heard the squeak of new flip-flops following me around the last couple of days, but every time I turned around there was no one there! You move FAST Clifford! They'll have to wait till spring for a complete break-in. Frosty mornings and flip-flops, never the twain shall meet Link to comment
Helfrichs Chick Posted October 31, 2007 Author Share Posted October 31, 2007 Weetabix... you said "whenever you have to pick them off"? So youve had them before>? How did you erradicate them and make sure they didnt lay eggs? I am PISSED! SO I dipped the colony/ now broken into frags, and only 1 polyp is opened up. Makes me ticked because these are so sweeeeeeeeeet palys. SOOOO frustrated. On the other hand my tank is looking fantastic lately Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 Weetabix... you said "whenever you have to pick them off"? So youve had them before>? How did you erradicate them and make sure they didnt lay eggs? I am PISSED! SO I dipped the colony/ now broken into frags, and only 1 polyp is opened up. Makes me ticked because these are so sweeeeeeeeeet palys. SOOOO frustrated. On the other hand my tank is looking fantastic lately Your tank really does look awesome, it's always been one of my favorite ones on here. I haven't run across the spiders often (thank God!) and the times I have it's always been when I've gotten a new colony of zoas in. I always find them when I dip and inspect the new colonies. I do a 3-5 min. FW dip with iodine. In my experience, this will sometimes cause the babies or smaller ones to drop off, but it only weakens the adults and I have to manually pick them off with tweezers. (Shudder) I feel really silly saying this, but I never even considered searching for eggs. Dunno why, it seems so obvious. I will say, however, that I inspect all new arrivals VERY closely and I've never seen eggs on zoas that I found adult spiders on. I also never had babies show up at a later date. Maybe I was just lucky? Interestingly enough, the colonies I picked them off of were perfectly healthy and never showed any ill-effects. Your palys will probably recover as long as they don't get fungus or bacteria. I would just keep a close eye on them and don't continue to dip them unless you see bad stuff on them, as this will stress them further. HTH, and if you have any questions feel free to PM me. And oh yeah, watch out for aceteminophors. Link to comment
Helfrichs Chick Posted October 31, 2007 Author Share Posted October 31, 2007 Well from my reading they lay their eggs in the tissue of the polyp. I am gonna try to get a shot of the palys tonight, I have seriously way to many zoas to risk it and I heard that the babies are CLEAR. SERIOUSLY! These things are evil fo sho. Weird on this dip... I usually do Zoas and paly in FW with iodine, they ballon up filling with the FW then I take them out usually 8-10 min. These didnt ballon up at all did the dip for about 8 min. Did not then nor do I now see any but still gonna spend the time to QT for at LEAST 2 months. Just sucks. They are cool looking palys, I have some Purple deaths and these are just as cool. Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 I really hope these palys make it, they sound awesome. I've been wanting to get Purple Deaths for a while now, and if these are as nice, I can't wait to see pics. I can confirm that baby sea spiders are clear; I just saw a clear baby in a dip about 5 days ago. Oh, I started a thread on aceteminophors in the ID forum if you're at all interested. Link to comment
Hoobahans Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 Wow, glad you caught those guys. I am always terrified of getting some sort of zoa-killers in my tank. Not to push...or change topic. But your descriptions hooked me. Can we see a pic of the palys? Link to comment
The Propagator Posted November 2, 2007 Share Posted November 2, 2007 Those things are creepy as hell aren't they ! Link to comment
bigredreefer Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 I think I might also have the spiders (One night stands are such a bad idea ) Can you show me what the polyps looked like while infested/infected? Mine seem to be being eaten from the inside out, and all thats left is a a hallow tube that dies off in a day or two..... RED Link to comment
RayWhisperer Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 I have them in one of my tanks. They are hard to spot, that's for sure. However, I don't think they prey on zoa's alone. I've found them on all my other soft corals as well as the zoa's. Link to comment
bigredreefer Posted November 4, 2007 Share Posted November 4, 2007 I have read that they burrow into the polyp....is this why the polyp looks like a hallow tube? RED Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted November 4, 2007 Share Posted November 4, 2007 I have read that they burrow into the polyp....is this why the polyp looks like a hallow tube?RED I've never had that happen to my zoas, but then I caught the spiders in a dip before they ever hit the tank in every case but one. In that one exception, I found a baby spider about 3 weeks after I got the colony and got rid of him in a dip. I never saw any damage to the zoas and never saw any other spiders show up in the tank. Link to comment
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