So some background:
Montipora are my favorite corals and thus I have stocked my tank full of all types of montiporas. More than half of my corals are montipora and they were all doing GREAT until a couple of weeks ago. My tank is a bit newer (a little less than a year) and so when two of my newly acquired montipora frags began losing flesh, I assumed it was due to alk swings, which I have dealt with successfully before, and so I proceeded to test my tank vigorously as I had done before in order to rectify the problem. After testing everyday for a week, I concluded that it was not alk swings that was causing the recession in my corals since the stability in my tank seems rock solid. Aside from that, the one acro colony I have has PE like crazy so I was left a bit confused as to why only these two montis were looking sad. Then, one night while feeding my corals, I noticed my archnemisis: the dreaded montipora eating nudibranch. I dip EVERY coral I obtain with Bayer but foolishly did not inspect for eggs and it seems that they had made it into my tank!
I've read EVERY thread and post on EVERY reefing forum about these PITA and there seem to be much conflicting information about this pest. I found a youtube video that apparently shows a MEN that had been treated with Bayer that seemed like it was not affected at all!
I am starting this thread, partly so I can document my battle with this pest, as well as to help fellow reefers in ridding their own tanks of this menace.
What I have discovered so far:
1. Inspect for eggs, even if you dip EVERY coral you obtain; QT if you can (this is in my QT/grow out tank)
2. They are really small and can be easily mistaken for a stray sand particle (don't worry, heard they could be hiding in rock work/substrate so I removed all LR and sand)
3. They CLING onto the montis, even when you try to siphon them off
4. Bayer INDEED DOES AFFECT THEM; not sure what concentration the owner of that youtube video used, but using 10 mL Bayer per 4 oz of water suggested by other members will knock them right off the montis. I waited until I could find one of those jerks after lights out (I have a smaller infestation) and siphoned him out into a little testing vial. I then added the appropriate amount of bayer/SW solution. Before adding the solution, it was impossible to even knock the little ******* off the walls of the container. After adding the solution, it was still alive but could not hold onto the walls of the container any more and could easily be knocked around by blasts from a transfer pipette.
After learning these things, and by compiling the knowledge of others, I have concluded that the best course of action is:
1. Frag my corals off LR and onto large frag plugs so I can inspect more closely and fill any nooks and crannies they could be hiding in
2. Manually remove any adult MEN's and egg sacks I see; inspection every night at least 2 hours after lights out (seems it takes a while for them to "wake up")
3. Dip in a ~10% Bayer solution every 3 days and BLASTING them while they are in the dip (taking into account their life cycle-- some people say that they have a planktonic larval state but I suspect that they develop past a free floating stage within the egg or parent as others have suggested, meaning they hatch as little versions of their parents and start munching away since their parents left them right under the dead tissue of the host coral)
4. Pray they don't move onto my other montis (they seem to stick to the corals they are currently feeding on)
I'll keep updating and hopefully within a couple of months, my montis will be safe from these PITA's
Please leave any other suggestions you guys may have and I hope this information is helpful.
Wish me luck!
Montipora are my favorite corals and thus I have stocked my tank full of all types of montiporas. More than half of my corals are montipora and they were all doing GREAT until a couple of weeks ago. My tank is a bit newer (a little less than a year) and so when two of my newly acquired montipora frags began losing flesh, I assumed it was due to alk swings, which I have dealt with successfully before, and so I proceeded to test my tank vigorously as I had done before in order to rectify the problem. After testing everyday for a week, I concluded that it was not alk swings that was causing the recession in my corals since the stability in my tank seems rock solid. Aside from that, the one acro colony I have has PE like crazy so I was left a bit confused as to why only these two montis were looking sad. Then, one night while feeding my corals, I noticed my archnemisis: the dreaded montipora eating nudibranch. I dip EVERY coral I obtain with Bayer but foolishly did not inspect for eggs and it seems that they had made it into my tank!
I've read EVERY thread and post on EVERY reefing forum about these PITA and there seem to be much conflicting information about this pest. I found a youtube video that apparently shows a MEN that had been treated with Bayer that seemed like it was not affected at all!
I am starting this thread, partly so I can document my battle with this pest, as well as to help fellow reefers in ridding their own tanks of this menace.
What I have discovered so far:
1. Inspect for eggs, even if you dip EVERY coral you obtain; QT if you can (this is in my QT/grow out tank)
2. They are really small and can be easily mistaken for a stray sand particle (don't worry, heard they could be hiding in rock work/substrate so I removed all LR and sand)
3. They CLING onto the montis, even when you try to siphon them off
4. Bayer INDEED DOES AFFECT THEM; not sure what concentration the owner of that youtube video used, but using 10 mL Bayer per 4 oz of water suggested by other members will knock them right off the montis. I waited until I could find one of those jerks after lights out (I have a smaller infestation) and siphoned him out into a little testing vial. I then added the appropriate amount of bayer/SW solution. Before adding the solution, it was impossible to even knock the little ******* off the walls of the container. After adding the solution, it was still alive but could not hold onto the walls of the container any more and could easily be knocked around by blasts from a transfer pipette.
After learning these things, and by compiling the knowledge of others, I have concluded that the best course of action is:
1. Frag my corals off LR and onto large frag plugs so I can inspect more closely and fill any nooks and crannies they could be hiding in
2. Manually remove any adult MEN's and egg sacks I see; inspection every night at least 2 hours after lights out (seems it takes a while for them to "wake up")
3. Dip in a ~10% Bayer solution every 3 days and BLASTING them while they are in the dip (taking into account their life cycle-- some people say that they have a planktonic larval state but I suspect that they develop past a free floating stage within the egg or parent as others have suggested, meaning they hatch as little versions of their parents and start munching away since their parents left them right under the dead tissue of the host coral)
4. Pray they don't move onto my other montis (they seem to stick to the corals they are currently feeding on)
I'll keep updating and hopefully within a couple of months, my montis will be safe from these PITA's
Please leave any other suggestions you guys may have and I hope this information is helpful.
Wish me luck!
