White Spiders on Anemones

[Townsaquaria]

Hello,

I am wondering what these white spider looking pests are on my carpet and condylactis anemones. The carpet has been acting weird and traveling around the tank and settled at the top left corner. It won't eat and was doing fine for months, eating and not moving much. I took some rocks out to add to another new tank and I think it didn't like that. I also added a bubble tip and two condylactis last week, and I think it didn't like that either. I followed a comparability chart I found on these forums, but I do know outside articles suggest not keeping carpets with other types of anemones.

Thanks for any help!

 

[shakacuz]

ogoing out in a limb here….MAYBE ZES?(zoa eating spiders)

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Hello,

I am wondering what these white spider looking pests are on my carpet and condylactis anemones. The carpet has been acting weird and traveling around the tank and settled at the top left corner. It won't eat and was doing fine for months, eating and not moving much. I took some rocks out to add to another new tank and I think it didn't like that. I also added a bubble tip and two condylactis last week, and I think it didn't like that either. I followed a comparability chart I found on these forums, but I do know outside articles suggest not keeping carpets with other types of anemones.

Thanks for any help!

View attachment 2533162 View attachment 2533164 View attachment 2533167

It almost looks like a small crab. Can you get one out of the tank and take a pic in a small tupperware container?

Also, do you have any porcelain crabs in the tank?

 

[Townsaquaria]

It almost looks like a small crab. Can you get one out of the tank and take a pic in a small tupperware container?

Also, do you have any porcelain crabs in the tank?

I could try. Yes I have 1 porcelain crab.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

I could try. Yes I have 1 porcelain crab.

Would take more than 1 to make baby crabs, unless you got one with eggs already fertilized.

I only brought that up, as I started with 4 porcelain crabs in my nem tank and now have about 20 lol.

Mine never annoyed nems though. Even when scurrying around all crazy like when little lol.

Best bet would be to snag one, if ya can and then maybe we could ID it.

 

[Grossman90]

Looks like zoa eating spiders

 

[N.Sreefer]

To me from a distance it looks like a pycnogonid or "sea spider" but its really hard to tell without a closer pic. It could be a crab I don't see a carapace it looks more like the skinny thorax of a sea spider.

 

[Townsaquaria]

How's this?

 

[N.Sreefer]

100% that is a sea spider bayer dip will get rid of them

 

[Eagle_Steve]

How's this?

Now that looks like a zoa spider.

Is that a nem with a rip in its foot/column in the pic as well?

 

[Townsaquaria]

Now that looks like a zoa spider.

Is that a nem with a rip in its foot/column in the pic as well?

I don't think so, it's just crunched itself up in the corner of the tank.

 

[eaze333]

Pycnogonids, Sea Spider Hitchhikers In Reef Aquaria

Pycnogonids are relatively common hitch-hiker found in reef aquaria. Commonly predators on zoanthids, they also eat corals and sea anemones.

www.reef2rainforest.com

 

[eaze333]

Looks like they like nems and zoas…yikes

 

[N.Sreefer]

Now that looks like a zoa spider.

Is that a nem with a rip in its foot/column in the pic as well?

Pycnogonid species are pretty varied in diet from species to species almost every sessile invert has a sea spider species that can feed on it in the ocean.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

You will need to remove all of those from the nems, dip any zoas you have and then watch for new ones mucking about.

If the spiders are inside of zoas, dip will not work. Manual removal of adults after lights out is not to much work, just got to find the eggs and then scrub them off out of the tank and rinse whatever they were on out of the tank.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Forgot, if eggs are on the nem, you can use a hose to create a siphon, just an easy one and then scrub off while siphoning near where you are scrubbing. Just got to be super easy with nem when scrubbing and make sure not to get nem into siphon.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Pycnogonid species are pretty varied in diet from species to species almost every sessile invert has a sea spider species that can feed on it in the ocean.

Yup. I have also seen zoa spiders move to nems after eating all of the zoas available. Luckily removal from nems tends to be a little easier than zoas. At least when I have encountered it. I have also seen them move to shrooms. Life will sometimes just find a way to survive.

 

[Townsaquaria]

Thanks everyone. I didn't even know anemones had pests like this, so disappointed and don't know if I have time for the eradication but I'll try.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Thanks everyone. I didn't even know anemones had pests like this, so disappointed and don't know if I have time for the eradication but I'll try.

Remove what you can see, then wait until about an hour after lights out then look again. Turkey baster works great to suck them up and not damage anything.

Biggest concern is to be on the lookout for eggs. Remove adults and remove eggs, they are gone. Remove adults and not remove eggs, they hatch and become adults again.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Also. It has been mentioned about fresh water dipping nems for other things, but I have never done it. I know you can FW dip for zoas spiders, so that may be an option.

@Nemguy123 any ideas for the OP? FW dip nems to remove spiders? Never done it, so have no data on it, but know of people who have FW dipped nems to help them purge themselves.