Hitchhiker convention in my tank!

[jacuzzi]

So my 40 breeder has been up and running about 3.5 years and has always done well. The last 6 months things have slowly been going down hill mainly in the zoa department and lost a couple fish mysteriously. Got busy with work so it took a back seat as I just couldn't figure it out. This last week I have done lights out searches constantly and found a plethora of critters. First nudis were everywhere but blended so well with all my zoos I never really saw them. Plucked around 30 off over 3 days. I also found two very large xanthid crabs that have eluded me for years and a few zoa eating spiders too! Scrapped off any eggs I saw, dipped everything I could and rescaped the tank. Corals already look so much happier and I feel the tank is on the upswing once again. Just weird these things have escaped me for years essentially but finally my day came.

 

[GDawson]

Those nudis blend in so well sometimes.....it's both an awesome display of evolution and frustrating to the reefer at the same time. I have a pale pink colt that has polyps that are almost furry looking in the current. It looked good for several months and then started shrinking and had large areas eaten. Never found the nudi until it showed up in my sump. Same pale pink colour with pale pink furry gills that were identical to the polyps. Next to impossible to spot on the colt.

-Gregory