Fish Boss
Supporting Member
Yep, thats what I did! Makes it a lot easier to see them when they cant hide
Think I got some monti eating nudibranchs!
- Thread starter Fish Boss
- Start date
nash
Supporting Member
Yes, but it may take some time
That’s how I ended up getting rid of them actually –
I wasn’t on the ball and they ate on a Moti…
I was watching my mandarin i got from you eating tdo pellets the other day!!!
Fish Boss
Supporting Member
This is such a tough decision. Part of me is saying toss the montis and start the 6 month timer, and part of me is saying, “ there havent been any nudis as big as the very first one, maybe I’m catching them before they are sexually mature?” Gonna give it some more time, I’m definitely tearing up some flesh, scratching away at what I think could be eggs. Dont really feel bad about tearing up the frags though, because worst case scenario, they are going to die anyways from the nudis
MichaelB
Supporting Member
Do you have room for a tote with heater small wave maker and a basic light, or a smaller tank to do a type of quarantine, so you can just observe them for longer ?
It would suck to declare victory than a month from now have even more.
Fish Boss
Supporting Member
I do have a smaller tank I can set up for observation, and I have been thinking about doing that. I’ve been going back and forth with the idea. I feel like even If I do that, and I can wipe out what is existing on the frags, I will still have some in the display that will come back to the frags anyways. Thats why I’m not completely committed to the idea of an observation tank. I’m checking the frags on a near daily basis, and I’m getting 1 or 2 every day, so I feel like I’m making progress. I think I need to find a scientific journal on them to help me make a better decision
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MichaelB
Supporting Member
I more so meant if you could get out every single monti out the display, leaving some would be pointless. While not throwing them out as some would probably do, it would probably make dipping/ inspecting them easier. Suggested a tote cause they are cheap for something temporary and black color would make any nudi stand out a lot.
Also no expert advice just my thoughts, someone else probably has a more effective idea.
Fish Boss
Supporting Member
I’ve been thinking about the possibility of a wrasse, maybe a yellow coris wrasse
How many montis, what size, and how much money have you spent on them?
If you have a small collection, easiest is pull them. There's a lot of cool corals you can do instead.
Alternatively you could try some experiments. Coral don't necessarily care about being on a nice rock. Light and water and they can be good to go.
MEN(udis) I don't believe hang out on the main part of the flesh. They're either on the edge, or have eaten a line into the flesh. That means if you break off healthy tissue, they likely aren't on that.
In my experience that really helps get root them out. Pop them of the plugs, toss the plugs in RODI to clean them, and attach to a new plug, covering the non alive section (and some of the alive) with superglue.
If you wanted to do an experiment, what I'd try is do that, but instead of attaching to a plug, attach to some fishing line. Then attach the fishing line to something on the top of the tank to hang the corals. They do that in ocean growing setups, and I've seen it a bit in tanks. It'd be interesting to see if a MEN could get to them. My guess would be no. It'd be a really interesting test.
Regarding them in the rest of the tank, you're probably screwed. Again, I know the infestation term might seem off, but they aren't going to be climbing around the glass as adults if you've only got a couple. At this point you've got a MEN problem, so I'd make your decision accordingly.
I have a huge amount of green spongodes you can have from my frag tank that has had a MEN problem
. I don't do coral swaps now to avoid ever giving anyone anything. I had much higher success after I cut down all my colonies and rooted out dead tissue (finding a lot more I couldn't otherwise see). My wrasses have I think put everything under control.
If you have a small collection, easiest is pull them. There's a lot of cool corals you can do instead.
Alternatively you could try some experiments. Coral don't necessarily care about being on a nice rock. Light and water and they can be good to go.
MEN(udis) I don't believe hang out on the main part of the flesh. They're either on the edge, or have eaten a line into the flesh. That means if you break off healthy tissue, they likely aren't on that.
In my experience that really helps get root them out. Pop them of the plugs, toss the plugs in RODI to clean them, and attach to a new plug, covering the non alive section (and some of the alive) with superglue.
If you wanted to do an experiment, what I'd try is do that, but instead of attaching to a plug, attach to some fishing line. Then attach the fishing line to something on the top of the tank to hang the corals. They do that in ocean growing setups, and I've seen it a bit in tanks. It'd be interesting to see if a MEN could get to them. My guess would be no. It'd be a really interesting test.
Regarding them in the rest of the tank, you're probably screwed. Again, I know the infestation term might seem off, but they aren't going to be climbing around the glass as adults if you've only got a couple. At this point you've got a MEN problem, so I'd make your decision accordingly.
I have a huge amount of green spongodes you can have from my frag tank that has had a MEN problem
. I don't do coral swaps now to avoid ever giving anyone anything. I had much higher success after I cut down all my colonies and rooted out dead tissue (finding a lot more I couldn't otherwise see). My wrasses have I think put everything under control.
tribbitt
Supporting Member
In my opinion, if the montis are not expensive, nor sentimental, nor difficult to obtain again, just toss them
In 6 months time, with either choice, you can have whatever montipora you want. If you choose to keep the current montis, you'll have spent a bunch of effort on it with no guarantee the nudis are eradicated. Or you could toss the frags and forget about this problem entirely, starve them out and let time solve the problem for you.
Don't worry too much about lost growth. Your tank is new so growth is going to be slower anyway, and in the meantime there's plenty of other corals for you to play with. Try turbinaria if you like the scrolling colony shape, acros if you like a challenge, birdsnest or leathers if you're into fast growth, and if you like the color, there's so many choices I couldn't list them.
In 6 months time, with either choice, you can have whatever montipora you want. If you choose to keep the current montis, you'll have spent a bunch of effort on it with no guarantee the nudis are eradicated. Or you could toss the frags and forget about this problem entirely, starve them out and let time solve the problem for you.
Don't worry too much about lost growth. Your tank is new so growth is going to be slower anyway, and in the meantime there's plenty of other corals for you to play with. Try turbinaria if you like the scrolling colony shape, acros if you like a challenge, birdsnest or leathers if you're into fast growth, and if you like the color, there's so many choices I couldn't list them.
Fish Boss
Supporting Member
I really like this idea! Gives me the potential to keep my montis, while simultaneously starving them out. I think I’m gonna try it!How many montis, what size, and how much money have you spent on them?
If you have a small collection, easiest is pull them. There's a lot of cool corals you can do instead.
Alternatively you could try some experiments. Coral don't necessarily care about being on a nice rock. Light and water and they can be good to go.
MEN(udis) I don't believe hang out on the main part of the flesh. They're either on the edge, or have eaten a line into the flesh. That means if you break off healthy tissue, they likely aren't on that.
In my experience that really helps get root them out. Pop them of the plugs, toss the plugs in RODI to clean them, and attach to a new plug, covering the non alive section (and some of the alive) with superglue.
If you wanted to do an experiment, what I'd try is do that, but instead of attaching to a plug, attach to some fishing line. Then attach the fishing line to something on the top of the tank to hang the corals. They do that in ocean growing setups, and I've seen it a bit in tanks. It'd be interesting to see if a MEN could get to them. My guess would be no. It'd be a really interesting test.
Regarding them in the rest of the tank, you're probably screwed. Again, I know the infestation term might seem off, but they aren't going to be climbing around the glass as adults if you've only got a couple. At this point you've got a MEN problem, so I'd make your decision accordingly.
I have a huge amount of green spongodes you can have from my frag tank that has had a MEN problem
Arvin R
Sponsor
My 2 options if I were in this situation and wanted to have nice montis as an end goal for the tank would be as follows (the 2nd is more work for not much more reward)
1. Toss all the montis and wait 6 months before getting any montis.
2. Take out all montis from tank and place in QT tank observe and do manual removal/scraping of any eggs you can see. Continue growing them in this QT tank for 6 months from removal date.
If the montis you got are just normal monti caps and nothing super special then option 1 would be the common sense way to go. Monti caps grow pretty quickly in an established system and are plentiful within the club.
Anything cut short of the 6 month period would be shotting yourself in the foot in my opinion.
1. Toss all the montis and wait 6 months before getting any montis.
2. Take out all montis from tank and place in QT tank observe and do manual removal/scraping of any eggs you can see. Continue growing them in this QT tank for 6 months from removal date.
If the montis you got are just normal monti caps and nothing super special then option 1 would be the common sense way to go. Monti caps grow pretty quickly in an established system and are plentiful within the club.
Anything cut short of the 6 month period would be shotting yourself in the foot in my opinion.
Fish Boss
Supporting Member
They arent anything too rare and expensive. What did you think about the suspending them with fishing line idea that richiev suggested?
The right answer is dump them. The hanging example would be purely if you're interested in doing a science experiment.