Help!!! Coral eating copepods/amphipods

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Discuss all topics related to saltwater / reef tanks.


fihsboy
 
Posts: 1837
Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2008 4:20 pm

by fihsboy

Do they look like this?

http://www.azeah.com/photos/story/Red%2 ... 0coral.jpg

Or like this?

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n72/ ... tinudi.jpg

Or this?

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004- ... age007.jpg

The first one is a red bug.......which is known to eat other corals besides sps.....but love sps.

The second one is a montipora nudibranch....just an example.......but a nudibranch will go to town on corals......and can multiply rapidly.

The third one is a normal amphipod. Copepods are microscopic and cant be seen with the naked eye unless they are full adult, and then they are still smaller than a ball point pen head. Amphipods have been reported to eat meat....such as human or what ever they can get there jaws on. There is a (man eating) amphipod as well.....they have found them in shipwrecks where people have drowned...You could have a (man eating) amphipod. BUT. No matter what they are of the last three......you have to do an Iodine dip. I brought this matter up to my buddies in the reef store and the club.....and the consensus was that no matter the animal....flatworm.......nudibranch......copepod...what ever....the only way to rid it is to dip it. Are they still eating your coral?? And make sure you dip ASAP, because the longer they sit in your system......the more babys...


newbie916
 
Posts: 375
Joined: Sat Jun 21, 2008 3:12 pm

by newbie916

Thanks fihsboy for the info. They aren't eating the corals anymore and my candy cane is recovering well. I've been feeding my tank a little extra phytofeast and noticed that the pods have settledown. They don't look like any of the guys in the pics. I couldn't pull up the last pic though. I've been watching all of my corals closely and no other incidents. I think the Candy cane may have been stressed and began to die off after it was thrown from one side of the tank to the other. I'm guessing that's why the pods were eating at it. Fortunely I found the Candy Cane in time and it's almost completely healed.

No other issues so far with my any of my other corals. I'll keep you updated and hopefully I'll stay away from those man eating pods. They sound a little scary..lol

Help!!! Coral eating copepods/amphipods

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