Unresolved Amphipods eating my zoanthids !!

I have pretty big amphipods munching at my zoa frags. I know they're amphipods for a fact, because I googled them and I've seen them "turn around" on themselves using their back legs. And I also know they're actually eating the lashes of my zoanthids because I just saw them with my actinic lights on. The zoo's are very bright under this light, and I've seen the amphipod literally pull off and eat 1 quarter of the zoa super shiny lashes, per se.

This is happening in two of my zoo frags, located in different parts of the tank. I doubt I can get pictures or film of the little mother ****ers, but I know what I've seen and when the lashes are fluorescent and then the amphipod pulls it off and eats it, the image is unmistakable.

I always thought these amphipods were a good thing for my tank, and I always got happy to see any of them around, because "that meant my tank was maturing and doing well"... I did not know they would eat my zoa frags!!!

Does anyone know if they're going to stop eating them or if they need to be "taken care of" ?? The zoa heads they're munching on are perfectly healthy and inside my tank, just like the amphipods are. So it is pointless to do a lugol's bath, since there will be more of them in the tank to keep eating my zoas.

Please, leave your thoughts or experiences with these little buggers! I'm not really sure as to what to do with them. I don't think I have enough for a mandarin, so I would rather not buy something that would only eat the pods and dye afterward.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

- Mag.

 

I highly doubt that they are eating your Zoos.

but if you dont like them, then i would suggest buying a predator of them, such as a dragonet or a wrasse of some sorts etc...

 

There are certain amphipods that will eat your zoanthids. Hit up geekdafied for info or search for posts from him regarding the subject.

 

I checked out Geekys thread

http://www.3reef.com/forums/coral/zoanthid-eating-pods-41735.html

IMO, the Zoos look half dead and they were just cleaning them off. But who knows eh - anything can happen in this hobby.

 

I've had something similar happen to some of my zoas. Even though the zoas look good they might be stressed and not able to defend themselves the same way a healthy zoa colony could, which is why they're getting munched, maybe?

I lost somewhere around 4 colonies of zoas (5-25 heads) and I only have 1/2 of a huge colony left that seems to be bouncing back slightly. I haven't seen big pods in my tank in a while though, so no idea where they went or what happened to them.

 

This is crazy! I always thought they were good for the tank. I was reading geekdafied's thread last night after I posted. My zoas look healthy and popping new heads almost daily.. that's why this is throwing me off so much. I'm really, REALLY confused about this problem. I would like to have dragonet, but I don't think my pod population is steady and stable enough to get one, and I'm afraid he will die in a month or two after buying him.

I guarantee you, like I said before, these frags are in great shape, popping new heads every other day and I haven't done anything to stress them... so weird.

Are there any other fish that will actively hunt for them, but at the same time, switch to frozen food when the pods become unavailable in the tank?

 

Some shrimp will eat pods. My Skunk cleaner shrimp actively hunts them, and I've seen some great kills in the past. And since it's a shrimp it will eat anything. If you have one already then I'm out of ideas. I'd imagine a CBS would also eat pods.

 

Pretty much all fish and inverts that can hunt and catch pods will eat them.

 

Magnus we just got a spotted mandarin and this little guy loves frozen mysis and pretty much hunts for anything i throw in the tank(poor little guy is just to darn slow so we target feed him). I am currently trying to get him to feed on pellets as well. We love the little guy he is so cool. Anyway if you can get lucky like I did he might be what you need.

 

I have 2 peppermint shrimps that are taking care of my aiptasias that will pop back every now and then, but I don't know if they would eat these amphipods. They're super big. Bigger than the average pod you see on the glass. They're about 1/4" long, and as fat as pods get. I also used to have a CBS, but they get too big for my tank, so I'm staying away from them, as cool as they look, they could easily eat my smaller fish, for example after gaining a few inches.

I will do some research on the different types of wrass that I could use for this... I've been doing some reading and a six line would be a good hardy choise, but there may be some other, more colorful wrasses I may prefer. I'll look more into it. Any recommendation will be appreciated, amcarring.

I would love one of these. I've been looking at the ORA dragonettes, but seriously, these pods may be way too big for the tiny pointy mouth the mandarins have. My brother in law had one and let him die because of the lack of pods in his tank. I suggested back then to give his target mandaring to me, but he thought one bag of pods to seed the tank was going to be enough, without any need to re-stock it. I regret not being more persistent. I'm actually concerned about these guys mouth size. I never saw a small amphipod dining on my zoa last night, they were all the biggie size. I'll research them as well, they're definitely way too cool.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I actually found several threads here and on RC (few dozen) where people were having the same issue. Today my zoas look sad... it blows