I think my new Devil's Hand is being eaten!

I got a devils hand about two weeks ago and soon after I put him in the tank I satarted noticing what I assume to be bite marks on him. I have read that when the devils hand frags they look like they are being eaten, but in all of the pictures I have seen of this the coral is open and looks pretty happy, aside from the missing pieces. My devils hand has never fully opened since I have placed him in the tank which makes me believe he is not fragging and is in fact getting muched on by a pest. I know there are a lot of pests that could cause this issue. I have tried to catch the culprit red handed but have had no luck. It is definitley happening at night because I only ever see new bite marks in the morning. I am going to try to post pics to assist in diagnosing the problem. It is getting worse and worse every day! I dont know what to do and I'm worried that the poor guy cant take much more of this. Please help! Currently in the tank are a clownfish, foxface, wrasse, a peppermint shrimp, some hermits, a pencil urchin, and a few emerald crabs. (my best going theory is that its one of the emralds but I havent caught one in the act and dont want to take them all out without good cause) Please give whatever advise you can! And more important than a list of worms and pests that could be doing this is a remedy to the situation.

 

welcome to 3reef, looks like a fish bite but could be anything, i don't know alot about this coral, hope you find out what it is, maybe it didn't taste to good and want be biten again

 

Thank you. Unfortunately there are new bite marks appearing every other day or so. So unfortunately someone has developed a taste for him

 

Well doing some quick searching, everything I read said Pencil Urchins are not reef safe and may have reported them to eat corals. Even LA says they can be "destructive" to corals: Saltwater Aquarium Inverts for Marine Reef Aquariums: Pencil Urchin

I guess that is where I would put my money. If it is the urchin, I would recommend replacing with a tuxedo or long spine as both are known to be reef safe.

 

+1,have never had a problem with emerald crabs.I did have a problem with peppermint shrinp eating euphllias but have heard of no reports that they might feed on leathers.

 

Look for little cream colored nudibranchs that look very much like a Sacrophyton polyp.

 

I'm not sure what the polys your talking about look like but I have noticed little white things that I thought were shell less snails on the back of the tank before. You think these could be nudibranch? and you think they are eating the devils hand?

 

I moved the coral and havent seen any new bites in the last few days. Hopefully the issue has resolved its self. I have several other corals in the tank and have never had an issue with the pencil urchin. But if any new bites show up I will remove him.