Something is eating my corals!~!~! :-(

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gotboost15psi

Has been struck by the ban stick
]Hey guys... well im having alittle problem and I come to believe that something in my tank is eating my precious corals. And its only been happening to my yellow polyps and pulsing xenias. Every morning I find 3 or more tentiles missing on some of the polyps. Is this normal or is there something munching on them at night? Will high or low ph or low calcium do this? Will bristle worms do this? Here are some pics to give you guys a better idea of the problem...Hope you guys can help...thanks

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Whiskey

Whiskey

Just some guy, you know?
Something could be munching on them,.. What kind of fish do you have in your tank?

Whiskey
 
blue_eyes53813

blue_eyes53813

Well-Known Member
It could be almost anything. Looks like it didn't damage it to much and will probably recover but watch your fish, snails ,hermits, hitchhiker crabs would literally take zoas off by the stalk in my tank. Maybe a little HH crab munching on them. There are sundial snails that may come in the rocks and they each polyps too. Watch the tank very close and your culprit will show up.
 
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gotboost15psi

Has been struck by the ban stick
Well im sure its not my fish...I have 3 blue-yellow tail damsels and one columbian shark. I have a bandit shrimp and a sally crab. Maybe about 15 blue leg crabs. Thats about it....
 
Cassette87

Cassette87

Well-Known Member
I agree, could be a bunch of things, I would guess either sundial snails, which are very small with a white and black color pattern (you'll know them when you see them) or nudi's. I don't have any experience, and hopefully won't with the latter, so maybe someone can chime in. Be sure that you do watch your tank though, at night as well... that's when many of these little critters do their dirty work...
 
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gotboost15psi

Has been struck by the ban stick
little pricks....are there any fish/crab/shrimp that will take care of these guys? I love my yellow polyps. They are actually my second favorite coral in my tank aside from the xenias.
 
Cassette87

Cassette87

Well-Known Member
There are some butterflyfish and wrasse that will eat them, but they typically require a large tank and they introduce their own little problems as far as picking on other things in the tank. best bet is manual removal... so keep an eye out particularly in the evening/night with a flashlight and tweezers, and check new coral purchases before adding them to the system :)
 
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gotboost15psi

Has been struck by the ban stick
well it will be pretty hard for me to actually catch the little sucker in the act. My lights are off at 11pm and my body shuts down at around 12am. I would have to wake up in the middle of the night to do some police work. Maybe somewhere around 3 or 4 in the morning I can go hunting?
 
Cassette87

Cassette87

Well-Known Member
gotboost15psi said:
well it will be pretty hard for me to actually catch the little sucker in the act. My lights are off at 11pm and my body shuts down at around 12am. I would have to wake up in the middle of the night to do some police work. Maybe somewhere around 3 or 4 in the morning I can go hunting?
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most of these critters will show up surprisingly fast after "lights" off. Just spend a little bit of time each day watching before you crash for the night and i'm sure you'll spot something after a few days. You already know what they're going for, so that tells you where to watch :) shouldn't be too hard. Just have your tweezers and billy club ready! :lol::wit:
 
BigAl07

BigAl07

Administrator
RS STAFF
gotboost15psi said:
well it will be pretty hard for me to actually catch the little sucker in the act. My lights are off at 11pm and my body shuts down at around 12am. I would have to wake up in the middle of the night to do some police work. Maybe somewhere around 3 or 4 in the morning I can go hunting?
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That's fairly common in order to get a visual and then again to catch such a beast.

Good luck.
 
Kazzy

Kazzy

Active Member
Be sure and use a red lens/bulb flashlight. It is one of the only colors reef dwellers can't detect. Otherwise your night-time snacker will be alerted and most likely not come out.
 
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gotboost15psi

Has been struck by the ban stick
will definetly do!! I dont have a red lens or red bulb but do have some red tape. I will give that a try and see if it is effective...thanks a million guys... I will update you on what or if anything I find and post pictures of the bandit.
 
Cassette87

Cassette87

Well-Known Member
gotboost15psi said:
will definetly do!! I dont have a red lens or red bulb but do have some red tape. I will give that a try and see if it is effective...thanks a million guys... I will update you on what or if anything I find and post pictures of the bandit.
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sure thing :) Good luck!
 
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