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Whats eating my Zoa's and Xenia?

Rick778

Rick778

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Came home from work today to a surprise. Something has eaten about 1/3 of my Xenia! A couple days ago something ate the new Zoa I had just purchased and it was completely gone. Just the plug and glue remains. It had about 9 small polyps.
Did some research and it seems the villain is one of these:
- Sundial Snail
- Asterina Star Fish
- Nudibranch
- Spider
- Crab
I do have some small Asterina in the tank, but wasn't worried because most of what I read claimed they were generally reef safe. Now I am thinking I need to eradicate them!!! Yesterday I got a Six Line Wrasse to hopefully eliminate the Nudibranch's from the equation. The damage isn't gradual, but happens in the space of one evening.
Any thoughts? I need HELP!!!!!!!


Attached files /attachments/sites/default/files/Xenia 4-1-09_1.JPG
 
Did this only occur once? Is it possible the Xenia and the zoanthids melted over night?
I didn't think six line wrasses were an effective nudibranch control?
Maybe also try checking out your tank an night with a red light source, to see if you can catch anything in the act of eating your corals.
 
It actually happened 3 times. I lost a polyp on a zoa several weeks ago, then just recently lost 9 polyps on a Zoa colony one night, then a couple days later the Xenia was attacked. They didn't melt. In the case of the Xenia there are left over pieces laying on the sand below were it sits.

Is there any possibility a large hungry hermit crab would do this?
 
For me, when in doubt.....dip dip dip. I really like Revive for this. That stuff kills lots of anger perpetrators.
 
Yesterday morning the rest of the Xenia was gone |(
I have been checking the tank using a red light and see nothing that isn't suppose to be there. I have one Hermit Crab that is much bigger than the rest that in each of these cases was in the immediate vicinity of the attack. Yesterday I removed him to eliminate it as a cause. Whatever it is it is big enough to eat 2/3 of a fairly large Xenia in one night.
 
Camel Shrimp not reef safe!!!!

Broke the two most important rules:
1. Didn't do my research
2. Believed the LFS guy

No more camel shrimp. Took them back to the LFS , explained the problem and received 4 Zoa frags for my trouble :bigsmile:
 
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