Amphipods eating coral

[Gary Majchrzak]

Originally Posted by Scott48

Gary- their reg. palythoa, looked like AOG's but pinker.

how much you wanna bet they are Protoplaythoa?

maybe it's time for some Wrasses. Have any?

[tmz]

Typically palythoa form mats.eg sea mat.. Protopalythoa don't eg most of the others. I think I ruined Gary's wagering. So if they look like AOGs, they are most likely protopaythoa.
The term playthoa is commonly used for both but it is always better to be precise. You can always say zoanthidae(the family name) and be safe covering in several genera including: palythoa, protopalythoa,zoanthus.acrozoanthus, isaurus. Many just use the term polyps. The distinctions are often important,however, since they come from different environs :high reeef . lagoons. turbid water, etc. Some need clean water some don't . Some like to eat ; others don't . Most like light but some do better in lower light : others particularly zoanthus like it bright and clean.

[Scott48]

i have a filamented flasher wrasse, two mandarins which now eat mysis, and now a scooter still a lotta pods they got a lotta nooks and crannies to hide and breed in which stinks.
-why is it you think their proto, but my ? is why would this matter? just wondering

[Scott48]

Thanks tmz they very well could have been but i had only a small frag and the polyps were close seemed to be matted, they were different but now that you said that they probly were protos.

[museumguy]

What if it is the microscopic white bugs that are killing your LPS and the pods are sensing that the coral is dying and are going in to clean up whats already on the way out? I'd try running some interceptor.

[Jacwil]

I wouldn't try Interceptor at this point in the game....you'd have to remove the pistol and fire shrimps...you'd lose all the pods and cuc...JMO though.

[Scott48]

Ya i wouldnt want to lose those guys, and i dont kno much about interceptor. i have though how ever seen other cases (with the help of Dave) of the amphipods eating coral, it is still rare, but everythings a possibility maybe these white bugs r the culprets idk, the thing i dont get tho is the amount of pods in my tank having 2 mandarins, a filamented flasher wrasse, and now a scooter there are a lotta pods.

[Gary Majchrzak]

Originally Posted by Scott48

-why is it you think their proto, but my ? is why would this matter? just wondering

why is it important to know what type of coral is being attacked?

I think you can answer your own question

Protopalythoa and Palythoa have similar names but are instantly recognizably different in appearance and (although related) are different families of corals (not just different species).
Protopalythoa are much more popular with aquarists than Palythoa.

To solve this problem it certainly helps to correctly identify what coral(s) are being attacked.

[Scott48]

well multiple species are being attacked, they probly are protos now that you have said this- the list of attacked include
-watermelon chalice, while i have 2 other chalices untouched for some reason.
-pink palys
-unkown name acan from ARC
-Harry potter acan from ARC

[Gary Majchrzak]

Originally Posted by Scott48

-watermelon chalice, while i have 2 other chalices untouched

yet another example of what I'm talking about

[Gravesj1s]

Hi scott.

I'll admit right up front I dont know what the exact cause.Just wanted to be sure you ran through you parameters.I seen you mentioned temperature and it seems spot on. Did you check alk? as well rule out light shock?Some of the ones your mentioning IMO, can have react negatively to more than what light they have been maintained under.I dont know and no in noway the best at answering questions.Over all it could be any combination of what was mentioned in this thread.I hope you and the others here can figure it out.

FWIW.I know it helps to identify and be descriptive but maybe the OP isn't sure of all the scientific names of what he has.I think the generlization is fairly clear though.Just saying,I'm pretty sure you guys are aware some corals cannot be identified by any other means short of a dead skeleton and microscope. Just something to consider is all.

[Scott48]

Hi graves,

The alk was good at 9.2 dkh, light shock on the amphipods, could you explain? these ones if i havent mentioned are only out at night. these guys have been in my tank since the start 3 years ago but in the past 6 months their numbers have taken off.

thanks for the help graves

[Gary Majchrzak]

if there are "chalice" corals that are being attacked and other "chalice" corals that remain unaffected it's very important to identify all of these corals in order to help us try and figure out what's going on.

I'm used to working in a thankless atmosphere. I'm also curious to figure out what's going on here

[Scott48]

I have a emerald mummy eye which is doing great, an unknown name pink chalice kinda looks like the bubblegum with the green in it which is also doing great, and the one eaten was a tyree pink watermelon which i got outta the tank after i saw it started to be eaten.
Thanks for helping Gary

[Gary Majchrzak]

any thanks are always greatly appreciated but I've been married with kids for quite awhile and I'm used to rough treatment

I'm not good at coral nicknames- somebody correct me if I'm wrong:
Tyree pink watermelon is an Echinophyllia. What is emerald mummy eye.... another Echinophyllia?
What's the other one?

If they're actually all Echinos why would the pods only be attacking one of three Echinophyllia?

[Scott48]

If they're actually all Echinos why would the pods only be attacking one of three Echinophyllia?

Exactly, they were and are all echnos. Its weird and i was wondering the same thing. The watermelon was the newest addition and was closest to where the pods were eating the acans and palys, maybe they wanted to explore idk. But i still dont see why one was attacked over another.

[tmz]

I think all 3( waermelon, mummy eye and bubble gum) are ecnhinophyllia aspera but it's always a bit of a guess.

[Scott48]

Originally Posted by tmz

I think all 3( waermelon, mummy eye and bubble gum) are ecnhinophyllia aspera but it's always a bit of a guess.

thats exactly what they are.

[Gravesj1s]

Originally Posted by Scott48

Hi graves,

The alk was good at 9.2 dkh, light shock on the amphipods, could you explain? these ones if i havent mentioned are only out at night. these guys have been in my tank since the start 3 years ago but in the past 6 months their numbers have taken off.

thanks for the help graves

-Scott,Your welcome but unfortunately , for the most part I'm just getting my feet wet again,so theres lots of things that are brand new to me.Chalices ,acans ,interceptor,the list goes on......just trying to learn from when I was a reefkeeper last.

By lightshock I was refering to the corals not the amphipods directly.Many retailers Im noticing are keeping them under indirect or low light leds for the better apperance and pop in color. Suddenly placed under higher light conditions could weaken or kill an already stressed coral.WE should take into account they just came out of a completely differnt set of parameters.As another poster mentioned some forms are opportunists,maybe just feeding on sloughoff or dead tissue.(Refering to the amphipods or copepods).Just a possibility.Hope you figure it out ,it really sucks to lose things like that when you not sure why.

[Scott48]

Oh i saw the placement and type of lighting and took that into consideration in placement, if anything their probly in lower light in my tank and acclimated slowly for sure. The only parameter problem was nitrates were a little high, but these pods gotta be predators. Does anyone know of a fish or anything i can get that will come out at night thast reef and invert safe, because thats the only time the pods are out?

[Willistein]

I bet there's a good chance they are carnivorous amphipods, just a hunch. Snap a pic if you can.

[Scott48]

sorry i cant get a pic, all i have is my phone and it wont pick up the pods clearly but i did post pics of what they look like on pg.1

[tmz]

My Bangai cardinals Pterapogon kauderni prowl around at night. Don't know if they'd eat those pods but maybe.

[Scott48]

Bangai's might do the trick but is theyre anything else, maybe something not quite as docile as bangai's?

[dan10342]

Scott,

If you are having so much issue with pods... dose your tank with interceptor and kill them all.


though you might have other issues to deal with after all the death occurs.

best of luck
dan