peaceful wrasse?

[themartins]

I have seen pods snacking on one of our zoa cololnies. Is there a peaceful wrasse that wouldn't harm cleaner shrimp, snails, etc.?

[BigRedsReefs10]

Possum, pink streaked, and the tanakas ( or Pygmy wrasse) are all very peaceful wrasses

[bribo12]

How bigs the tank? Xmas and yellow coris usually fairly chill and eat pods. My melanurus doesn't hurt any of my inverts but is a huge jerk to new fish

[themartins]

The tank is only 38 gal.

[54seaweed]

I never had any problems with a 6 line back when I had my 37g always seemed mellow

[Sniperhank]

All of the ideas are fine, but there isn't a reason as to why pods would be turning healthy coral into a meal. It would be more likely to look into detrius in the zoa colony or there to be decay in the colony.

[themartins]

I don't think detrius is the problem, because there is really good flow in the tank. This rock is a fairly new addition to the tank, the colony looked pretty healthy, though a few polyps were closed - now the colony is just about gone. I'm afraid that whatever has been snacking on these zoas will move onto my favorite ones, so I want to get something in there to eat the critters before that happens. The critters that I'm seeing constantly on these polyps look like typical amphipods, but when I shine a flashlight on them their eyes kind of glow yellow.

[Sniperhank]

Pull the rock out and do a freshwater dip. See what comes out besides pods. Seems like a fast regression for nudibranch...I'll rule it out when we see what happens.

[themartins]

I've never done a fresh water dip. Is just tap water ok? How long should the rock be dipped? Will this harm the brittle stars also in the rock? Also, there are other corals on this rock - porites and xenia ... would the dip harm them at all?

[themartins]

Here is a picture of the rock when it was first added to our aquarium. The zoas are all but gone at this point.

[54seaweed]

I blow out my zoas 1x a week with a turkey baster and it helps get any build up out and the zoas always look much happier , pods are probably eating the crud between them like hank mentioned

[themartins]

I blast all rocks once per week with a turkey baster or power head to remove any detrius that settles. There were also 2 small sea squirts on this rock that are now gone.

[Sniperhank]

How's the alkalinity in the system? Alk issues will make soft coral and polyps melt away quickly and pods chow down on the death and decay.

[themartins]

Alk is 9 dKh. These pods look slightly different, glowing eyes when light is shined on them, also greenish - they're definitely not nudibranchs. I talked with someone who said it's rare, but there is a parasitic pod that will destroy zoa colonies.

[Sniperhank]

Pods is a really broad term. That said, did you ever dip the rock?

[themartins]

The pods look like the typical amphipods in shape and size, but when I shine a flashlight on them their eyes kind of glow yellow and they look somewhat greenish. I posted a picture of the rock above - this is what the zoa colony looked like 2 months ago, this picture is what it looks like now - there are only 4 zoa polyps left.

[Sniperhank]

I understand that, but without doing something like a freshwater dip or using a product like Lugols it won't get any better if there is something actively devouring them.

[themartins]

Can you please explain how to do a freshwater dip? Also, will this harm the brittle stars in the rock? Also, there are other corals on this rock - porites and xenia ... would the dip harm them in any way?

We did get a melanurus wrasse, so that should help things as well.

[Sniperhank]

Get a 5 gallon bucket and fill it with ro/di or distilled water. Then dunk the rock into the bucket.
Since it isn't saltwater, everything living in the rock will fly out in an attempt to save its life.
This should do no harm to any corals, especially not the soft coral or polyps. It might be stressful but it will easily rebound.
As for the Hoeven's wrasse, I hope it helps but I'm skeptical. They will eat flatworms and some parasites, but I'm not familiar with them being a solution to pods like a 6 line would be.

[themartins]

Here's what came out of the rock during FW dip - about 20 came off the rock, different sizes.