Crazy looking nudibranch?? no idea what this is or if it is harmful..

[fleck154]

Hello,
For the first time ever i noticed this beast in my 20 gal nano tank.. Atleast 5 inches in length, moves like a nudibranch.. Not sure what it is?? can anyone help? Have had large colonies of zoa's die/disappear... that have thrived for years.. i had 2 LED go out on my strip and had thought that was the cause... now i am thinking maybe this monster?

 

[Voshon247]

if you can get a picture it would be better but the way it sounds its zoa eating nudibranch. They tend to take the the color of the zoanthids they are eating.

 

[mr_X]

Please include a picture. A 5" creature needs to eat something....I would imagine a lot of something. a good guess would be that it ate your zoa colonies. What have you added recently that may have brought this guy in? A frag on a substantial piece of rock perhaps?

 

[fleck154]

video is not posting... its mov format...

I put a video... not sure why its not on there.. I will upload to youtube and post a link

 

[fleck154]

link has to be approved i guess...

Just added to youtube but the video has to be approved...

youtube.com/watch?v=rR0OH9N0jvE&feature=youtu.be

try this with www.

 

[fleck154]

nice that worked

Never have added to this tank in about 3 years... have never seen this monster in there.. appears to live in the sand bed. I have another video where it goes into the sand..

 

[mr_X]

That's totally awesome. I love that slug. Please don't kill it. Put it in the sump if you have one.

 

[fleck154]

Never would kill =)

no sum on that tank.. but as long as it doesnt effect my harlequinn shrim i really dont care if it lives forever in there, or if it eats my corals.. the Zoas are the only ones that i have lost, i had 2 led go out on the tank and thought that may be why i lost zoo's.. but now i c this thing last night.. might be the reason for zoa loss... this is purely a frag tank i have had for years... never add to just let stuff grow... its for my harlequinn mainly.. =)

so it mayb a slug?

 

[fleck154]

going into the sand

youtube.com/watch?v=NDxr5Qwltg0&feature=youtu.be

This is it disappearing into the sand bed... i have probly a 4-6 inch sand bed in this tank...

 

[mr_X]

Slug, nudi...it's the same thing really. Pretty awesome, and no, I don't see it eating your shrimp.

 

[fleck154]

classification

really want to figure out what this thing is... i have been searching the web like crazy to try to figure this out... honestly freaked me out yesterday when i saw it.. What is in the tank:

1 harlequinn shrimp(about 2 inches big) 1 cleaner shrimp, 1 purple coral banned shrimp, 1 pom pom crab, 1 candystripe pistol shrimp, and 1 fancy ocellaris clown...

corals, frogspawn 3-4 diffrent variations, green bubble coral, anchor coral, anithelia, flame mushrooms, Zoa's 6-7 diffrent variations, button polyps, candy cane crypto, 2 acans, and zoompodium..

never have added rock. I frag out of the tank... not into it..
Tank has 4-6inch sand bed

It is a 22gal custom tank with built in overflow, attached to the overflow is a hang on tank refugium with protein skimmer.. refugium has 6 inch sand bed and macro alge..

 

[mr_X]

Have fun!
The Sea Slug Forum - Species List

 

[herp_mommy]

good luck identifying it. It's trippin me out!

 

[Sniperhank]

Wonder that it is eating.

 

[Airgoose2222]

That is awesome!! Would love to find something like that in one if my tanks

 

[AbsoluteFaye]

If you see it again try to get a pic with less blue. Do you know what colors he was? He's really cool by the way.

 

[fleck154]

Blue light

This is the only time i have ever seen this thing and it was at 2am... My tank is on timers and at night it is blue LED.. I have purple blue, red orange and pure white strips on the tank. if i see him again i will turn on the whites..