If you keep Montipora, read this.

[bongy]

This is especially important if you are keeping monti cap.

I want to share the experience I have with the predatory white nudibranch (the becoming more famous monti-eating nudibranch). I first heard about this nudibranch in the reefcentral forum. At that time, I don't think it is something we have to worry about as it doesn't seem too common (unlike flatworm, only a handful of people response as having it). Well, this changes when I find them on one of my cap.

This cap was actually growing quite well since I bought it as frag. At that time, I found it strange that it is growing on one side and loosing tissue on the other. After eliminating the other factors (aggression, changes, etc.), I took a closer look at the coral. After finding some moving white stuff, I suspected it was some predatory animal. So I did a search on reefcentral and come up with this:

http://www.reeffarmers.com/tracygraynudi01.htm
http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin...001/11/2/43574
http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin...002/11/4/63590

I dipped the cap in my freshwater tank to shake off some nudibranchs. I think I must have dipped it too long as the coral died quickly after the dip.

After several weeks, I discovered them on another piece of frag. This time I took pictures.




I did another dip this time. This time, much shorter around 1-2 seconds. I also brushed off the egg and the nudibranchs. This time, the frag survive and seem to be free of nudibranchs so far. (after 1 month)

My experience so far is that this nudibranchs doesn't seem to be as destructive as some people have in their tank. Hopefully it never will as I have quite a bit of monti cap in my tank too. Also, these nudibranchs don't eat the monti quickly. You won't wake up one day and found a monti dead. One nudibranch will not harm the coral much, one hundred will.

So, why am I posting this? The main reason is I want more people to know about this so you will check for this when something is wrong. The other reason is that this nudibranch is no longer a fairy tale creature that happens in a far off place, it is here in Vancouver. Almost all of my corals, I got it locally as frag. Therefore, I am 100% sure that these nudibranchs exist in some other tanks as well. I think this will become a problem similar to flatworm. Basically, you just have to live with it and try to control it before it get out of hand.

Hopefully, this is useful to someone.

Bongy

PS. I preserved a nudibranch in alcohol. If anyone is interested to see the real thing, I can bring it to the Vancouver meeting.

[stephane]

Tank for sharing