Mussid Pred Pest F

FAQs about Mussid Coral Predators, Pests

FAQs on Mussid Disease: Mussid Disease 1, Mussid Health 2, Mussid Disease 3, Mussid Disease 4, Mussid Disease 5,
FAQs on Mussid Disease by Category: Diagnosing, Environmental (Pollution/Poisoning, Lighting...), Nutritional, Social (Allelopathy), Trauma, Pathogenic (Infectious, Parasitic, Viral) Treatments

Related Articles: Coral Pests and Disease; pests, predators, diseases and conditions by Sara Mavinkurve, Mussid Corals,

Aiptasia on my Scolymia 10/16/15
Hello Bob,
<Howdy!>
I was hoping you could help me out. I have an Aiptasia in my tank. I know this is a common problem and reading Wet Web Media there do seem to be a lot of ways to get rid of Aiptasia.
<Oh yes; and there was a very nice piece by James Fatherree in the more recent TFH that sums up these methods>
My situation is the Aiptasia is on the base of my Scolymia. I didn't know it was there until I was feeding the scoly and as it was eating its flesh retracted or moved to reveal the Aiptasia.
The Aiptasia is 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch away from the base line of where he flesh meets the hard structure of the scoly. I do not want to damage the scoly to kill the Aiptasia.
<Of course>
my thoughts were superglue however in the process if the tissue of the scoly moves and get stuck it will damage the
soft tissue. I thought about chemical means, lime juice or Kalk, but I can't buy a needle with out a prescription, I will get a prescription if that is the best method, and I don't know if chemicals injected on the base of the scoly could affect the scoly. I do not want to smear or shoot chemical near the flesh of scoly for fear of harming as well. I thought putty just to cover up as well. Thanks in advance and Take care.
Cheers
<Well; life itself is really a matter of compromises... Let's see: The cost of doing nothing? Not what I'd choose.... I'd lift the Scolymia from the tank, scrape as much of the Glass Anemone off with a sharp blade (Exacto or similar) and thoroughly dab the area w/ the most noxious material I'd allow... H202 on the very low side. Rinse the specimen, return to the tank.
Others might suggest Berghia... Bob Fenner>

Lordhoweensis heads shifting on stalk 12/24/12
Hi wonderful experts. I just observed a scary thing with my gorgeous little Lordhoweensis coral, and I'd love some advice. I got it about 6 months ago, three heads arrayed around a single stalk. Since then it has become the picture of excellent health. The heads are all about 50 percent bigger than when I got it. They fully expand and eat meaty seafood voraciously. Two new large heads grew, and six new little heads are forming around the perimeter and growing fast.
<Good>
This morning when I got up, I was shocked to see bare skeleton at the back of the stalk, and my initial impression was that one of the heads had vanished. But I counted, and they are all there. They have shifted, en masse, about a half inch toward the front of the tank, as if they are sliding across the top of the stalk!
<Mmm, something moved this colony... it's not ambulatory by itself>
I cut back the water circulation near it, although I do not think it was too fast. Now I am fearful that the whole set of heads is going to just slip off and go drifting away in the tank.
Is what I've seen common? Do you think the heads will fall off? If they do, what sort of first aid is required?
<Not common, heads/corallites shouldn't fall off, checking water quality and adding a bit more iodide-ate is all I'd do, along w/ investigating what animal (added or not) might have moved this animal... Do you have large molluscs, urchin/s present?>
I would hate to lose this lovely, otherwise very healthy coral.
Tim
<Mmm, do review the Health FAQs for Mussids, Scleractinians on WWM... Bob Fenner>
Re: Lordhoweensis heads shifting on stalk 12/24/12
Bob - Thanks for the quick reply! I recently added a fighting conch, and a single Mexican Turbo snail to help control a huge growth of purple ochtodes. Might they move a coral colony?
<The conch, definitely. Place all unattached/movable invertebrates out of its potential way>
I never add iodine,
<Mmm, I definitely would. See Marco's article on WWM, the FAQs re>
but I do a 25 percent water change weekly, so water quality should not be an issue. I only test calcium and alkalinity every month or two, but I'll do it now to make sure. All parameters have been rock steady for at least a year (Ca 450 and Alk 10-11 dKH), and pH holds steady at 8.1-8.3 (it's 8.2 right now) and I keep salinity (SpG) at 1.025. The weird thing is that this coral is the picture of health... fully expanded, feeding tentacles usually extended, and eating well. It's not as if the coral is weak or dying.
<Just likely pushed about>
I looked very closely and gently prodded it, and I confirmed my suspicion of what's going on. All five heads simultaneously detached from their skeleton but somehow remained connected to one another. This group drifted down-current less than an inch and got hung up on the edge of the skeleton, where they settled down into what appears to be a new position of stability. Maybe they will re-attach. Fascinating, if a bit scary.
Thanks again! I'll let you know what happens.
Tim
<Real good. BobF>
Re: Lordhoweensis heads shifting on stalk 12/24/12
Bob - The fighting conch. Wow, there's no end to what I have to learn.
<Ah yes; bruisers and cruisers>
I can easily move the conch to a different tank, which I'll do today.
Thanks for the info! Is there any chance that the heads will re-attach to the skeleton in their new location?
<Oh yes>
Merry Christmas! And thanks again!
Tim
<Cheers! B>

White dots on Acan 6/23/10
Dear Bob,
<Ioannis>
How are you?
<Fine, thank you>
For the last 3 days I have been seeing white dots on one of my Acans I have not been able to find any information online, Eric's aquarium corals or Anthony's Book of coral propagation. So hence my email.
<These are bits, the second pic "mesenterial filaments" of the corallite soft tissue "coming out"... indicative of very stressful condition/state>
First of all let me give you some water parameters as of today and some basic info
*Date of establishment:* 10th November 2009
*Net tank volume*: Estimated 80 liters

*Filtration:* RDSB & Refugium (No skimmer)
*Date*: 22 June 2010
*Temperature*: 24.8 C
*Salinity*: 35 PPT
*NH4*: 0
*NO2*: 0
*NO3*: 0.2-0.5 (normally around 1 but I didn't feed yesterday)
*PO4*: <0.03
*PH*: 8.0
*KH*: 7.0 (dropped by 1dkh the last 2 days)
*Ca*: 425
*Mg*: 1350
*Last water change*: 19th & 20th June (12 and 10Liters respectively.
Normally about 15L WC but I prepared more water by accident so I decided to split it in 2 days to avoid any shocks)
Attached you will find 3 pictures of the Acan.
Picture 1 was taken yesterday
Picture 2 was taken yesterday after a 2 minute FW dip. Note that the white stuff that normally comes out of the mouth after a dip can also be seen at
the areas where the white dots where.
Picture 3 was taken today. Note the dots are more this time.
Now correct me if I am wrong but this strikes me as strange as my parameters
have been in check for a long time now (exception of the rapid KH, Ca and Mg usage for which I am building a Calcium reactor).
<Your readings are fine, but there is much more going on in systems that is not tested for>
Furthermore the coral in question is placed on the sandbed along with 9 other Acans which seem to be
fine.
<These may well be mal-affecting each other in this small volume. I would separate them... put some in other systems. And treat with "iodine"; read here re: http://wetwebmedia.com/ioddosingf.htm
and the linked files above>
Difference is that this Acan is closer to the live rock. I would also like to mention that the coral expands normally during the day (the tank receives small amounts of indirect sunlight) and even better when the lights go on.
My personal guess is that something is nibbling on the coral.
<Mmmm, may be...>
Tank inhabitants are 2 true Percs and 2 blood shrimps. Until now I have never seen the shrimps nibble on a coral before. I also spot feed them every other day before I feed my Tubastrea so they receive a good share of food.
Lastly and perhaps more importantly, a long time ago I spotted a small white crab and didn't do anything about it. Yesterday I managed to see it ( or at least I THINK I did) within the rockwork for a split second and it seems that its much bigger now. Would the bottle trap work or would my shrimps get in there instead?
<Worth trying. You can always release the shrimps>
By the way, I would also want to add that my Blasto and micro have started RTN'ing a bit since yesterday.
<I'd like you to read over a ppt. presentation I have posted on avoiding Allelopathy: http://wetwebmedia.com/cnidcompppt.htm
and as much of the linked files above as you find it takes for you to understand>
I FW dipped them
<Not completely freshwater I hope/trust... and with... oh, I see below you mention I2.>
yesterday but the Blasto seems to be getting worse. I am planning to do a Betadine dip (3ml per 1L tank water for 10 minutes) to help out.
<Good... and I'd add a triple-dose of iodide-ate to the system water itself>
In the meantime I have ordered Fauna Marin's Ultra Pest control but it wont be here for another week. Seems a bit too long, hence the Betadine (cant get Lugol's in the Netherlands unfortunately).

Sorry for the long message but I thought it would be easier to provide all relevant info (figured you'd ask anyway :P). Anyway, given the above, what do you think is the culprit?
<Allelopathy most likely... negative interaction twixt the Cnidarians here.
"Curing" this can be done, takes time, having other systems>
Any advice would be very appreciated
Regards,
Ioannis
<And you, BobF>

Re: White dots on Acan 6/23/10
Hey Bob,
Than you for your reply!
I was aware of the small volume, the tank itself is about 45-50L (net) of that volume.
<Yes, way too small for what you have here>
Within a week or 2 I will be upgrading my filtration and volume big-time (I think roughly 50L more system volume) though. I have ordered a 100L tank to upgrade my current RDSB and Refugium.
The second picture was right after the dip, hence the stressed appearance as you mentioned. Anyway, yesterday I spot fed the coral (I had neglected to do so for about 2 weeks) and to my big surprise most of the spots are gone
today. There are still some on the left side but its much better than yesterday.
<Ah good!>
As about allelopathy, I just took a look at your slides and there is lots of good info. For the record, I was keeping myself more occupied with chemical wars (hence why I have no softies in the tank) and space issues until now.
Most corals have room for growth although some are starting to get big.
This is the reason why I will be fragging 3 of my Acans (about 5x the size of the rest of the Acans) right after my vacation. Just as a side note, I have seen some good growth on some of the corals, especially my torch (split a new
head 2 days ago and 2 more are well on their way)
<Also positive news>
Yesterday I tried to catch the shrimps but didn't succeed. I will try to get them to climb on my hand (they will do that sometimes) and net them. I am planning to put them in the refugium temporarily until I can catch that crab.
<Good plan>
As about the Blasto, it seems that the Betadine dip did something after all.
The RTN does not seem to have spread out, although the coral has not expanded its polyps since the dip.
You said to dose iodide-ate and came up with one from Seachem on the web.
Is it safe to add this to a system of this size?
<Yes. A very good product, line, manufacturer>
Also, wouldn't those levels by sustained given that I am religious with my water changes and that am not skimming? (as I understand aggressive skimming can remove iodide and other elements)
<Not so... iodide and iodate are taken up/out of solution w/in days of dosing, addition through (some) synthetic salt mixes, foods>
By the way, I have heard of stories of people adding Betadine inside their displays tanks. Are you familiar with this?

Funny thing about Lugol's. I went to my local pharmacy yesterday and asked for it. The looked at me as if I was some kind of moron lol.
<Perhaps this/it is called something else there... I'd ask them to look the ingredient names up in their references>
Needless to say they had never heard of it. I will check for alternatives just in case (although Betadine should do the job for now)
Once again thank you for the great support!
Regards,
I. Mylothridis
<Welcome my friend. BobF>
Re: White dots on Acan 6/23/10
Hey Bob,
Thank you for your reply!
I was aware of the small volume, the tank itself is about 45-50L (net) of that volume.
<Yes, way too small for what you have here>
Within a week or 2 I will be upgrading my filtration and volume big-time (I think roughly 50L more system volume) though. I have ordered a 100L tank to upgrade my current RDSB and Refugium.
The second picture was right after the dip, hence the stressed appearance as you mentioned. Anyway, yesterday I spot fed the coral (I had neglected to do so for about 2 weeks) and to my big surprise most of the spots are gone today. There are still some on the left side but its much better than yesterday.
<Ah good!>
As about allelopathy, I just took a look at your slides and there is lots of good info. For the record, I was keeping myself more occupied with chemical wars (hence why I have no softies in the tank) and space issues until now.
Most corals have room for growth although some are starting to get big.
This is the reason why I will be fragging 3 of my Acans (about 5x the size of the rest of the Acans) right after my vacation. Just as a side note, I have seen some good growth on some of the corals, especially my torch (split a new head 2 days ago and 2 more are well on their way)
<Also positive news>
Yesterday I tried to catch the shrimps but didn't succeed. I will try to get them to climb on my hand (they will do that sometimes) and net them. I am planning to put them in the refugium temporarily until I can catch that crab.
<Good plan>
As about the Blasto, it seems that the Betadine dip did something after all.
The RTN does not seem to have spread out, although the coral has not expanded its polyps since the dip. The You said to dose iodide-ate and came up with one from Seachem on the web.
Is it safe to add this to a system of this size?
<Yes. A very good product, line, manufacturer>
Also, wouldn't those levels by sustained given that I am religious with my water changes and that am not skimming? (as I understand aggressive skimming can remove iodide and other elements)
<Not so... iodide and iodate are taken up/out of solution w/in days of dosing, addition through (some) synthetic salt mixes, foods>
By the way, I have heard of stories of people adding Betadine inside their displays tanks. Are you familiar with this?

Funny thing about Lugol's. I went to my local pharmacy yesterday and asked for it. The looked at me as if I was some kind of moron lol.
<Perhaps this/it is called something else there... I'd ask them to look the ingredient names up in their references>
Needless to say they had never heard of it. I will check for alternatives just in case (although Betadine should do the job for now)
Once again thank you for the great support!
Regards,
I. Mylothridis
<Welcome my friend. BobF>

My Acan has worms (?)
Dear Crew,
<Russ>
I received an Acan frag in a trade yesterday. The frag appeared healthy in the tank of the original owner; however, when I arrived home I noticed some stringy material coming in the bag with the coral. At first I assumed this was mucus, but when I went to lift the coral from the bag all the "strings" seemed to retract back to the surface of the coral. On the surface, there appeared to be many objects that looked like balled up threads, as if it had been rolled between your fingers.
<Mmm>
Upon closer inspection, I could distinguish some slow movement in these objects. What concerns me more is that I then noticed several spots on the surface of the coral where it appeared as though these worms (assumption) are coming through the flesh of the coral. I took the following pic
<No image attached, linked... embedding doesn't work with this program>
in hopes that you can help me identify what these creatures may be. I hope it is clear enough to give you an idea of what I'm seeing. Oh, and yes, this piece (as with all new arrivals) will be going into quarantine not my
display.
<Thank goodness... well, your forethought>
Thanks, as always, for your help.
<I suspect these "worms" may be part of this coral's structure, but even if separate organisms, not likely deleterious... or so much so that the colony will perish as a consequence, or "spread" troubles to your other organisms.
Please do send along a well-resolved image. Bob Fenner>

Re: My Acan has worms (?) 10/21/09
My apologies. Here is another attempt with the photo attached this time.
<Mmmm, well... these might be worms (if so, best guess at phylum is the Nematodes)... Or just "mesenterial filaments"... IF you're very concerned you could run a vermifuge in your quarantine to eradicate if Vermes... See WWM re. BobF>

Re: My Acan has worms (?) 11/9/09
I never got a response to this after attaching the image. I know you all are busy so I figured I would make another attempt. Please let me know if the image changes your opinion at all. I still have not been able to locate another image or account that seems similar to this. Thanks, as always, for your input.
<Mmm, strange. I did respond to this. Posted here: http://wetwebmedia.com/mussiddisfaq2.htm
BobF>
Re: My Acan has worms (?)
Ah, thank you. I somehow missed the second reply.

Re: My Acan has worms (?)
No, they have not gone away. They are not as prominent as they were when the coral was more stressed after transport, but if I blow a jet of water on the coral to deflate the flesh I can still notice some of these small "bundles". When left alone, the coral seems otherwise healthy. They don't seem to be doing any damage to the coral, and do not attempt to leave the coral (I tried baiting with meaty food), but they are strange enough (to me at least) that I don't yet trust them to be "harmless". I would be happy to learn that they are part of the Acanthastrea, and not a parasite. If this were the case, would it be normal to see this or would the emergence of these be a result of stress?
<Don't know... but I do want to relate that I've seen such as this in the wild, underwater. As long as the animal/colony is otherwise okay, I would not be concerned. Interesting to speculate that these may function as some sort of "lure" to attract prey. Cheers! BobF
Re: My Acan has worms (?)
Thanks for sharing your observations and thoughts. I will continue to monitor, but am becoming less concerned. I will let you know if I make any other interesting observations.
<Thank you for sharing. BobF>

Blastomussa wellsi Troubles 2/18/06 Hello. I (as the title says) am having some troubles with a Blasto Wellsi I recently purchased. I bought it about a week ago and placed it in the bottom of the tank in low flow and low light. For the first few days, it opened fully and looked great. But then on about the third day, it didn't open completely. Day by day, it's been opening less and less. I wouldn't be worried so much about it, but this is the exact say way my last Blasto Wellsi colony died last fall. I was never able to figure out then why it died and finally decided it was probably caused by something that happened before I bought it. Now I'm not so sure. I have since lifted it up on to a small piece of pvc in the corner to keep it away from the hermit crabs (they have a knack for annoying new corals sometimes). <In addition to hermits, do consider your fish, especially pygmy and dwarf angels and blennies. You may have to observe very carefully to notice them picking at the coral. Also, in my experience, these corals are very sensitive to water quality especially those parameters that can't be measured, like the noxious defensive chemicals of other corals.> The lighting is two 96W PC 12 hours a day on a 45 gallon tank. It's been set up for about a year now. As for water conditions, they're fine (78 degrees; S.G. 1.025; 0 Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphate; Calcium 430) as they have always been, and no other corals (including many zoos and Shrooms, a few LPS and SPS, and some rather large softies) are showing any signs of trouble. <What about alkalinity? Without proper alkalinity, calcium is unusable to corals. Also, Zoanthids, mushrooms and softies are all good candidates to produce harmful allelopathic chemicals that my be harming the Blastomussa.> Nothing has been done since I received the coral that would change water clarity (water changes, cover glass cleaning, new bulbs, carbon, etc.). I think that's all the info I can offer. Thank you, Kevin <You can try running some carbon to help reduce the defensive chemicals from the other corals and please do measure alkalinity regularly and correct if low. Hope this helps. Best regards. AdamC.>

Coral Healing & Book, V2 Date: Fri, 13 May 2005 Bob and Anthony: I thought you might find this picture interesting. It shows both the damage that Aiptasia can cause and the power of a coral to heal. This Blastomussa achieved this amount of healing within 4 weeks of me killing the Aiptasia that made the hole. I used 3 ml.s of vinegar injected with a 20-gauge needle. Also, Zo is vacationing in Utah. I happened to be home last weekend, so we got together for lunch on Sunday. It was great to meet him and we had a pleasant and interesting conversation. That and a recent WWM query led me to wonder how the second book is coming. Any projections on publication? Steve <Thanks for sending this along Steve... the work progresses, though inexorably slowly. B>

Saving Lobophyllia (not Silverman) 10/3/04 I hope all is well with you today. <and with hope for you in kind> I do need some help in saving my Lobophyllia. My flame angel was nipping at it continuously and causing it to recede to not much more than a skeleton. Since I have a 180g tank with much live rock, catching the flame angel was nearly impossible until I recently moved and had to drain the tank. Since that time the Lobophyllia has expanded from about 2.5' in diameter to over 7'! Just when I thought all was perfect (for over a month), now my purple tang has apparently grown to love the taste of the Lobophyllia. <heehee...> The coral has once again deflated to a little more than a skeleton. I really like the purple tang and prefer to leave it in the tank (not to mention I do not plan to drain 180 gallons of water again!). Is there anything that can be done to stop the tang from nipping at the Lobophyllia and to keep the both healthy in the same tank? --Greg <nothing at all... really, short of separation. Its a compatibility problem that cannot be conquered by extra feedings, etc. Do consider placing the coral in a small inline refugium instead - perhaps the best of both worlds. Anthony>

Please visit our Sponsors