Zoanthid Spider

[Donya]

Short and to the point: I found a zoanthid spider on my zoos today and am turning up short on detailed explanations of what to do.

A quick history:
- got the frag a couple months back, put it in my 12 gallon
- when I got it, there were lots of little "extra" colonies that broke off and I moved several to my 1 gallon bowl, where they are still thriving
- the larger colony is looking stressed and that's where the spider came from today.
- I'm also have a seriously bad bristleworm outbreak in the 12g and their harassment was not helping the zoos. Even my bristleworm-eating monster hermit isn't been able to keep the worms in check.

My choices are:
- put them back in the 12g to be harassed by bristleworms, where they certainly won't open. If I put them back there now they'll probably just shrivel and die eventuatlly.
- a temporary unfiltered tupperware, which is where they are now.
- put them in the 1 gallon after being de-parasited...which I don't know how to do safely

I've read about how hard spiders are to get rid of. The one I found I left on a towel to dry until it was crispy, then it fell into a cup of RO I was using to dip the zoanthids to get rid of the remaining bristleworms & such and it rehydrated and started running around again...so clearly they're tough little things. No other spiders came off and I can't see any on the rock or polyps. They were doing so great the first month and the sudden worsening has been so fast that I wondered if the spider could have ridden in on some of my other aditions following the zoos (snails & a couple pieces of rubble). In the end I really need the zoos moved to the 1 gallon because of the bristleworms, but I also don't want to wipe out what's going good in that tank by adding spiders.

There are a few polyp clumps that split off the affected frag from the 12g in the last couple days. They LOOK to be parasite-free. If they are safe, I would like to move them to the bowl to increase the survival rate of those that I pulled out of the 12g.

Advice? I don't wanna loose my zoos if I can help it. The colonies in the 1-gallon are doing so well I could probably recover the same size colonies soon if the worst happens, but still...

 

[Donya]

I did a 2nd freshwater dip today. Nothing new came off except more bristleworms that I already knew were hiding in there. One miniature white crab has materialized (I now realize I was seeing it before, but it looks like a piece of rubble and doesn't move unless poked), but it doesn't look like a threat. The nippers on it are so small they're hardly visible.

The detached clumps of polyps, which are not on any substrate, have nothing on them. I'd like to know if anyone thinks these would be safe to move over to my 1 gallon...I'm not sure if the polyps being free of visible parasites means they're safe or if there is something else to worry about (eggs, larvae, etc.).

 

[littleme1969]

Hi I would PM Ski Fletch about this as hes given me advise on the zoo spiders before and knows what he is talking about

 

[SkiFletch]

Or just wait for me to find the thread

Zoa spiders are little punks, a serious PITA to get rid of. The best solution would be to QT the zoas and their rocks, remove any hermits or other crabs you want to keep, and nuke the things with Interceptor. Interceptor is a flea medication given to dogs which disrupts the nervous system and thus kills most forms of small crabs, spiders, mites, etc. Unfortunately it requires a perscription from a vet to get it. Many vets will give you the script though if you explain what it's for. Pictures and/or one of the specemins brought to the vet will usually help in this effort. Remember, Interceptor will kill ALL pods, micro-inverts, crabs, hermits, and zoa spiders so be careful what you treat with. Doesn't take much, a single pill treats 100 gallons pretty well.

 

[Donya]

Ugh...if it has to come from a vet I might have a hard time with that. The vets I've spoken to in the area are pretty up tight about perscriptions and I tossed the one zoa spider's corpse and haven't seen another. I'll keep the fragment QTed and if I see another will save it for that purposes. Thanks Ski!