Nudibranch eating xenia/soft corals.

The most prolific pest in reef tank, I think so any way, is the nudi,these mongrel things cause so many issues with a reef tank, soft corals in particular.

I thought I had washed the corals and checked them well enough each time to keep this pest out of the tank, until yesterday, the latezonatus was carrying some thing around in its mouth and spat it at the front of the tank,i should have known by that,these are smart clown fish.

Now latz are the only true harmless clown fish to all life forms,so I had a close look because I knew it could not be it hurting any of the tank life and there it was a stinking nudi!!

I thought something was destroying the xenia but didn’t have the time to look closely and with a nudies ability to blend in you really need to look close to find them normally.

It was my fault, I normally use straight freshwater to wash corals before putting them into the tank, I just used made up salt water, oh well, and the xenia will recover.

It is natural, but it doesn’t make it any less annoying.


The damage it did in just two weeks from me noticing a slight change, to this.



The low life that did it!!




Don't let these pests into your reef tanks guys,any of them!!

That ‘nudibranch’ is not a nudibranch after all,but not far off as I have been informed by the museum.

It is most likely a variation of Elysia tomentosa (Family Plakobranchidae) which is suppose to be herbivorous, so it might be eating the Xenia for the contained zooxanthellae in the tissues.

These critters, like nudibranchs, don’t have a shell and often do look like them.

I assume it came in the macro algae that is virtually gone now, this info answers several questions, you can always depend on the museum, or at least they find someone to solve most questions!