hydroids amongst colony

[jessp]

what do you guys do to remove hydroids from a colony that you have. I bought a wild colony and upon further inspection found about 15 small hydroids spread out amongst the colony. the polyps still open and seem fine but i would like to avoid having these spread.
thanks for any info.
jess

 

[dc_909]

Use some tweezers

 

[JGoslee]

Hydroids are the small really hard tube worms right?

 

[THE BEAUT]

It looks almost like hair algae, just a lot more sparse. I havnt found anything that eats it. It will twine around your zoas like a vine and kill them. The only way i have found is manual removal with a tweeser. PIA. Good luck with it.

 

[Azurel]

They aren't really hard tubes but more like leathery or something....I have a bunch of them on a few colonies. I have used tweezers but they come back.....I have also used kalk paste and that don't seem to work either....I would like to find a nudi that would eat them so I know they were gone for good....If you find something that gets rid of them permanently post it so we all can share the info....

 

[Charlie]

Good luck with these guys. I have heard that a dragon nudi will eat them but good luck finding one. I had a large colony of zoas with them on them and fragged and fragged until I finally got them. I have seen live rock placed in the sun with hydroids on it and when placed back in the tank the hydroids returned. The only thing I have seen that actually works is 7 days of fresh water. They imbed pretty deep in live rock. I battled them for 2 years. Pick them off them come back 2 fold. I have been able to chip off sections of live rock and get rid of them. When you disturd them in the tank they release spores and spread. When you handle them make sure you wash your hands throughly before placing them back in the tank. Now if I see them I pitch the entire rock. If you do find something that will get rid of these you need to market it!

 

[jessp]

so removing them manually must be done out of water, and after they are removed rinse them off to remove any spores that may have been released. they do not affect any of my colonies except one i just recently purchased.

 

[edwing206]

Anybody got a pic of them?

 

[surfn]

i've tried superglue and a lighter/torch. both seem to work temporarily, but they will eventually come back.....grrrrr

 

[jessp]

they look like super small feather dusters, but w/ an all brown skirt. and they pack a nasty wahlup. i'm gonna have to really frag up this colony. I had another colony that had hydroids, i took the zoas off and then scrubbed the heck out of the remaining rock and they came back.

 

[jessp]

btw i'd try to take a pic but the colony is tight and the hydroids blend right in so it would be a lost cause, but i'll try tomorrow if lights are on when i get home

 

[follow3]

Hey jessp,

I found this discussion about Hydroids and the like.

Maybe you can find some advise here that will help.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/hydrozoanfaqs.htm

Good Luck,
Steve

 

[Charlie]

Basically all you will find in that entire thread in manual extraction with a tooth brush attached to a siphon hose to try and keep them from spreading. Nasty little creatures- I wish you luck in your battle.

 

[Azurel]

They are a PITA....I have some spots in my tank that they are growing....I have tried just about everything I can think off and they keep coming back.....I have never heard of the spores stuff maybe that is why they have spread....Darn it!

 

[Charlie]

I feel your pain. We had some come in on some live rock that infested one of the raceways at the greenhouse. We made sure we washed are hands throughly when going from one raceway to the other. I spent many a day manually picking and scrubbing these pest. Red forearms and all - they pack quite a sting. We ended up taking the entire raceway down and running freshwater for seven days. Trust me we tried just about everything. I still have a few spots in my home tank that I plan on chipping of big chunks of the rock and if that fails it's goodbye rock:mad:

 

[jessp]

while i was snorkeling in dominica republic i rubbed up against a rope that was covered in hydroids and my arm was burnt up nice, went away after a few hours though

 

[Brad Vaughn]

They are a PITA....I have some spots in my tank that they are growing....I have tried just about everything I can think off and they keep coming back.....I have never heard of the spores stuff maybe that is why they have spread....Darn it!

Did you ever overcome them?