What is it????

[AquaDen]

I purchased some coral from a person that was selling there system. I always put everything that is new into a seperate tank (quarantine tank) Anyhow, after a day or so I noticed it on two differnt pieces of live rock and growing between some of the zoanthids colonies. Just from the looks of it I would assume that it is a pest because of how it spread onto several pieces I got from this person. Does anyone know what it is and how to get rid of it? Any help is appreciated!!

This is the best picture I could get

http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r163/aquaden/pest.jpg

[greenmako]

looks like hydroids

[hobogato]

i agree. not sure how to get rid of em, i dont think anything will eat them. you may be able to nuke em with kalk paste.

[AquaDen]

Hydroids - That does not sound like a good thing at all. I have never seen them before but now that I have a name for them I will do some research. I tried some Aptasia Gone and I believed they enjoyed it. I will surely try some kalk paste and see how that does.
Thanks!

[hobogato]

I tried some Aptasia Gone and I believed they enjoyed it.


:eek: that doesnt sound like a good sign! good luck

[AquaDen]

That sort of what I thought. I took one piece of rock out and put it in a bucket. As soon as the pest started coming out I then put Aptasia Gone all ovre them. I thought this would work and if it did I would treat each piece until it was gone. Anyhow, after about an hour of being covered in Aptasia gone (paste form) the hydroids came right back out and happy as could be.

I googled hydroids and that is what I have. It seems as if no one has a good cure for them and nothing seems to eat them other than predator fish.

Looks like it will be an on going battle. I just do not want to think that I have gotten rid of them and then add the pieces to my large tank. From what I have read they are extremely hard to get rid of!! I guess the purchase was not such a great deal.

[apedroza]

Do the rocks have corals on them??? If not you can dry them out or try a fw dip

[AquaDen]

The rock that I tried treating did not have coral on it. I plan to use that rock for experimenting to see if anything will get rid of them. But, some of the rocks do have coral, zoas and palys. I am going to try kalk paste tomorrow and see what it does. Whatever results I do find I will surely pass them one.

I have read that Hydroids are a real pain!! I have also read that Hydroids have an extremely powerful sting and will sting any coral that they touch. So, this makes me wonder if they are hydroids? Because, the pest that i have are growing between zoanthids, palys and growing around the base of a couple yellow Fiji Leathers and not stinging anything. From all of the pictures I have found the pest I have looks just like Hydroids. Maybe some sting and some do not?

[Richard]

Hydroids are a big problem with dwarf seahorse keepers (they sting/kill the little horses). They use Panacur (http://www.seahorsesource.com/cgi-bin/shop/detail.cgi?id=300102) to kill them.

Some have used it on zoo's and they don't like it but have survived, not sure how other corals would handle it though.

[aggieMEDIC]

they are hydroids i have them too, from what I understadn they feed on high nitrates. if you figure out how to get rid of them let me know so i can try too.

[AquaDen]

Richard - I read about using Panacur to get rid of them but it seems to be a little scary for me. They are growing betwwen a rather nice colony of PPe's and I would hate to kill them.

aggieMEDIC - i am going to try kalk paste tomorrow, I will let you know how that goes. As for high nitrates, i tested and there are no noticable nitrates in the tank "0".

[Jeff]

frag the ppe as much as you can and use the panacure on the rest of the rock. that way if something happens to the ppe you still have some left.

[erikharrison]

I used a torch lighter to fry off some aptasia that was RIGHT inbetween some true rpes. I liked it because a torch lighter is pretty precise! It would take some patience, but shouldn't be too bad! I didn't even lose the rpes that were surrounding it. Infact, I don't think they even burned the mat!

[Richard]

Some have used it on zoo's and they don't like it but have survived

I did some checking and I was wrong about that. Some other softies have lived through it but it looks like the zoo's usually died.

[AquaDen]

Thanks for the update. I am going to go with the kalk paste. It seems as if it it less invasive. I will let you guys know the outcome.

Today I also used concentrated iodine and so far they do not like that. But, being that it has only been about an hour since I used it I do not know the final results.

[urban79]

Take hard tooth brush to it. scrub them off.

[AquaDen]

I believe that the Kalk paste is going to work. I am jus going to keep the past on there so that it works for sure. The past will harden like a rock in no time and then will grow coraline. This way I know they cant come through the past.

Ace - thanks for the advise!

[leliataylor]

I've used Panacur on "the dredded droids" and it does work. They can be deadly to seahorse fry. The problem with Panacur is will kill all your worms. It tends to have a long residual effect.