Hydroids

[KiLaGo]

I just wanted to vent and note how much I hate hydroids. I have only had a reef tank for a little over a year, and I acquired some live rock that had some brown hydroids on it. I didn’t know what they were at first, and they spread very quickly throughout the rest of tank. I began to take note when they started getting into my coral and I went on the offensive. I finally ended up taking out all of my live rock that they were growing on and I took a torch and torched the rock. I did this two months ago. 99.9% of the brown hydroids seem to be dead. I make daily scans and if I spot a new one I quickly work to remove it either by putting super glue over it or taking out the infected rock and giving the infected part minor torch which seems to work.

So, during this process I used 5 gallon buckets to re-cycle my rocks. Over two months I put everything back in the tank. Since I was down rock, I bought a few pounds of new live rock from an LFS. I have been watching it since I put it in a month or so ago. Over the past week I noticed white strings started to grow from it. I did some research on the internet to determine that they are digitate hydroids. I took the rock out this morning and have it sitting in a holding tank. It’s only on one spot of the rock, but I have noticed some other white stranded material (it almost looks like white hair algae, but not as thick, more like cobwebs) growing underneath it and on one side.

I haven’t decided if I should just torch the hydroid section or just fry the whole rock and cycle it again in a separate tank or bucket. Now I am watching the rocks nearby and I am trying to make sure it isn’t getting infected. I see some white cobweb type strains on the rock that was underneath it. I’ll probably scrub it tonight in saltwater and put it back in.

As a side note, I bought a new acan frag and it has either a Chaetopteridae or Spionid of some sort growing in it. I can see its two little tentacles coming out.

 

[Smitty]

Wow...that sounds like a headache...good luck.

 

[KiLaGo]

Alright, so after some intense rounds of torching my rocks for colonial hydroids, I noticed last week some more popping up where I have torched one of rocks 3 times now. I have 99% reduction in their population since I started this torching approach 6 months ago, but these things spread fast, so once you have 1, by the time you find it you have 10 more. So that was last week, and then last night I noticed 4 hydroids on a small rock I have 10 blue hornet zoa's on, which is my favorite piece right now in by BC 29. So, I am going to my next attempt to fix which is taking it up a level.

Here is a summary of my rock work. I have 5 large pieces which weight between 4 and 8 lbs each. These are the rocks which I am having the hydroid issue with. I have another 10 rocks that weight between .5 and 1.5 lbs I have bought and glued coral to.

My Plan: I believe I have just procured a BC 14 off of reef central. I am going to take a chisel and break off the hydroid infection on my blue hornet rock, and then go through all of my other coral on the smaller rocks which appear unaffected and put them in the BC 14 to protect them. This is where I have some questions. So I am going to take 5 gallons out of my BC 29 and put it in this BC 14, and then add 10 lbs or live rock and coral to it. My coral consistent of all photosynthesis coral. I do have some birds nest and monitpora, but I am hoping it will be fine in the BC 14 for a few months. At this point, I was not planning to put any fish, snails, hermit crabs, or shrimp in the BC 14. I was going to add no live creatures to it. I will probably upgrade the filtration system to chemi-pure elite and purigen, but leave everything else stock. My goal is to have this tank 100% hydroid free vs. the 99% in my BC 29. Eventually I want to get a 60 to 90 gallon tank, but until I can get one, set it up, and get it running, I can’t take the chance of getting hydroids in the 20 plus coral colonies I had in my BC 20. I will dose calcium and what not in the BC 14, but I was not going to add any sort of food to it.

My questions:

1) Any issue with how I am transferring my coral to a new system (taking 5 gallons out my current system to start it off). Do I have enough live rock with about 10 lbs in the BC 14 which seems like good live rock with a ton of coralline algae growing on it.

2) Any issue with not have any live creatures in the BC 14? Should I add a few snails? Should I add 1 fish? Does the coral need waste from the water column from live animals to survive?

3) Anything else I should do or consider. Sometimes these systems can be touchy and you can easily crash your system and end up with a bunch of dead coral so please feel free to share your thoughts to help me avoid this.

BC 29 treatment plan: Buy 15 lbs of new live rock or dead rock (cycle the dead rock), take out all remaining rock from the BC 29 and cook it in the oven at 500 degrees for 4 or 5 hours, and then cycle it again, put it back in the BC 29 and just wait and see what happens and if the hydroids come back.

 

[poidog]

brown hydroids are a pain... and they spread fast. I had them in my nano. I'd kalk them, they'd die, but then they would start back up again.

That is why I only use dry rock now.

The worm is most likely harmless. Is it the one with the two clear/white tenticles that stick out? I love those guys.

 

[Jep21]

So was wondering are hydroids good or bad for saltwater aquariums... i was looking into my tank while reading this.. mine kinda looks like a polp and i have another one with the 2 antennas.. they are both white.. If they are bad.. what kind of action should i take to get rid of them?

thanks
jep

 

[poidog]

this kind is bad

the white/clear ones that show up on your glass are harmless:

 

[Jep21]

i have one that looks like the top.. but its clear white.. and kinda looks like a feather duster.. and the other one.. just looks like a polyp but its only two..