Squishie89
Glub Glub
I apologize in advance for how long this post may be. I am going to try and give all the information I currently have to try and deal with these problems.
I either have a serious problem with hydroids, aiptasia, or both. I have about 4 different kinds of ...creatures that I am having trouble with. 3 I am pretty sure are hydroids, the 4th is a bit of a mystery.
Pictures are after the text.
These are what I call the brown/purple ones. When they start of they are almost clear with very faint coloration. As they get older and bigger they get the purple/brown hues. They appear to have a mouth of some sort and will grab pellets/frozen food and eat it. They will be either in the sand or on rocks (and even on my fake reef). When in the sand, if disturbed they will fully retract into the sand and can no longer be seen. If in the rocks, they do the same thing, into a nook/cranny. As they get larger they start to either have sand stuck to their trunks or something, either way, white dots start appearing on their trunks. It seems they may be in close relation to aiptasia as I am able to use a majano wand on them. Last night I used the M.W. on some in the sand and I was able to stun them and worked them out of the sand, as when they contract they become hard so it is like fishing a rock out of the sand. I am not sure how they reproduce, but they do, as I easily have over 60+ of them now, ranging in sizes. I would say the largest I have seen would be, as fully “openedâ€, 6-8mm across and almost 9mm tall. They do not seem to care about light or flow too much. I have some under arches and some right on the sand bed in direct light and flow. These are always a single “polypâ€. They also seem to be able to go anywhere, I have some living in the overflow just stuck to the glass, some have made their way under the silicone in the overflow. Their base is almost like a foot of an anemone.
These are the white ones. They resemble a white stick with white hairs protruding mostly from the top. They are tiny, only a few millimeters tall, and only 1mm wide. These seem to prefer the sand (small rocks) and bases of rocks and the fake reef. These will catch food and somehow eat it (no idea how they do it). I believe these to be some type of colonial hydroid as I rarely see them singular. Other than the brown/purple creature, these are my other worst enemy right now. They can inhabit the smallest rock/grain on sand, and are spreading onto the main rocks themselves and onto the fake reef base. There is a patch of sand in the back of the tank that has been taken over by these.
Brown hydroids. I believe these are your “typical†brown hydroid. These develop in small patches. I only have about 5 patches that I know of. These do not seem to be too much of a problem, yet. They take a lot of work to remove. Their tubes they live in are difficult to grab or scrape off.
Freaky white/clear ones. I have had these a long time, but have never posed a great threat, (again, yet). They have clear/whitish tubes with white spots/sand and lots of clear tentacles. Majano wand is hard to use on these, but they are in semi-close resemblance to the brown/purple creatures.
Other information; I have a copperband butterfly currently in QT, but has not started eating frozen yet so has not been released into the tank. I wanted this fish anyway, but I am also hoping she might help with these issues. I also have a black sea cucumber starting to work on the sand. I have no idea if he will have any affect on the white hydroids when he gets to those areas, but I thought it was worth a try. I do overfeed, and may be part of the problem. I currently like my feeding regimine and once my tank is fully stocked, there will not be so much overfeeding. I do water changes once a week, 15-20% with IO RC. I have also seen the "typical" semi star shaped hydroid jellyfish on the glass. Please let me know if you need any more information.
Pictures;
Purple/Brown;
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This one below grew completely inside the silicone so I managed to get a sort of side/inside view
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
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These are some I managed to stun and remove from the sand bed. They are living in a cup of tank water at the moment.
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White Hydroids;
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Brown Hydroids;
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Freaky clear ones;
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Other;
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I either have a serious problem with hydroids, aiptasia, or both. I have about 4 different kinds of ...creatures that I am having trouble with. 3 I am pretty sure are hydroids, the 4th is a bit of a mystery.
Pictures are after the text.
These are what I call the brown/purple ones. When they start of they are almost clear with very faint coloration. As they get older and bigger they get the purple/brown hues. They appear to have a mouth of some sort and will grab pellets/frozen food and eat it. They will be either in the sand or on rocks (and even on my fake reef). When in the sand, if disturbed they will fully retract into the sand and can no longer be seen. If in the rocks, they do the same thing, into a nook/cranny. As they get larger they start to either have sand stuck to their trunks or something, either way, white dots start appearing on their trunks. It seems they may be in close relation to aiptasia as I am able to use a majano wand on them. Last night I used the M.W. on some in the sand and I was able to stun them and worked them out of the sand, as when they contract they become hard so it is like fishing a rock out of the sand. I am not sure how they reproduce, but they do, as I easily have over 60+ of them now, ranging in sizes. I would say the largest I have seen would be, as fully “openedâ€, 6-8mm across and almost 9mm tall. They do not seem to care about light or flow too much. I have some under arches and some right on the sand bed in direct light and flow. These are always a single “polypâ€. They also seem to be able to go anywhere, I have some living in the overflow just stuck to the glass, some have made their way under the silicone in the overflow. Their base is almost like a foot of an anemone.
These are the white ones. They resemble a white stick with white hairs protruding mostly from the top. They are tiny, only a few millimeters tall, and only 1mm wide. These seem to prefer the sand (small rocks) and bases of rocks and the fake reef. These will catch food and somehow eat it (no idea how they do it). I believe these to be some type of colonial hydroid as I rarely see them singular. Other than the brown/purple creature, these are my other worst enemy right now. They can inhabit the smallest rock/grain on sand, and are spreading onto the main rocks themselves and onto the fake reef base. There is a patch of sand in the back of the tank that has been taken over by these.
Brown hydroids. I believe these are your “typical†brown hydroid. These develop in small patches. I only have about 5 patches that I know of. These do not seem to be too much of a problem, yet. They take a lot of work to remove. Their tubes they live in are difficult to grab or scrape off.
Freaky white/clear ones. I have had these a long time, but have never posed a great threat, (again, yet). They have clear/whitish tubes with white spots/sand and lots of clear tentacles. Majano wand is hard to use on these, but they are in semi-close resemblance to the brown/purple creatures.
Other information; I have a copperband butterfly currently in QT, but has not started eating frozen yet so has not been released into the tank. I wanted this fish anyway, but I am also hoping she might help with these issues. I also have a black sea cucumber starting to work on the sand. I have no idea if he will have any affect on the white hydroids when he gets to those areas, but I thought it was worth a try. I do overfeed, and may be part of the problem. I currently like my feeding regimine and once my tank is fully stocked, there will not be so much overfeeding. I do water changes once a week, 15-20% with IO RC. I have also seen the "typical" semi star shaped hydroid jellyfish on the glass. Please let me know if you need any more information.
Pictures;
Purple/Brown;
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
This one below grew completely inside the silicone so I managed to get a sort of side/inside view
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
These are some I managed to stun and remove from the sand bed. They are living in a cup of tank water at the moment.
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
White Hydroids;
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Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Brown Hydroids;
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Freaky clear ones;
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Uploaded with ImageShack.us
Other;
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. I'm so glad we got rid of them..we were worried!
