Are these hydroids

[Karen00]

Hello fellow saltines,

I just discovered these guys on a tiny dark section of my rock. It's dry rock. They are very tiny. In doing some searches I think they might be hydroids. If they are can I pull the rock and scrub them off. They're kind of pretty and quite hypnotic watching them with my camera zoomed in so I'm hoping they're not. I don't know how they made it into my tank with the aggressive dipping I do on all the corals I add.

 

[Nano sapiens]

Colonial hydroids.

You'll want to scrub them off outside your tank and rinse ALL bits and pieces off thoroughly (they are very highly regenerative!) before putting the rock back.

 

[Karen00]

Colonial hydroids.

You'll want to scrub them off outside your tank and rinse ALL bits and pieces off thoroughly (they are very highly regenerative!) before putting the rock back.

I thought as much. Darn, I was hoping it was a benign hitchhiker. They're cool looking I noticed them awhile ago but didn't really look at them closely. I thought it was an algae patch. Surprisingly they haven't spread from that spot which is about an inch wide. Should I spray the rock with hydrogen peroxide after scrubbing it?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I thought as much. Darn, I was hoping it was a benign hitchhiker. They're cool looking I noticed them awhile ago but didn't really look at them closely. I thought it was an algae patch. Surprisingly they haven't spread from that spot which is about an inch wide. Should I spray the rock with hydrogen peroxide after scrubbing it?

If they haven't spread, you could just leave them...
If you do want to remove, my advice is to chisel off the part of the rock they are on. I had some and pretty much "skinned" the rock in the places the hydroids were, removing a thin layer. That way you don't have to worry about them growing back, and you don't have to kill anything else on the rock.

 

[Karen00]

If they haven't spread, you could just leave them...
If you do want to remove, my advice is to chisel off the part of the rock they are on. I had some and pretty much "skinned" the rock in the places the hydroids were, removing a thin layer. That way you don't have to worry about them growing back, and you don't have to kill anything else on the rock.

Nice, thanks for this! This might be a newbie question but are there non stinging hydroids? I read a bunch of threads about members being stung by these guys so, to test whether they sting, I stuck my finger into the colony (kind of stupid I know) and I didn't get stung so... Are these non-stinging hydroids, or aren't hydroids at all, or I'm immune, or maybe the colony isn't large enough? I'm trying to determine whether I should just leave them or remove them.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Nice, thanks for this! This might be a newbie question but are there non stinging hydroids? I read a bunch of threads about members being stung by these guys so, to test whether they sting, I stuck my finger into the colony (kind of stupid I know) and I didn't get stung so... Are these non-stinging hydroids, or aren't hydroids at all, or I'm immune, or maybe the colony isn't large enough? I'm trying to determine whether I should just leave them or remove them.

It's hard to say... Some people are more sensitive to certain nematocysts than others. I don't get any sting or irritation when I touch my BTAs but I know others do. Aiptasia is another story; I helped someone with a big outbreak and after a few minutes of applying Aiptasia -X (in tank), I definitely felt the sting.

 

[Karen00]

It's hard to say... Some people are more sensitive to certain nematocysts than others. I don't get any sting or irritation when I touch my BTAs but I know others do. Aiptasia is another story; I helped someone with a big outbreak and after a few minutes of applying Aiptasia -X (in tank), I definitely felt the sting.

Thanks. Good to know. I was hoping that because I didn't get stung they weren't hydroids but it might be they don't bother me. I will keep an eye on them to see if they spread. They are pretty (even though I have the white ones) so I would like to keep them if possible.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello fellow saltines,

I just discovered these guys on a tiny dark section of my rock. It's dry rock. They are very tiny. In doing some searches I think they might be hydroids. If they are can I pull the rock and scrub them off. They're kind of pretty and quite hypnotic watching them with my camera zoomed in so I'm hoping they're not. I don't know how they made it into my tank with the aggressive dipping I do on all the corals I add.

Direct water flow towards them, not at them and they should starve

 

[Karen00]

Direct water flow towards them, not at them and they should starve

Thanks! Makes sense and is pretty easy to do.

 

[Ineedtequilla]

I have the same ones, but unfortunately mine have already spread throughout the aquarium, can you tell me if you removed and how or if they bothered corals? thx!