digitate hydroids? Please tell me i am wrong!

[boeingn747]

The last couple days I have found these white string/worm looking things hanging from the rock. I have seen them before but yesterday noticed one was shot and then long. I touched it with a needle and it retracted. After looking over the entire tank (75) I can count a half dozen or so similar of different sizes around the tank. What really has me concerned is that there is one hanging out from a colony of zoas and I have noticed that the surrounding zoas seem irritated and partially closed. Kind of like when an aptasia starts to poke out between a group of zoas. I need to get a positive ID so I can get them out or stop worrying.

 

[GillMeister]

That doesn't really look like a digitate hydroid. Too thick, and digitate hydroids have tiny nodules along their length.

 

[boeingn747]

That doesn't really look like a digitate hydroid. Too thick, and digitate hydroids have tiny nodules along their length.

So, i will say that the picture if it are about half way retracted and fully retracted. It gets about twice as long as the longest pic that I posed. It's much thinner when it is fully stretched out. I will try to get a photo of it fully stretched.

 

[boeingn747]

That doesn't really look like a digitate hydroid. Too thick, and digitate hydroids have tiny nodules along their length.

Does it look like any type of hydroid?

 

[GillMeister]

Maybe colonial hydroids? Look up some images online and see if that matches what you have.

 

[GillMeister]

So, i will say that the picture if it are about half way retracted and fully retracted. It gets about twice as long as the longest pic that I posed. It's much thinner when it is fully stretched out. I will try to get a photo of it fully stretched.

If it's a hydroid you'll be able to see it fully extended early in the morning, right as the lights come on.

 

[moz71]

I agree it is not digitate hydroids. Not sure on other types

 

[boeingn747]

Maybe colonial hydroids? Look up some images online and see if that matches what you have.

So I looked at the colonials and it's definitely not those. Here are some other pictures of other ones i have found. Unfortunately these pics just don't do them justice. They flow in the water so it's hard to get a good picture. These may or may not be hydroids of some kind. What I can tell you is they're 100% alive, they retract to almost nothing when touched, and there is one that is irritating a zoa colony. I can see the little white hair flowing and the zoas around it stay (not fully closed but not open either) irritated. The more I look the more I see. If I had to describe it to someone. To me it looks like if a piece of lint, or a cat hair gets into your tank and get stuck to a rock it kind of just blows around but doesn't fall off. Originally that's what I thought it was lol. Until I tried to get it off and it closed up.

 

[boeingn747]

So I looked at the colonials and it's definitely not those. Here are some other pictures of other ones i have found. Unfortunately these pics just don't do them justice. They flow in the water so it's hard to get a good picture. These may or may not be hydroids of some kind. What I can tell you is they're 100% alive, they retract to almost nothing when touched, and there is one that is irritating a zoa colony. I can see the little white hair flowing and the zoas around it stay (not fully closed but not open either) irritated. The more I look the more I see. If I had to describe it to someone. To me it looks like if a piece of lint, or a cat hair gets into your tank and get stuck to a rock it kind of just blows around but doesn't fall off. Originally that's what I thought it was lol. Until I tried to get it off and it closed up.

Some are the same spot with just different movement. And let me be honest in saying that the pictures really don't convey what they look like.

 

[boeingn747]

That doesn't really look like a digitate hydroid. Too thick, and digitate hydroids have tiny nodules along their length.

How about these? Was looking for more to take pics of and saw this rock.

If it's a hydroid you'll be able to see it fully extended early in the morning, right as the lights come on.

 

[GillMeister]

How about these? Was looking for more to take pics of and saw this rock.

I had an outbreak of digitate hydroids and they were not as densely packed as your images indicate. One of the photos does look like digitates but the others really don't scream hydroids to me. I will say this. If it's hydroids you won' get rid of them entirely. You could knock them back with medication but it's as likely to harm the rest of your tank. If i recall correctly, prazipro stunts them a little. I found a six-line wrasse helped get them under control, though that could habe been a secondary effect as the wrasse cut down on the hydroids food source. I only see a few hydroids in my tank in the morning now.

 

[boeingn747]

I had an outbreak of digitate hydroids and they were not as densely packed as your images indicate. One of the photos does look like digitates but the others really don't scream hydroids to me. I will say this. If it's hydroids you won' get rid of them entirely. You could knock them back with medication but it's as likely to harm the rest of your tank. If i recall correctly, prazipro stunts them a little. I found a six-line wrasse helped get them under control, though that could habe been a secondary effect as the wrasse cut down on the hydroids food source. I only see a few hydroids in my tank in the morning now.

Ok. I have a 6 Line in my tank already so hopefully if they are in there he will get them. I am dealing with ich and aptasia, now this. I am in the process of setting up a 40gal hospital tank to qt my fish and allow my tank to go fallow to rid the ich. I have nudibranchs to rid the aptasia, so hopefully you are right and i don't develop another major problem.

 

[GillMeister]

Ok. I have a 6 Line in my tank already so hopefully if they are in there he will get them. I am dealing with ich and aptasia, now this. I am in the process of setting up a 40gal hospital tank to qt my fish and allow my tank to go fallow to rid the ich. I have nudibranchs to rid the aptasia, so hopefully you are right and i don't develop another major problem.

Patience is key. If it's hydroids the problem could get worse before it gets better. It took 6 months for mine to get to the point where it wasn't bothersome. Cut back on feeding a little and let that little wrasse-a-frasse do his thing.