Help id please

[cmsmith88]

I just noticed this fuzzy stuff on this hermit crab shell. Looks like baby aphasia but I'm not sure. I recently did a reboot on my 125 and this little fella is the only one sporting these critters. I kept all my snails and crabs in a 3 week quarantine while doing the reboot and they were clean when I reintroduced them to my dt. Zoom in the pics. Thanks

 

[ying yang]

My guess would be some kind of hydroid

 

[cmsmith88]

My guess would be some kind of hydroid

I did have a small hydroid issue before my reboot but not out of hand. They would cling to the front glass.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

I agree with hydroids. Easy fix as it is on a crab.

Grab a small cup and fill with some tank water
Then grab a toothbrush and small makeup brush (paper towel or qtip will also work)
Grab some hydrogen peroxide
Then grab the hermit, apply some h2o2 via the makeup brush and scrub the shell with the toothbrush.
rinse the crab in the cup of old tank water
Apply a little more h2o2 (again, just dabbing it in) and let it sit for a minute or 2.
rinse crab again and put back in tank.

This will not hurt the crab (or snails) as long as you dab the peroxide on and just dunk it.

 

[tbrown]

+1 colonial hydroids most likely.

 

[cmsmith88]

I agree with hydroids. Easy fix as it is on a crab.

Grab a small cup and fill with some tank water
Then grab a toothbrush and small makeup brush (paper towel or qtip will also work)
Grab some hydrogen peroxide
Then grab the hermit, apply some h2o2 via the makeup brush and scrub the shell with the toothbrush.
rinse the crab in the cup of old tank water
Apply a little more h2o2 (again, just dabbing it in) and let it sit for a minute or 2.
rinse crab again and put back in tank.

This will not hurt the crab (or snails) as long as you dab the peroxide on and just dunk it.

Ok that was my next question. I keep h202 on hand in my arsenal. I went ahead and pulled the crab out before I asked all of you for id. I hope they haven't spread in my dt. So far I've only seen them on the crab shell. Crazy how they stayed dormant in my quarantine tank. Thanks.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Ok that was my next question. I keep h202 on hand in my arsenal. I went ahead and pulled the crab out before I asked all of you for id. I hope they haven't spread in my dt. So far I've only seen them on the crab shell. Crazy how they stayed dormant in my quarantine tank. Thanks.

Hopefully the didn’t, but as long as your tank is somewhat mature and has a good bit of diversity, they should not get out of hand.