Hydroids are pretty ubiquitous creatures that easily hide away on frags (the colonial ones people have trouble with). The problem with them is that they're very enigmatic. In most cases, they melt or don't really grow in someone's tank, but in tanks they like they reproduce at a blistering and uncontrollable rate. The only real way to "beat" them if they grow well in your tank is a never ending manual removal cycle, restarting the tank, or some butterflyfish are known to munch them (especially the less reef safe ones)
Yeah, like all hitchhikers, they have to be introduced somehow - they can come in as polyps or medusae (think pod-sized jellyfish).
Agreed with hydroids:
I've heard smothering the hydroids with kalk paste may work, but here are some other threads with suggestions that might be helpful:
Hydroids: a reference to some strategies
Like many of us, I have had problems on and off over the years with Hydroids. The ones that have always given me the most problems are the common ones that almost look like a smaller and darker version of the beginner coral called Yellow Polyps. But the colonial Hydroid is much smaller than...www.reef2reef.com
Hydroids - How do I eliminate- They have taken over my tank
So I have this stuff that has pretty much taken over my tank and I can't get rid of it. I'm looking for an ID and an eradication plan that is anything short of a total teardown.
These may help:
Edit: A relevant link in post 7 of the link above:Fenbendazole dip for blue clove polyp/hydroids.
FYI So I had more than few blue clove and what i believe are hydroids pop up on a few frags and start spreading in the frag system. I didn't want to start out treating the whole system so I picked the most populated frags to treat. I mixed 1/4 gram of Fenbendazole with 1 cup of saltwater as a...
Here it is! Fenbendazole use against hydroids
Hi all! Well after getting a lot of questions about the use of fenbendazol I figured I would write this up. This is for informational purposes and I will not be held liable for improper use. Fenbendazol must be used exactly as I instruct or run the risk of a tank crash. Now lets get to it! So...
we had them on live rock and removed them manually by scraping off ,I did hear that it's more of a new tank thing which ours was not had them since which was around 9 years ago now .
Ahh, got ya! So, if they come in on coral frags, will dipping the coral get rid of them? I always dip corals before they go in my tank.
No. Nothing short of manually removing the hydroids and their "roots" will get rid of them (for colonial hydroids, that is)
Got ya! So something to keep a serious eye out for. Thank you
