Tiny white/translucent tentacled tubes on live rock

MarkyMark_ · Jan 20, 2021

Hey all, I am a brand new reefer and have just set up my first reef tank (WB Cube 20). I picked up some live rock from a local reefer to help seed the tank and after a couple days I have noticed there are these tiny white, translucent fans/tentacles sprouting out of tubes stuck to some of the rock (about 1-3mm in length). I have been searching high and low for a definitive answer as to what they are. I have a hunch they are some form of hydroid, although I really hope not. I stuck a clothes hanger in my tank to prod them and the tentacled portion closes up when touched then immediately re-opens. If they are indeed some type of pest what are my options? As of right now I have no livestock in my tank. Attached are a couple pictures, I did the best I could given the size of these things. Thank you for you time!

Ta2oodfreak · Jan 20, 2021

Looks like aiptasia.
Spot treat them with aiptasia X and you should be good.

Rubymoon286 · Jan 20, 2021

+1 for Aiptasia - if aiptasia x doesn't do it, you can inject kalk or lemon juice into the foot. At this size, I usually have success with aipasia x

Hasted · Jan 20, 2021

Appear to be hydroids.

hydroids, or something else?

This is a tough one. The way they are stretched out does make it look like a species of soft bodied hydroids but I don't think that is actually the case. They also don't look like any of the more common strains of aiptasia. The 2 strains I've had both would get over 1" across on the disc and...

www.reef2reef.com

We went through some discussions here that went back and forth between hydroids and aiptasia. Feel free to browse this thread and check out all the threads that were linked in there.

MarkyMark_ · Jan 20, 2021

I have another piece of rock that is covered in these. A least 2 dozen of them on a 2lb rock. Is it feasible to spot kill every single tiny aiptasia in this manner or do I have other options?

EDIT: Looks like the verdict is still out on what these are

JGT · Jan 20, 2021

Hydroids.

Ntimm · Jan 20, 2021

Aiptasia. A few peppermint shrimp should take care of it.

Hasted · Jan 20, 2021

@SHNICI opinion?

MarkyMark_ · Jan 20, 2021

Seems like a mixed consensus. I have been looking into peppermint shrimp as a potential solution. Does anyone have experience using this method?

Ta2oodfreak · Jan 20, 2021

I had a bunch of aiptasia in my tank. Between spot treatment and a peppermint shrimp haven't seen one in months.

Mterry9239 · Jan 25, 2021

+1 aiptasia. Had these very things on live rock and 2 pieces of coral. Bought aiptasia x, dosed according to instructions and bye bye. That stuff worked great for me. Best to catch them small before they become very hardy and take over

MohrReefs · Jan 25, 2021

Looks like droids to me. Aiptasia doesn't have a protruding mouth like those do.

MarkyMark_ · Jan 25, 2021

Still after many days I don't have a definite answer as to what these are they don't seem to be spreading although the aren't dieing. Seeing as I have no livestock in my tank, I have been considering raising the temperature drastically to kill everything in the tank(minus bacteria which I read can be fine all the way up to 100 degrees)

Can anyone with more experience tell me if this would work or if I should avoid such drastic measures. Hopefully #reefsquad can help!

MohrReefs · Jan 25, 2021

M.X. said:
Still after many days I don't have a definite answer as to what these are they don't seem to be spreading although the aren't dieing. Seeing as I have no livestock in my tank, I have been considering raising the temperature drastically to kill everything in the tank(minus bacteria which I read can be fine all the way up to 100 degrees)

Can anyone with more experience tell me if this would work or if I should avoid such drastic measures. Hopefully #reefsquad can help!

If its droids theyll clear up on their own iirc. I just got rid of so much aiptasia in my tank that I can pick that stuff out no problem. My vote stands on hydroids.

Either way, the solution will not be increasing your tank temp. Thats very drastic and probably unnecessary.

Reefahholic · Jan 26, 2021

I don’t believe it’s Aiptasia and as small as they are it won’t be a problem for a while if it turns out to be a problem at all. It could be filter feeders in the live rock. No need to worry about something that is not causing problems yet. Live rock will have more critters than that. If you’re that worried, just pull it and start with dry rock.