What are these on my snail?!

[DothanReefer]

just noticed these on one of my new astarea star snails from WWC. What are they?

 

[Crabs McJones]

Hydroids

 

[DothanReefer]

Hydroids

What is that? Good or bad? Should I remove the snail?

 

[andrewey]

They're neutral. Assuming you're not running a seahorse tank, they're common in the first year of a setup. They'll likely spread (they almost certainly have already), but they go away on their own within a year or so. Pretty fascinating creatures. Some try and actively remove them, but most are unsucsessful. I've had them in the first year of most of my tanks without any issues to my coral or other inverts. If you are running a seahorse tank or some other specific sensitive animals, then they can be bad news.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Agree with above. They die out eventually.

 

[DothanReefer]

They're neutral. Assuming you're not running a seahorse tank, they're common in the first year of a setup. They'll likely spread (they almost certainly have already), but they go away on their own within a year or so. Pretty fascinating creatures. Some try and actively remove them, but most are unsucsessful. I've had them in the first year of most of my tanks without any issues to my coral or other inverts. If you are running a seahorse tank or some other specific sensitive animals, then they can be bad news.

Thanks for the input. No seahorses here, just regular ol mixed reef. Guess I'll just leave them be if they won't hurt the corals. Thanks again!!