colonial hydroids?

I suppose it depends on what you mean by "proof". There are quite a few threads on Reef Central regarding their effects on tanks so I suppose it's up to the individual to make the decision as to whether or not they want to go through the trouble of erradicating them. There is proof that they will devestate seahorse fry so if that's something you're doing, then you definitely need to get rid of them.

 

I have only seen them once in the display tank where I used to work. They did seem to grow rather fast and did attach to one of the SPS coral that was on the rock and killed it. It seemed to attack the SPS piece and wipe it out in a few days (was alive on Sunday when I worked and covered by that Sat) That rock did seem like it had hybroids on it for a while before it actually got out of control, but it seemed when it started to grow it grew fast

I removed all the corals that was on the rock that had not been stung or affected yet, put them in another tank to make sure they did not have anythign and took the whole rock out and placed it outside in the sun. After a few days of that the hybroids was just a dead pile...then we bleached the rock out.

 

Hey ya'
From what I know you guys have to be careful because they can really sting, so as I always re-iterate, please use gloves and don't touch them with your bare hand. I have a friend who has a 100g and it started out tiny and after a year they covered about 70% of his tank.

From what I know, I agree with amcarri and I would try using kalk. This is what I would do.... after mixing the kalk with tank water, make sure it's a thick paste, then you can use a turkey baster and then cover them with it.

My friend actually removed the rock and used a brush to scrub them off the rock. He just wanted to make sure, so he placed it in RO water in a covered container for about a month.... and another month in a covered container with salt water. Of course, this killed the whole rock.

Btw.hydroids are not a worm, but are related to jellyfish. They are only on the outside of the rock and are attached to it by stolans which will look like roots that spread out across the rock or whatever they are attached to.
Sometimes they don't affect soft corals but since they spread like crazy, they will be competing for space... but I did hear about it killing sps corals and xenia.

If you don't have that many, then removing the rock is a bit extreme and is probably not appropriate... that's just a worst case scenario
Just gotta watch out that you don't get it all over the place, so it doesn't affect the other corals.
Good luck.... I will be following this thread!

 

Keep us posted... !!!

 

Hmmm...if I was to break them off of the rock will they spread? I will be upgrading to a larger tank soon (within the week) and I have to remove the rock anyway. I figure since it is out of the tank I might as well break them off the rock.

 

Just to make sure i understand this right turkey baste the rock while its still in the water? and that shouldnt hurt anything i hope...i have two cromies and a skunk shrimp also in the tank.

 

No you dont want to do it with a turkey baster, too hard to control the flow....whatever other corals the kalk can get on will be killed. You want to make a kalk paste, have it thick enough to spread but thin enough to draw it up.

TURN OFF ALL PUMPS AND FLOW TO THE TANK!

If you can get the rock out of the tank it is the easiest, and you dont have to turn off the pumps. Then you will have to smear the paste all over the hydroids. Then leave the rock out of the tank for about 20 min to allow the paste to dry and then put it back in the tank

If you cant get it out of the tank, then I use a syringe without a needle on it. You can use a small medicine dropper (infant). I try to move any of the corals around it, esp under where I am treating. Then suck up the kalk paste and slowly apply it all over the rock that is infected. I leave my pumps off for about 30 minutes so that the paste dries before turning it back on.

You probably do want to do a small section at a time, and do it over a couple days if the area is large as the kalk can affect pH and kH

 

Ive had some on a piece if LR for about 6 months now and they havnt done anything yet - they are tiny..