EnderTurtle
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Well I have semi-horrible news.
I've got digitate hydroids. What are digitate hydroids you ask? They're a type of cnidarian like our corals, except they look like a clear worm with little bubbles on the end. During the day they will swing their arm around to filter feed and catch copepods. At night they really go crazy and all of them will extend and sway around, trying to catch prey. Not to be confused with colonial hydroids. Those will kill your tank for sure.
This is what they look like.
How bad are they?
Well there are mixed reviews. Some people have taken down their entire tank, and acid bathed all of their equipment trying to control these. It's also believed that they will kill sps corals, zoanthids, and small benthic fish.
Other people say they are harmless and will not affect corals and will go away. Some people who have followed this idea have let the population of digitate hydroids in their tanks explode.
While some people have noticed that their 20 or 30 digitate hydroids disappeared completely the next day.
I first noticed ONE of these in my tank. It came with a ball of Chaeto algae that I got from a person on reefcentral. I should have crushed this thing with an iron fist that day. But since I wasn't able to find any clues to identify this thing when I googled "white stringy worm in reef tank", I LEFT IT ALONE.
Then a month later there was another digitate hydroid in my tank. I thought oh well theres just one. Now 6 months later there are probably 20 in my display tank. Swaying around. I dont know if I should attack this thing. It doesnt appear to prefer light and does just fine in the dark. That being said, it's probably behind and under my rockwork now. Making me feel that attacking it is pointless now. I should have dropped a nuclear bomb on this thing when there was just one.
The population boom occured about the same time as my 3rd week without water changes. I'll do some nitrate and phosphate tests now.
I don't see any damages to corals but hopefully this doesn't kill my tank. I might quit reefing for a while if it does start bothering my corals.
Feel free to chime in if you have dealt with this or if you know about them.
Also if you notice just one of these in your tank. KILL IT NOW. Cut it at the base and suck it out or take the rock out and blowtorch it. It will save your the worry.
I've got digitate hydroids. What are digitate hydroids you ask? They're a type of cnidarian like our corals, except they look like a clear worm with little bubbles on the end. During the day they will swing their arm around to filter feed and catch copepods. At night they really go crazy and all of them will extend and sway around, trying to catch prey. Not to be confused with colonial hydroids. Those will kill your tank for sure.
This is what they look like.
How bad are they?
Well there are mixed reviews. Some people have taken down their entire tank, and acid bathed all of their equipment trying to control these. It's also believed that they will kill sps corals, zoanthids, and small benthic fish.
Other people say they are harmless and will not affect corals and will go away. Some people who have followed this idea have let the population of digitate hydroids in their tanks explode.
While some people have noticed that their 20 or 30 digitate hydroids disappeared completely the next day.
I first noticed ONE of these in my tank. It came with a ball of Chaeto algae that I got from a person on reefcentral. I should have crushed this thing with an iron fist that day. But since I wasn't able to find any clues to identify this thing when I googled "white stringy worm in reef tank", I LEFT IT ALONE.
Then a month later there was another digitate hydroid in my tank. I thought oh well theres just one. Now 6 months later there are probably 20 in my display tank. Swaying around. I dont know if I should attack this thing. It doesnt appear to prefer light and does just fine in the dark. That being said, it's probably behind and under my rockwork now. Making me feel that attacking it is pointless now. I should have dropped a nuclear bomb on this thing when there was just one.
The population boom occured about the same time as my 3rd week without water changes. I'll do some nitrate and phosphate tests now.
I don't see any damages to corals but hopefully this doesn't kill my tank. I might quit reefing for a while if it does start bothering my corals.
Feel free to chime in if you have dealt with this or if you know about them.
Also if you notice just one of these in your tank. KILL IT NOW. Cut it at the base and suck it out or take the rock out and blowtorch it. It will save your the worry.
they're like 1-1.5"
