Digitate hydroids

[Pyro22]

I read somewhere that Digitate hydroids are reef-safish and should be watched. I have a bunch of them in my tank.

can they be bad?

Also I have these little critters that I'm not sure what they are. Cant find a pic of them either. They are tiny maybe 2mm long. they have big eyes and their bodies when moving look like a tail, but when they are still they coil the tail up. any idea?
They seem to be in the hundreds and I dont know if they are bad.

 

[Paintbug]

Re: Digitate hydroids

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6680719#post6680719 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Pyro22
I read somewhere that Digitate hydroids are reef-safish and should be watched. I have a bunch of them in my tank.

can they be bad?

Also I have these little critters that I'm not sure what they are. Cant find a pic of them either. They are tiny maybe 2mm long. they have big eyes and their bodies when moving look like a tail, but when they are still they coil the tail up. any idea?
They seem to be in the hundreds and I dont know if they are bad.

the hydroids can spread quickly, and they will sting corals. so make your own judgement on their removal .

your creatures sound like Amphipods. prefectly fine to have. my fish love them. heres some info:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rs/index.php

 

[WaterKeeper]

Digitate Hydroids infesting the Newbie forum?

For the rest of you newbies they are baby jellyfish. Anyhow, there are some bad actors in this group but most tank environments are hostile to their survival and they tend to die out, given some time. Using a simple canister filter with a polishing cartridge will almost always speed their demise. Just watch that you don't have one that likes your tanks chemistry and starts to breed.

More Info Hydrozoa.

 

[Pyro22]

WaterKeeper- I hope this dont sound stupid but what is a simple canister filter??

right now I have approx 10-15 in my tank. I think they are kinda cool to watch, sux that they are bad.

 

[Pyro22]

paintbug- I have Amphipods in my tank. I have had them for some time. unless these are babies then there not Amphipods.

these little things are new to my tank. I purchased a coral 2 weeks ago, maybe they are hitchhikers. lets hope there are dont harm anything.

 

[Paintbug]

they could be baby amphipods, have them from a few mm to 1/2". do the eyes glow red or orange? they could be baby mysis shrimps as well.

 

[WaterKeeper]

Pyro,

Any type of power filter like a Magnum 350 is a canister. They use those pleated filters than can trap pretty small particles. As most hydroids have a free swimming stage the filter catches them as they are not very strong in their swimming ability. Of course, if they are not very motile then a turkey baster can often be used to suck them out if you only have a few. It depends on how firmly they are attached to the substrate.

In many cases most hitchhikers are not a problem. Unless you see definite signs of problems I would tend not to worry. See this months feature article in [rk] for a battle against an unwanted species. Just don't do it right now as it appears that RK has a malfunction. :eek1:

 

[Pyro22]

Thanks for the info.