Grayish stringy organism hurting my corals

[L0b0sa08]

Hello everyone,
Below are two pictures of this stringy grayish thing on some of my corals that seems to be bothering them. ZOA colony, etc. I have coral dipped this colony twice and even scrubbed it and this stuff doesn’t seem to fully go away. And I’m starting to see it on other corals. Help!! Do I continue to dip? Does anyone know what this is and how to get rid of it properly? Thank you!

 

[griss]

I can’t tell from the pictures what you are talking about????

 

[griss]

Zooming in, I see what appears to be some string/hair/turf algae strands. Other than that, I don’t see anything unusual.

 

[L0b0sa08]

Zooming in, I see what appears to be some string/hair/turf algae strands. Other than that, I don’t see anything unusual.

Yes that’s the stuff and it seems to be irritating the corals. Any advice? Or nothing to be concerned about??? Seems to really bother my Zoas. Thank you!!

 

[griss]

Have you eliminated other possibilities like water parameters?

I can’t really tell what type of algae it might be. Manual removal or dipping in a separate container with a reef safe algaecide maybe.

 

[reefing102]

I don’t believe that should be bothering your zoas. I do see what appears to be the tip of a vermetid snail (which releases stringy filaments when feeding and could possibly irritate coral. See red circle below:

Also please be careful scrubbing zoanthids. Some (possibly all) can contain palytoxin which can cause serious health effects if proper procedures aren’t considered.

 

[griss]

I don’t believe that should be bothering your zoas.

I agree.

I do see what appears to be the tip of a vermetid snail (which releases stringy filaments when feeding and could possibly irritate coral. See red circle below:

Your eyes are better than mine ETA, I have/had several Vermatids that were pestering my corals. I blocked their opening with Super Glue Gel and that seems to kill them off.

Also please be careful scrubbing zoanthids. Some (possibly all) can contain palytoxin which can cause serious health effects if proper procedures aren’t considered.

This times a billion. Nitrile gloves, eye protection and a mask. Make sure to wash thoroughly after doing so.

 

[L0b0sa08]

That stringy stuff previously presented in the photos is starting to grow more around the zoas and seems to be keeping them closed. Are we sure this isn’t something to be concerned about?

 

[griss]

That stringy stuff previously presented in the photos is starting to grow more around the zoas and seems to be keeping them closed. Are we sure this isn’t something to be concerned about?

I'm still thinking something else is affecting them Zoas. In the past, I've had hair algae and Bryopsis growing like crazy out of Zoa colonies with no affect on them opening. This one is interesting. Can you get another close up picture of the stringy stuff since you said it's grown.

 

[L0b0sa08]

I'm still thinking something else is affecting them Zoas. In the past, I've had hair algae and Bryopsis growing like crazy out of Zoa colonies with no affect on them opening. This one is interesting. Can you get another close up picture of the stringy stuff since you said it's grown.

Hello! Here are two more closeups. Let me know what you think! Thank you!

 

[griss]

I’m still thinking it’s an algae. @kharmaguru any thoughts on this one?

 

[kharmaguru]

I’m still thinking it’s an algae. @kharmaguru any thoughts on this one?

Ya probably algae. Peroxide dip because you'll likely never tweezer it out. I personally spray zoas directly with a peroxide squirt bottle (3%), sit 2 minutes and return, but if you want to play it safer you can use Justincredibles's guide. They will be PO'd for a while either way.

Hydrogen Peroxide Dip Killed a lot of my frags!... Different strength okay?

 

[L0b0sa08]

Ya probably algae. Peroxide dip because you'll likely never tweezer it out. I personally spray zoas directly with a peroxide squirt bottle (3%), sit 2 minutes and return, but if you want to play it safer you can use Justincredibles's guide. They will be PO'd for a while either way.

Hydrogen Peroxide Dip Killed a lot of my frags!... Different strength okay?

Thank you guys so much for your advice!!

 

[shred5]

The hair like things look like it might be some type of hydroid. Hard to tell from the picture.

Also the thing circled could be a vermited snail.

 

[griss]

The hair like things look like it might be some type of hydroid. Hard to tell from the picture.

Also the thing circled could be a vermited snail.

Hydroids would explain the reaction of the Zoas for sure.