daniloronchi
Member
As I have this big problem to my tank, I've written an article about it. So I hope to be useful by sharing with you, and maybe someone of you know something about this pest.
Thanks a lot.
The Myrionema amboinense (also known as amboeniensis) is an hydroid, order od hydrozoa, originating in the Atlantic West, first discovered in 1893 by Pictet. For us it has become sadly important since it is characterized as one of the worst pests in the aquarium.
Myrionema in all their glory
Struggle for survival between Myrionema and Pocillopora
Biologically part of Anthoathecata (or Anthomedusae), the alternative Filifera, and Family Eudendriidae (even if the catalogs fishbase.org as Pandeidae), generally occurs naturally in an environment with Pelagic Subtropical climate.
The hydroids are generally small predators most present in sea water, and often are similar to coral, because that besides having a primitive digestive system and therefore the possibility of feeding directly into the water, they can have algae symbionts upon them, the zooxhantelle, that provide feeding for each other. In short, the Myrionema are animals perfect.
The biggest problem is that at first sight, unless you know them, they seem very cool, a shiny brown algae that brighten our aquarium with their movement according with the flow created by our movement pumps. Unfortunately, if the conditions are optimal for them, and fortunately they are not in all cases, they proliferate and there are no foolproof methods to remove them. The mechanical removal is never enough to stop them, as soon they’ll cover the area again.
Why are so dangerous?
Myrionema hasn’t poison and do not sting and they’re easily removed from the water, so why are so dangerous? Because in some tanks with a strong light, they tend to proliferate because of their fast growth and unstoppable. As you can see from the photos, thanks to the small size will fit into each hole and so they cover the light for our living coral that are forced to bleach.
The corals most annoyed by this hidroid are obviously sps corals and lps, because Myrionema grows on their skeleton. The soft corals are less susceptible to this scourge as they does not provide climbing path for hydrozoa.
The mechanical removal is the quickest route to take care of large areas colonized by these bodies, to do that I use a forceps that helps me in the snatch them at the root. The mechanical removal would be beneficial because once snatched the stolon should no longer be able to colonize the environment. The problem is that if it remains just a piece of microscopic root, a new stolon originates from this and again.
The Possible Remedies
Over time I tried it on my tank several possible remedies, I contacted and read son many articles and forum and I contacted also Anthony Calfo on wetwebmedia.
Unfortunately, all that came out is that there is, to date, no method known for their full and safe removal, but many are the testimonies of aquarium keeper that have destroyed and dismantled the entire tank to eliminate them.
But I must admit that not all the tanks are behaving the same way, there are tanks where they don’t proliferate, and therefore they’re not a threat at least in the short term.
Calfo suggested me to maintain a low level of nutrients, which I have done for a long time but without any tangible result, reaching even to the suffering of the corals themselves for lack of nourishment. The justification was based on what I discovered and I reported in the first lines of this article, the Myrionema as corals feed mainly of light, and then remove the nutrients does not lead to a large benefits if not to kill the corals who want to protect.
Biological Remedies
One of the first remedies mentioned is undoubtedly the sea urchin Salmacis bicolor, also mentioned in an article in the italian magazine “Coralli†a few years ago. In fact, the sea urchin is a good eater of Myrionema, although I could not understand why eating it, if he likes it or if he eats them only when he walks upon them. What I noticed is that if the salmacis walks on a small rock full of Myrionema, he cleans it almost entirely.
So the problem seems quite satisfactorily resolved, however, the sea urchin is by nature extremely slow, and although I had 3 at once in my tank, the Myrionema continued to grow up heedless of this type of threat.
The Diadema setosum is another sea urchin which seems to eat them with the usual care, but even here the problem is always the same, the sea urchin is too slow, and among other things he can not go into all the holes where myrionema live.
Predators Fish
I’ve collected many experiences of fish eating them, but there is no way to know if a fish can eat them before putting in our tank. The family of fish most represented in this context are the Angels.
Since the problem of Myrionema is more belonged to sps and lps tanks, as mentioned above, is not always possible and safe to put one or more angel fish in our aquarium, so the preferred fish into this family are certainly the Centropyge.
Asking the italian and world aquarium community I discovered that the angels that have a high probability to eat Myrionema and are sufficiently reef-safe are two, the Centropyge acanthops and Centropyge loriculus. If you are fortunate enough to find one that eating it with appetite you’ll find your tank free of infestation in relatively short time.
I have one acanthops in my tank for a long time now, but he never showed interest in these hydrozos.
The Pomacanthus imperator is the last angel referred to eat them, but he it’s a challenge to try to put into our tank, for his size and for eating habits.
Dolabella auricolaria is so far the most effective remedy found, and the animal with the highest probability of total and definitive removal. Anyone who has putted a Dolabella in his aquarium has been pleased with the results, because all this snails, more or less, work to remove the Myrionema. In my tank, I had an optimal result at the beginning, where it seemed they were completely gone and where they remained only in the central part of my tank where the flow was increased, then maybe thanks to a new pump, the Dolabella stopped to eat with continuity and you can see the result from photos of this article, although I must point out that the tank has been abandoned to itself without removing Myrionema in order to complete this review for about fifteen days.
But I’m sure I will buy several one, in the hope that all together and with the competition, I can take away from this impasse.
Impossible Remedies
I found that someone think to use a nudibranchia Pterolidia against myrionema, but in Italy is virtually impossible to buy one, and there is no evidence that will eat them really, but many think that could do it because it feeds on other hydrozoans much like Myrionema.
Remedies partially useful
As written, the Myrionema are dependent almost entirely from light, and then a remedy may be to hold one aluminum foil over them to block the light. This may be sufficient only if there is a small portion to be covered and in any case is not safe in the long run, then I do not recommend it.
Some suggested the use of Joes Juice and bicomponent epoxy glue, but given the nature of the fight is not important to clean a small area, because thanks to their speed of propagation they colonize the area again from a neighboring one.
The use of the product Zeospur2 helps bring down the grow of Myrionema leaving only the main stolon after dosing it, but over time has proved fallacious because the animal regrows before a subsequent dose, and in any case not all Myrionema are killed.
It ‘obvious that the synergy of biological and chemical methods can lead to important results in the fight against this hydroid.
Conclusions
So I hope with this article to have given some possible remedy and awareness of the existence of this animal, so if you see him on a small rock in your aquarium you know how to react … immediately removing the rock … if you have them into your tank, but they had not proliferate… you are very lucky and you should take biological countermeasures before it is too late.
You can see all the pictures here: http://www.danireef.com/2009/01/13/myrionema-amboinense/#emyrionema
Thanks a lot.
The Myrionema amboinense (also known as amboeniensis) is an hydroid, order od hydrozoa, originating in the Atlantic West, first discovered in 1893 by Pictet. For us it has become sadly important since it is characterized as one of the worst pests in the aquarium.
Myrionema in all their glory
Struggle for survival between Myrionema and Pocillopora
Biologically part of Anthoathecata (or Anthomedusae), the alternative Filifera, and Family Eudendriidae (even if the catalogs fishbase.org as Pandeidae), generally occurs naturally in an environment with Pelagic Subtropical climate.
The hydroids are generally small predators most present in sea water, and often are similar to coral, because that besides having a primitive digestive system and therefore the possibility of feeding directly into the water, they can have algae symbionts upon them, the zooxhantelle, that provide feeding for each other. In short, the Myrionema are animals perfect.
The biggest problem is that at first sight, unless you know them, they seem very cool, a shiny brown algae that brighten our aquarium with their movement according with the flow created by our movement pumps. Unfortunately, if the conditions are optimal for them, and fortunately they are not in all cases, they proliferate and there are no foolproof methods to remove them. The mechanical removal is never enough to stop them, as soon they’ll cover the area again.
Why are so dangerous?
Myrionema hasn’t poison and do not sting and they’re easily removed from the water, so why are so dangerous? Because in some tanks with a strong light, they tend to proliferate because of their fast growth and unstoppable. As you can see from the photos, thanks to the small size will fit into each hole and so they cover the light for our living coral that are forced to bleach.
The corals most annoyed by this hidroid are obviously sps corals and lps, because Myrionema grows on their skeleton. The soft corals are less susceptible to this scourge as they does not provide climbing path for hydrozoa.
The mechanical removal is the quickest route to take care of large areas colonized by these bodies, to do that I use a forceps that helps me in the snatch them at the root. The mechanical removal would be beneficial because once snatched the stolon should no longer be able to colonize the environment. The problem is that if it remains just a piece of microscopic root, a new stolon originates from this and again.
The Possible Remedies
Over time I tried it on my tank several possible remedies, I contacted and read son many articles and forum and I contacted also Anthony Calfo on wetwebmedia.
Unfortunately, all that came out is that there is, to date, no method known for their full and safe removal, but many are the testimonies of aquarium keeper that have destroyed and dismantled the entire tank to eliminate them.
But I must admit that not all the tanks are behaving the same way, there are tanks where they don’t proliferate, and therefore they’re not a threat at least in the short term.
Calfo suggested me to maintain a low level of nutrients, which I have done for a long time but without any tangible result, reaching even to the suffering of the corals themselves for lack of nourishment. The justification was based on what I discovered and I reported in the first lines of this article, the Myrionema as corals feed mainly of light, and then remove the nutrients does not lead to a large benefits if not to kill the corals who want to protect.
Biological Remedies
One of the first remedies mentioned is undoubtedly the sea urchin Salmacis bicolor, also mentioned in an article in the italian magazine “Coralli†a few years ago. In fact, the sea urchin is a good eater of Myrionema, although I could not understand why eating it, if he likes it or if he eats them only when he walks upon them. What I noticed is that if the salmacis walks on a small rock full of Myrionema, he cleans it almost entirely.
So the problem seems quite satisfactorily resolved, however, the sea urchin is by nature extremely slow, and although I had 3 at once in my tank, the Myrionema continued to grow up heedless of this type of threat.
The Diadema setosum is another sea urchin which seems to eat them with the usual care, but even here the problem is always the same, the sea urchin is too slow, and among other things he can not go into all the holes where myrionema live.
Predators Fish
I’ve collected many experiences of fish eating them, but there is no way to know if a fish can eat them before putting in our tank. The family of fish most represented in this context are the Angels.
Since the problem of Myrionema is more belonged to sps and lps tanks, as mentioned above, is not always possible and safe to put one or more angel fish in our aquarium, so the preferred fish into this family are certainly the Centropyge.
Asking the italian and world aquarium community I discovered that the angels that have a high probability to eat Myrionema and are sufficiently reef-safe are two, the Centropyge acanthops and Centropyge loriculus. If you are fortunate enough to find one that eating it with appetite you’ll find your tank free of infestation in relatively short time.
I have one acanthops in my tank for a long time now, but he never showed interest in these hydrozos.
The Pomacanthus imperator is the last angel referred to eat them, but he it’s a challenge to try to put into our tank, for his size and for eating habits.
Dolabella auricolaria is so far the most effective remedy found, and the animal with the highest probability of total and definitive removal. Anyone who has putted a Dolabella in his aquarium has been pleased with the results, because all this snails, more or less, work to remove the Myrionema. In my tank, I had an optimal result at the beginning, where it seemed they were completely gone and where they remained only in the central part of my tank where the flow was increased, then maybe thanks to a new pump, the Dolabella stopped to eat with continuity and you can see the result from photos of this article, although I must point out that the tank has been abandoned to itself without removing Myrionema in order to complete this review for about fifteen days.
But I’m sure I will buy several one, in the hope that all together and with the competition, I can take away from this impasse.
Impossible Remedies
I found that someone think to use a nudibranchia Pterolidia against myrionema, but in Italy is virtually impossible to buy one, and there is no evidence that will eat them really, but many think that could do it because it feeds on other hydrozoans much like Myrionema.
Remedies partially useful
As written, the Myrionema are dependent almost entirely from light, and then a remedy may be to hold one aluminum foil over them to block the light. This may be sufficient only if there is a small portion to be covered and in any case is not safe in the long run, then I do not recommend it.
Some suggested the use of Joes Juice and bicomponent epoxy glue, but given the nature of the fight is not important to clean a small area, because thanks to their speed of propagation they colonize the area again from a neighboring one.
The use of the product Zeospur2 helps bring down the grow of Myrionema leaving only the main stolon after dosing it, but over time has proved fallacious because the animal regrows before a subsequent dose, and in any case not all Myrionema are killed.
It ‘obvious that the synergy of biological and chemical methods can lead to important results in the fight against this hydroid.
Conclusions
So I hope with this article to have given some possible remedy and awareness of the existence of this animal, so if you see him on a small rock in your aquarium you know how to react … immediately removing the rock … if you have them into your tank, but they had not proliferate… you are very lucky and you should take biological countermeasures before it is too late.
You can see all the pictures here: http://www.danireef.com/2009/01/13/myrionema-amboinense/#emyrionema
