Soft hydroids

[RokleM]

I've searched here and on other various sites. Does anyone have a fix for the soft (not hard colonial) hydroids that like to stick directly onto zoa's? I've seen a few reports of possible fixes including melafix, but nothing conclusive.

They are all encrusted frags on disks, so easily removed and treated individually.

Manual removal is not an option. I've done that a couple times and they just come back.

I have melafix, revive, hydrogen peroxide, RO/DI (obviously), and can acquire anything else.

[MUCHO REEF]

Wow, sorry to hear that. Are they fantail or polyp like in structure?

Does it appear to be anywhere in this link?

http://www.google.com/search?q=hydroid+pic&hl=en&rlz=1W1ADRA_en&biw=1024&bih=625&prmd=ivns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=lVg9Tt3aNKKQsQLKxY3EBw&ved=0CBgQsAQ

I have a link somewhere on a cure I read some time ago, I will have to go search and find it.

Also, Fenbendazole, not sure of the spelling, has been used to kill them, but this stuff is very potent and I wouldn't go near it personally.

http://reeftools.com/news/how-to-kill-hydroids/#

I have never had Hydroids but there was something on line somewhere that I read about eradicating them. Geesh, where was it? Will try and find it.

Good luck, sorry I couldn't help more.


Mucho Reef

[RokleM]

Snapped a shot. Some zoa's (like these) are mildly affected, some are mostly closed.

http://mad-skillz.com/aquarium/08.06.2011-1.jpg

[olemiss reb]

peppermint shrimp will control them. I had them pretty bad in my pipefish tank which gets multiple daily feedings of cyclopeeze and ova causing hyroid numbers to explode. I removed the 12 line wrasse from the tank and added a few pepps. The pepps went to town on the hydroids. They are still in the tank but the numbers are drastically diminished. Zoas are not irritated anymore.

These were mine--

http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/ad181/jstari78/DSC_24172.jpg

[RokleM]

That might be worth a try if no one has an out of tank treatment. I can easily get a couple shrimp. Thanks for that info.

Anyone else?

[MUCHO REEF]

Wow, you learn something new everyday, I didn't know Peps would knock of droids. Great post ole miss.

As with any treatment, and I'm sure you already know this, I would manually remove as many as much/many of the droids as possible. If Ole Miss is correct, and I'm sure he is, I'd shoot for a couple of peps and see. Or, remove a small rock with hydroids on them to a small tank or bowl for half a day and place a pep or two inside and see what happens. Just a thought as I hate adding any chemicals if there a predator that will do the work for me.

Either way, good luck and please share the results. I'm gonna save this thread for future reference.

Mucho

[olemiss reb]

Might as well add, these are the zoas today after having pepps in the tank since March. i honestly thought the hydroids were going to wipe them out--
http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/ad181/jstari78/zoafree.jpg?t=1312653873

Before adding pepps, I read that Pteraeolidia ianthina, blue dragon nudi, dine exclusively on hydroids however they seem impossible to obtain outside of the Singapore area.

I also read that giant keyhole limpets, Megathura crenulata, would eat them.

[MikeandNicole]

I have used melafix in the past as a dip to help control them with manual removal (tweezers). I just realized though mine disappeared right around the time I tossed several peps into the tank.

[RokleM]

Added three small pepp's yesterday as well as doing a 20x recommended dip via Revive on one of the frags. We'll see how it goes.

[The Escaped Ape]

I'm having real problems battling a different sort of hydroid right now, the Myrionema variety. Adding a couple of Pteraeolidia ianthina seems to have nothing to help. Occasionally they look like they might be nibbling on the hydroids, but they've had no impact on the coverage. Physical removal is only good for a few days - it's astounding how quickly they grow back.

Finding it very difficult to get hold of Peppermint shrimp in Japan right now, but I wonder if they'd also have a go at Myronemia? Otherwise I might have to banish the affected rocks to the unlit sump for as long as possible and hope that I can keep them under control that way (might be difficult for the rocks with both coral and hydroids though).

For info (not my photo), here is what Myrionema look like.

http://atj.net.au/marineaquaria/Myrionema_sp_60GFOWLR.jpg

[RokleM]

Hard to tell by the picture, but those look visibly much larger than the ones I have. IF peppermints do indeed work for the small ones, they might not work for the large ones. Just like aptasia, once they get big the peppermints may not go anywhere near it.

[A. Grandis]

Try to suck them out when you do water changes, using the tweezers to help.
That way the adults are removed and the shrimps can get the new born ones.

Grandis.

[The Escaped Ape]

Hard to tell by the picture, but those look visibly much larger than the ones I have. IF peppermints do indeed work for the small ones, they might not work for the large ones. Just like aptasia, once they get big the peppermints may not go anywhere near it.

Thank you. I'm looking into other options now (apparently ZeoSpur2 has the side effect of getting rid of them), but will be trying to get a couple of Peppermint shrimp as well for some aiptasia I've got, so I'll also see if they have a go at the hydroids (which are pretty small btw).

[RokleM]

Try to suck them out when you do water changes, using the tweezers to help.
That way the adults are removed and the shrimps can get the new born ones.

Grandis.

They're very small and physically attached to the zoa's. Any suction would grab the zoa's as well. I will however use tweezers in addition to the pepp's and see how the combo works.

Thank you. I'm looking into other options now (apparently ZeoSpur2 has the side effect of getting rid of them), but will be trying to get a couple of Peppermint shrimp as well for some aiptasia I've got, so I'll also see if they have a go at the hydroids (which are pretty small btw).

I have an opinion of the entire ZeoVit product line, but I will keep that to myself :D That being said, I'll look at that product and see what it claims to do and how the side effects may work in our favor.

[The Escaped Ape]

I have an opinion of the entire ZeoVit product line, but I will keep that to myself :D That being said, I'll look at that product and see what it claims to do and how the side effects may work in our favor.

Yeah, I know where you're coming from. I wouldn't be buying it for any reason other than to get rid of the hydroids, as I don't run the ZeoVit system. I'm hoping it wouldn't have a detrimental effect on the tank to dose it a couple of times, which apparently should be enough to get rid of them.

Right now I'm ready to try anything. :headwally:

[Falcao]

be very careful with pulling them off in the tank. If you leave little pieces in the tank I would assume it will spread.

[RokleM]

Looking at that zeo product, looks like it goes through stages of killing a certain percentage of zooxanthellae, allowing for the "pastel sps" look.

[The Escaped Ape]

Looking at that zeo product, looks like it goes through stages of killing a certain percentage of zooxanthellae, allowing for the "pastel sps" look.

Yes, I saw that too. It's making me hesitate, as it apparently therefore puts quite a lot of strain on LPS in the tank.

[RokleM]

Luckily exclusive zoa's right now (and inverts/fish).

[A. Grandis]

They're very small and physically attached to the zoa's. Any suction would grab the zoa's as well. I will however use tweezers in addition to the pepp's and see how the combo works.
...


I meant to suck far from the polyps. Turn off all pumps and siphon after removing them with the tweezers, from their bases, or at least close to their bases. That should prevent them to spread. If you can find a fine tweezers that should be great!

Grandis.

[Jarred1]

What causes hydroids to appear in the reef tank; do they come on a frag or do they come when perimeters are out of line?

[RokleM]

Bayer bug treatment MIGHT be the answer. I dipped one colony before I left SC. I will see how it's doing when I get back.

However, do not rush out and do this without major reading. This is super nasty stuff and apparently attacks the nervous system. You have to rinse very well before it enters the tank again. 1ml in 1/4 gallon of water and a 3" bristle was going into what I could only describe as an "invert seizure".... violently twitching and folding on itself like I've never seen (which isn't a surprise given it's attacking the nervous system).

[MUCHO REEF]

Any updates?

[RokleM]

Bayer did indeed have an impact on them, however did not eradicate. I have been traveling, so I tried a dip on the other frags I hadn't dipped yet last weekend and will continue to monitor their progress.

My hunch is a mixture of dip and manual will be the eventual fix.

[impur]

Any update on this?

[RokleM]

Dip hurt them, but didn't wipe them out.

[The Escaped Ape]

For everyone's information on my version of hydroids (and apologies for hijacking the thread slightly here), Zeospur2 did nothing. They shrivelled for a day or two and then looked happy again soon. The ZS2 did however pale out some of my zoas and killed off one tiny SPS frag I had. I'm now going for the cooking rock in the dark for months approach. It seems to have worked, but of course I won't know until I put the rock back in the tank and see if anything pops out...

[spieszak]

I don't have any good information except for a hint on where you might search for answers. The SH folks (especially dwarf seahorses) are specifically paranoid about hydriods (for good reason). Might be worth posting over on their forum, or adding seahorse to your search terms to see if anyone has some ideas on what might help.

[impur]

I have recently been dipping zoas in Melafix to see if it has any effect on the hydroids. I know it won't harm the zoas, so I have been doing 1/2 capful of Melafix in 1/4 gal of tank water for 10 min. It kills the larger hydroids. After about 24 hours the polyps are gone leaving just the stalks. I don't know if the stalks can regrow a new polyp though. At least its progress. I've had these buggers for 7 years now and I am going all out on them. If I cannot rid my tank of them, i will be tearing it down completely which I REALLY do no want to do.

I also have an email in to Carol Keen who created the product Hydroxs. I hope to be able to use this product as a dip, then move the coral to a new hydroid free tank.

Another option I am exploring is hydrogen peroxide. I know people are now dosing this in their display tanks to get rid of bubble algae and dinos, and it is very harmful to hydroids. It would be great if just doing a dosing regimine of hydrogen peroxide could wipe out my hydroids.

[650-IS350]

I dip em in HP then use tweezers to pluck them off

[impur]

I have too many to use tweezers unfortunately. What solution HP did you use? Do you think the HP kills them?

[650-IS350]

I just leave them them for 5-10 mins... I use up to 50% water/HP mix but potential to kill the polyps is there.

[impur]

Yah....i'm dipping some radioactive dragon eyes first since they grow so fast and are so available.

Thanks for the info.

[SushiGirl]

Any updates on the hydrogen peroxide dips that were tried? I have the very fine hydroids like Rokle plus digitate hydroids & am trying to transfer some corals from the reef tank with them to a clean coral growout tank, with a 10 gallon coral QT tank in between in which I can ensure treatment works before introduction into the new tank.

I cruised the seahorse forum & they all recommend a dewormer that is not reef safe, as it stays in the rock/frags for a long time, continuing to kill some inverts. I'm not looking to use any kind of lingering insecticides.

There is no way that I can sit with tweezers and a magnifying glass for hours trying to pull these off #1 because I had back surgery a little over a week ago, #2 because I only have 2 hands, and #3 because they are so very tiny & whispy.

Corals we specifically want to move are one frag of zoas, a frag of clove polyps, frag-plug sized chalice, a single eye can, a couple of bird's nest SPS, and a small piece of monti cap from a larger piece that really needs some saving.

I've also had a hard time in the past finding proper dilution numbers on the forums, so that would be helpful. With critters I can guess by them falling off, not so with hydroids.

Any help would be appreciated.

[impur]

I am using Hydroxs as a dip and its been very effective. I do 2 dips a week apart, I dip them for about 30min and pick off what I can see while in the dip. Then I am trasferring the corals to a biocube I setup and treated with Hydroxs to make sure there were no hydroids to start wiith. I've done about 8 zoa colonies, a monti digi, a green slimer, and a platygyra so far and they take it fine.

[SushiGirl]

Thanks for the response! What ratio of peroxide to tanks water are you using?

[impur]

I am not using peroxide. Using a product called Hydroxs.

[SushiGirl]

Oh, I was wondering why you were calling it that. Never heard of it other than cookies LOL. Guess I'll have to look it up.

Edit: I just went through 5 pages on google & all I found were cookies and cosmetics...can you provide more info for those of us not in the loop?

[Huntor0]

Did anyone have luck ridding their tanks of the soft hydroids? I am having a slight outbreak in some hard to reach live rock areas.

I did locate the link to the product Hydroxs (http://www.fishtothenth.com/Hydroxs.htm) but the e-mail address to place an order was rejected.

[impur]

Yes I was able to completely eradicate all types of hydroids using Hydroxs and the dip procedure I posted above.

carol.e.keen@gmail.com

That is the email I have been using to communicate with Carol.

[Huntor0]

Thanks for the update, I look forward to hearing back from her.

[impur]

No prob, good luck.

I did actually change the dip procedure from above. I dip them for about an hour now, 2 days apart, 3 dips total. I ended up finding some different type of hydroid growing out of one of the frag plugs that I had never seen before. Doing the dips this way seems to kill off that new type as well. But be sure to pluck as many as you can beforehand.

[jlaborde]

hello everyone!


having a small hydroid outbreak, wanted to see what has worked.

thanks