white things popping up all over live rock

[tosteetos]

Hey guys, I am seriously getting concerned now, I did this video a while back maybe 1 and a half month, to ask here about these white springy things on my live rock, they seemed to be in just one rock and just a few of them, not more t han 6-7, now they are all over my rock and fully extend at night and I would say they are in the 100s now.

I'm now afraid these things will cover all of my live rock at the rate they are multiplying within months, what is this stuff?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_WWWHaGLaM

You can watch it in HD and in full screen to get a better view.

Thanks in advance for your input.

[Lynnmw1208]

that's a really great video by the way. I'd like to know what these are too. they remind me of caterpillars lol. i'm curious too. hope they're good!

[Percula9]

Might be a peanut worm.

[drbeeker]

could be a tiny starfish

[Jstdv8]

it's a hydroid. I had them when my tank was young.

[AquariumBiology]

I don't think these are hydroids, although that was my first thought on seeing the video. The fact that they seem to occur in pairs makes me think they are actually worms... spionid worms, to be precise. They can occur in sand or rock, and are benign/slightly beneficial creatures that scavenge detrius from the substrate.

See the link for more...
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-05/rs/index.php

The weird critters that show up in our tanks are the most fascinating part of our hobby... for me, atleast. Fortunately the vast majority are friendlies. No need to panic. Those that are known to be dangerous are easy to find on the web.

[Lynnmw1208]

at least they're good! I'd be watching them all day since they're so interesting

[cloak]

If the filament is cast out for awhile only to be reeled back in, there most likely digitate hydroids.

[bs21]

filament out toward end of video made me think of hydroid. I just don't see a tube that could be a worm except for the one thicker white strand toward the bottom of the rock.

[tosteetos]

oh boy, these are digitate hydroids for sure, I just confirmed it by searching google images.

I have started this tank about 5 months ago, I have a very time demanding job to be honest removing all the rocks and cooking them seems like such a time consuming and draining task that I am seriously having second thoughts about continuing in the hobby at this point in time... they have spread all over the tank now, I haven't even put any fish in it yet, just some corals, snails and hermits.

a month back I had to leave for a week and when I returned all of the coraline was almost white, still don't know what happened.

Thanks everyone for trying to help.

[julie180]

BTW, I don't think that is bubble algae.

[lordofthereef]

Originally Posted by tosteetos

oh boy, these are digitate hydroids for sure, I just confirmed it by searching google images.

I have started this tank about 5 months ago, I have a very time demanding job to be honest removing all the rocks and cooking them seems like such a time consuming and draining task that I am seriously having second thoughts about continuing in the hobby at this point in time... they have spread all over the tank now, I haven't even put any fish in it yet, just some corals, snails and hermits.

a month back I had to leave for a week and when I returned all of the coraline was almost white, still don't know what happened.

Thanks everyone for trying to help.

One option you have is just to remove all the rock, dry it out completely, and cook it from there. There is little more time involved aside from maybe half an hour getting that set up. Then you just let it sit for a couple weeks and do some water changes to try and remove all the decaying matter you just produced. I wouldn't say it is all that time consuming (I mean you have to wait a while by the amount of time you are spending doing work is minimal IMO). That said, if something like this has you wanting to call it quits, perhaps this isn't the hobby for you. Simple maintenance will take up far more time than this potentially will. I mean to say this with the utmost respect, by the way.

[Leviathan_XE]

Or you can try my method. Don't do anything. Same as you started out seeing only a few then they were everywhere. Just keep up with water changes, you can try to siphon out as many as you can, but that more than likely won't work. But they'll die off on their own. Over the years of keeping a reef you'll see many phazes of different critters taking over then dying off. Thhe population will explode then receede back into normal parameters.

[AquariumBiology]

Don't take any drastic action. Add a fish or two, and some crabs, and they will probably subside. It sounds like they just don't have any competition. besides, whether they are hydroids or spionid worms (which also extend and withdraw appendiges when feeding), they are harmless. The hydroids do sting, but not very hard. Any coral can push them out. There are hydroids, eg myrionema and millipora, which can out-sting and damage corals, but this is not one. Please don't cook or dry your rocks, and i hope you'll stick around in the hobby a little longer.

Live rock, with the diversity it brings, is THE most important stabilizing factor in a saltwater tank.

[LamboBoy]

Definitely digitate hydroids. Had loads of them in my 9 week fallow tank. I was getting worried but most of the RC members told me to leave it alone so I did.

After I added some fish into the tank and started to feed the fish, little by little they started to go away. Now, 5 weeks later, there are none in my tank and I really didn't have to do anything but regular maintenance.

They don't sting either since I tried pinching a bunch of them between my fingers to see if they would sting and they don't so you don't have to worry about the fish in the tank.

[csarkar001]

a bit off topic, but how do you do those little annotation bubbles on your video?

[ROB2005]

I had those same hydroids that came in on a ball of chaeto. Really multiplied in my tank, but the population died out after 2 months.

[tosteetos]

Thanks everyone for your very valuable input.

I will definitely add fish then and start feeding, by the way I do have about 7 hermits in the tank, it is a 90 gallon tank so I'm not sure that's enough, I also have like 10 snails and an emerald crab, and I'm now starting to see tons of copepods and amphipods.

LamboBoy: what kind of fish did you ad and what food did you feed when you started seeng them phasing out?

Csarkar001: I honestly don't remember as I uploaded that video a while ago, however you should see an option to add annotation to your video once you upload it somewhere in youtube.

Aquariumbiology: your post makes a lot of sense, thanks for sharing.

[MedRed]

what camera did you use?

[tosteetos]

Hi MedRed: to capture the video I used a Canon 5D MK II, it is a still photography oriented camera with great video capabilities, if you need any more info you can look it up on youtube or google .

[MedRed]

too rich for my blood. I'm trying to talk myself into a 7D. I may just go with a 50D

[sue711]

I have those hydroids as well, and I hate them. My tank is almost 2 years old and these came from nowhere 6 months ago. They have multiplied in the past, but now their numbers seem to be slowly reducing. Skim heavily to give them less food in the water column, which will also help with algae problems if you have that too. These hydroids do sting corals with a mighty punch though. I have had problems with them stinging montiporas until the colony in direct contact died. I try to pull the hyroids out with tweezers right at their base when I see them stinging corals now. Good luck with yours.

[LamboBoy]

I added a pair of Crosshatch triggers and a pair of Blueline angels. Never saw them eating the hydroids but they started to disappear on their own. I feed the usual, PE mysis, plankton, brine, flakes and Rod's food.

You can pull some off with tweezers if you like but they will go away in time in my experience with them.