Feather Duster Cluster ?? Or something else

[dtorbit]

I haven’t been able to locate a thread about these guys and I’m hoping they aren’t going to be a nuisance. They have been growing steadily for over a year. I currently don’t have any corals but they are coming soon. Is this something I should be worried about or are they OK? They are reddish brown, grow in clusters and retract when messed with like a feather duster does. Also in the morning they are very pale when the lights come on then by the evening they are full of color again.

**Also – It is sure hard to get good photos of the stuff in your tank….this is my first attempt at photographing things inside my tank. I’m sure there are posts here on how to get good photos so I will have to find them – but dang!! I only have a 50 gallon tank and first of all it’s really hard to get in there and second, I can only hold my breath for a few seconds…:smack:

 

[seafansar]

lol. The photos look fine to me! Those are hydroids. They can annoy corals, especially zoanthids, but they aren't the worst thing you could have in a tank. If they are only on a couple of rocks and if they are easy to take out of the tank, take tweezers and pick them of or try scrubbing them off. Sounds like yours are growing fast enough that you might want to remove them. Unfortunately, I have not heard of anything eating them (maybe zebra hermits) or anything you can put on them to kill them.

 

[dtorbit]

Great! Thanks for the positive ID. I will research them and decide what to do. I will probably leave them for now unless I find that they will take over the tank...but they dont seem to be moving that fast. Im pretty sure I can stay on top of them. I just wanted to make sure they werent gonna go nuts like an aiptasia (which I recently found in my tank and succesfully killed...how??...I fed him coffee. Well, not really. I heated some water in my coffee maker, pulled out the rock and poured the water on him. That took care of it) :spinner:

 

[sambrinar]

I have several patches as well.. they aren't bothering anything so I just leave them be for now

 

[Cloudburst2000]

I have some of these too that I was about to post of pic of. Thanks for answering my question! I only have a patch on a small rock. I personally kinda like them so if they don't start bothering anything I will just leave them be.

 

[morrowss]

I had some and thought they were kinda cool but then they quickly multiplied and spread to alot of places....and they sting....while trying to clean them off rocks and my underside of forearm rubs against them i get stung...little red bumps that itch...hate them!!!

 

[corrado007]

I had some and thought they were kinda cool but then they quickly multiplied and spread to alot of places....and they sting....while trying to clean them off rocks and my underside of forearm rubs against them i get stung...little red bumps that itch...hate them!!!

I had a little patch of them that I liked but they spread quickly also. I took out the rocks that I could and scrubbed them. It kinda worked. I still have a few patches of them. I have seen them grow next to soft corals and the Hydroids won unfortunately. I'd love to know if there's something that will eat them or if there's some way to control them too.

 

[wm23oh]

I was going to post this in it's own area but is this the same thing you have? I have it on one of my rocks and wasn't sure if it was the same thing or not.

James