Is this a Hydroid?

[degibson84]

I noticed these things growing out in a few spots on my rock. I have been told to leave them they will just go away but I have also been told to get rid of them ASAP. The one rock I removed and tried burning off as many as I could find with a lighter. The other rock I can't pull out as it is the foundation of my entire structure. What would you guys/gals do


this is the best picture I could find on the web. this looks just like what I have

 

[Oxylebius]

Some species of hydroids do go away on their own, others species are more stubborn. Many hydroids pull food from the water column and others thrive in nutrient rich water. If your tank is cycling and you aren't adding any food to it, they should die. Some die fairly fast, others take a little time. I'm not familiar with species. If they don't die you can remove them from their base with tweezers, DON'T touch them, they can deliver a nasty sting. Wear powderless gloves and use tweezers.

 

[degibson84]

a marine biologist that is a freind of my LFS owner has told me to take boiling water in a turkey baster and blast them with boiling water. I have done this last night and will see what happens this afternoon if the polyps open up

 

[Talon33]

Yep colonial hydroid looks like to me. My solution was easy. They were only localized to one small rock in my tank. So i just removed the rock for a week and just let them die on their own time. Then i tore off their tubes just in case.

Mine did not spread very fast in my tank. I observed them for some time. I always thought maybe they were some sort of tube worm until I got curious one day and started to do some researching. They may have increased there colony size by like 25% in 7 months that I let them live. But still if they are growing they need to go so take care of them.