Can you ID this thing?

[potatocouch]

What the heck is this? some sort of Algae?

 

[Therapy]

IMO it appears to look like a form of Aiptasia. Never saw it grow in a tight colony like that though. Google the pic and compare.

Start by chipping the rock and removing it asap. A scourge to say the least. do not try plucking it. It spreads worse than any weed know no man!

Hopefully someone else will chime in and disprove me. But I don't think I am wrong. Hope I am.

 

[Therapy]

After further google time, some do colonize like that. Seriously, don't wait. The scar on the rock from you chipping it will far better than waiting and trying the numerous chemical methods of killing it.

 

[Oxylebius]

If you do a google image search for "colonial hydroids" you will find many pics like yours.

Best to remove them from the tank so that they don't spread. Wear gloves, these can provide a nasty sting. You have several options to get rid of them.

1) Take the rock out of the tank when getting rid of them. While wearing gloves you can take a blunt instrument, like a butter knife, and scrape them off the rock, give a few rinses with tank water to get rid of any extra bits and then the rock can go back in the tank.

2) If you can't remove the rock from your tank for whatever reason, I've read about others smothering them in various items like AptasiaX, or with superglue or reef putty, or Kalk paste, etc.

 

[frisbee]

+1 on the Epoxy. Just knead up a small ball and smother them. It's basically no different than putting a piece of chewed up bubble gum over them. This will harden up and eventually become covered in Coralline algae. You'll never even know the Hydroids were there. GL.

 

[potatocouch]

+1 on the Epoxy. Just knead up a small ball and smother them. It's basically no different than putting a piece of chewed up bubble gum over them. This will harden up and eventually become covered in Coralline algae. You'll never even know the Hydroids were there. GL.

Your reply written exactly as this guy here post 4 http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2540643

Hahaha thanks for the input!

 

[frisbee]

lol, that's me....

 

[potatocouch]

lol that's me...

I tell you man .. am a good stalker lol

Have you yourself had this experience and did covering with epoxy helped? I would assume this thing can't walk right? If it has a foot then i'm doomed.

 

[frisbee]

Yeah, covering them with epoxy definitely solved my problem. These things come out of small tubes, much like feather dusters do and they're not mobile as far as I know. Once you smother them with that epoxy they're doomed.. GL.