mini Aptasia ? they are showing up everywhere

[starfire2116]

They are very small, 3 millimeters i would guess. They are white and skinny but they look like aptaisa, I have never seen them this small though. Also i can even see them sway in the currant. You have to have a flipper Magnifying veiwer, or a Magnifying glass. And now its been 2 months and its spreading. should i buy berghia nudibranch.

 

[fishguy242]

hi,can you post pic?

 

[starfire2116]

I did

 

[Suohhen]

Strange the pics didn't show up before. Certainly looks like aiptasia and for sure berghia are the most solid option but they only eat aiptasia so you need to be 100% sure, plus they have gotten quite expensive.

 

[reeferkeeperabq]

What size is your tank?

 

[Alexopora]

They are very small, 3 millimeters i would guess. They are white and skinny but they look like aptaisa, I have never seen them this small though. Also i can even see them sway in the currant. You have to have a flipper Magnifying veiwer, or a Magnifying glass. And now its been 2 months and its spreading. should i buy berghia nudibranch.

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It’s a little hard to see but based on your description and pictures, I would say these are hydroids rather than aiptasia.

 

[starfire2116]

It’s a little hard to see but based on your description and pictures, I would say these are hydroids rather than aiptasia.

Ok how would i go about eliminating them?

 

[Alexopora]

Ok how would i go about eliminating them?

Personally, i dont really go out of my way to eliminate hydroids. Based on my personal experience they don’t do much harm to my corals. There are a few things you could do to control their population.

1. Feed less, control your nutrient input. These guys will increase in numbers based on how much food particles are available in the water column.

2. If its on a small piece of rock or coral that you are able to remove from the tank, you could manually brush them off.

3. Chemical treatments. I’m not familiar with this as I have never needed to use any form of chemical treatment. You could search up and read on chemically treating hydroids on this forum.

 

[MrKlumZ]

Looks like hydroids or white sponge. Both don’t really effect the tank to much. Both usually goes away on its own once tank matures.

 

[Arcflash_207]

Probably hydroids

 

[Suohhen]

Actually yeah looks a lot more like hydroids but I have seen small aiptasia that look like that, er at least from what I can make of the photos. It sucks trying to get good photos of things this small.
I'd also say that it makes a lot more sense to have a bunch of hydroids pop up than aiptasia without having at least a few big ones. Some people have issues with them and others leave them be, but yeah regardless it is as the others have said above, a natural part of maturation and there are plenty of techniques to reign things back in.

 

[mfollen]

Confirming that these are hydroids. They are only a problem for zoanthids as they can sting them. Otherwise they shouldn’t be much of a problem for other coral.

Controlling them can be pretty tough, I’m not aware of a natural predator or control.

 

[vetteguy53081]

NOT hydroids. the filaments you see are sponge and harmless. If they pose concern, can be scrubbed but not necessary

here is a shot of this sponge developed below the hammer

 

[starfire2116]

I know that the Lynx Nudibranch eat them. But i cant find anywhere that sells them. If anyone knows a place that sells them please let me know.

Confirming that these are hydroids. They are only a problem for zoanthids as they can sting them. Otherwise they shouldn’t be much of a problem for other coral.

Controlling them can be pretty tough, I’m not aware of a natural predator or control.