This could make one want to quit the hobby. Do not make my mistake.

MinnieMouse2

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I have these colonial hydroids. They seem to not harm other corals. They harm me. I was getting arm blistering here and there. Thought I was getting a salt allergy. I hate to wear gloves. One of our local reef members told me what these colonial hydroids were. I spent last night scraping them off the rocks. This morning after a sleepless night My arm is covered in burning welts, hands too. Once you scrap these they spread. They have already spread around the tank. Do not seem to harm the fish, they seemed to not care. I did not see a reaction from fish or clams. This tank is 8 years old and has five clams in it, live fiji rock, lots of baby rock anemones that are beautiful pinks and red, Sps, duncans, hammers, etc. . I am not going to kill the tank. I can not cut down feeding for we have a Mandarin fish that needs to be fed gut-loaded brine shrimp which hydroids love. This is part of reefing that really stinks. I am going to have to wear long gloves all the way up the shoulders and keep the hydroids scraped down, water changed, and hope for the best. I did not find any on the back of the rocks. They are all out front in the light where one can scrape. I am also going to be covering some of the colonies with epoxy. This might be something some people would quit over. Once they are in a system they are in. You have to start over with everything being nuked from skimmer to refugium, to everything. This after I just go Dinos under control in two tanks. I hate these things. I thought they were pretty. I thought they were feather duster-type corals. I was even thinking of moving some to my 125-gallon tank because they look pretty under blue light. Do not make my mistake. See these kill these before they spread. I let my spread.

IMG_3060.JPG
 
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BanjoBandito

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So, my wife on our honeymoon, while swimming with the dolphins, backed against a hydroid underwater and had a saucer size burn for 2 weeks. It disappeared after 2 days, then in a couple more days came back with a vengeance. Hydroids are nasty! I hope you feel better.
 
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MinnieMouse2

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So, my wife on our honeymoon, while swimming with the dolphins, backed against a hydroid underwater and had a saucer size burn for 2 weeks. It disappeared after 2 days, then in a couple more days came back with a vengeance. Hydroids are nasty! I hope you feel better.
Thanks. I spent an itchy night. Rubbing alcohol helps. I guess like gloves or not I will have to wear them in this tank.
 

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Thanks. I spent an itchy night. Rubbing alcohol helps. I guess like gloves or not I will have to wear them in this tank.
white vinegar, cortizone cream and calamine lotion was what she used. Treated it like poison ivy. I know it was painful for her!
 

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Wow, that must suck! I have a very tiny patch in my tank that has, thankfully, not spread over the past 2 years. An acquaintance of mine recently discovered a nudibranch that indiscriminately eats just about every hydroid he's tested it with, he's a breeder and may begin production of them soon. I'll let you know if he as any available!
 
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MinnieMouse2

MinnieMouse2

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white vinegar, cortizone cream and calamine lotion was what she used. Treated it like poison ivy. I know it was painful for her!
Thanks, I will try those remedies. I just want to scratch like crazy. Now have welts up and down the arm. This just from pulling and scraping colonies off the rocks.
 
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MinnieMouse2

MinnieMouse2

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Wow, that must suck! I have a very tiny patch in my tank that has, thankfully, not spread over the past 2 years. An acquaintance of mine recently discovered a nudibranch that indiscriminately eats just about every hydroid he's tested it with, he's a breeder and may begin production of them soon. I'll let you know if he as any available!
Please let me know.
 
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thatmanMIKEson

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I have these colonial hydroids. They seem to not harm other corals. They harm me. I was getting arm blistering here and there. Thought I was getting a salt allergy. I hate to wear gloves. One of our local reef members told me what these colonial hydroids were. I spent last night scraping them off the rocks. This morning after a sleepless night My arm is covered in burning welts, hands too. Once you scrap these they spread. They have already spread around the tank. Do not seem to harm the fish, they seemed to not care. I did not see a reaction from fish or clams. This tank is 8 years old and has five clams in it, live fiji rock, lots of baby rock anemones that are beautiful pinks and red, Sps, duncans, hammers, etc. . I am not going to kill the tank. I can not cut down feeding for we have a Mandarin fish that needs to be fed gut-loaded brine shrimp which hydroids love. This is part of reefing that really stinks. I am going to have to wear long gloves all the way up the shoulders and keep the hydroids scraped down, water changed, and hope for the best. I did not find any on the back of the rocks. They are all out front in the light where one can scrape. I am also going to be covering some of the colonies with epoxy. This might be something some people would quit over. Once they are in a system they are in. You have to start over with everything being nuked from skimmer to refugium, to everything. This after I just go Dinos under control in two tanks. I hate these things. I thought they were pretty. I thought they were feather duster-type corals. I was even thinking of moving some to my 125-gallon tank because they look pretty under blue light. Do not make my mistake. See these kill these before they spread. I let my spread.

View attachment 2608891
Did you ever try super glue over them?
 
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MinnieMouse2

MinnieMouse2

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Small tank? I would think an 8 year old tank could support a mandy without much supplemental feeding.
Tank is 55 gallons. It contains clams, etc. I have almost zero nitrates and zero phos. I have been fighting dinos. That led I think to the hydroid explosion as I started to dump in more nutrients and gut-filled brine shrimp. Pods have crashed. I just refilled them.The Hydroids eat pods as well as the brine shrimp. They are gone for now all of them done in. I will keep watch for more. I bought tubes of epoxy and will cover them as I see them. I thought they were pretty under the lights and let them grow out. Big mistake. In the last month fighting dinos and this crap. Ahhh.....
 
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I have these colonial hydroids. They seem to not harm other corals. They harm me. I was getting arm blistering here and there. Thought I was getting a salt allergy. I hate to wear gloves. One of our local reef members told me what these colonial hydroids were. I spent last night scraping them off the rocks. This morning after a sleepless night My arm is covered in burning welts, hands too. Once you scrap these they spread. They have already spread around the tank. Do not seem to harm the fish, they seemed to not care. I did not see a reaction from fish or clams. This tank is 8 years old and has five clams in it, live fiji rock, lots of baby rock anemones that are beautiful pinks and red, Sps, duncans, hammers, etc. . I am not going to kill the tank. I can not cut down feeding for we have a Mandarin fish that needs to be fed gut-loaded brine shrimp which hydroids love. This is part of reefing that really stinks. I am going to have to wear long gloves all the way up the shoulders and keep the hydroids scraped down, water changed, and hope for the best. I did not find any on the back of the rocks. They are all out front in the light where one can scrape. I am also going to be covering some of the colonies with epoxy. This might be something some people would quit over. Once they are in a system they are in. You have to start over with everything being nuked from skimmer to refugium, to everything. This after I just go Dinos under control in two tanks. I hate these things. I thought they were pretty. I thought they were feather duster-type corals. I was even thinking of moving some to my 125-gallon tank because they look pretty under blue light. Do not make my mistake. See these kill these before they spread. I let my spread.

View attachment 2608891 Man,i had them in an old 35g tank, got sick of them spreading everywhere.I had no clue they could do that to you.
 
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Polyp polynomial: How many heads do you start with when buying zoas?

  • One head is enough to get started.

    Votes: 27 10.6%
  • 2 to 4 heads.

    Votes: 145 57.1%
  • 5 heads or more.

    Votes: 65 25.6%
  • Full colony.

    Votes: 10 3.9%
  • Other.

    Votes: 7 2.8%

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