White hair fungas/ algae/ worms?

MattPLaw · Jul 6, 2024

Hello all!
I need help identifying a pest in my tank. It looks like small white hair with a small ball on the end. I first saw it on my new clam, which of course I could not dip when I introduced about 2 months ago. I have scrubbed the clam as vigorously as I dared with a tooth brush, multiple times now and this stuff is still there.

I have now started seeing it on odd parts of the live rock. I don't think it is algae because I see it below shelves and in some areas that really don't get much light.

Finally today I looked at a small candy cane frag I have on the sand bed, and it is covered!

Tomorrow I will take this frag out to get a better look, but I am so curious what this stuff is, and how do I get it off the clam, and keep it from spreading?
I have done a decent amount of research and I am thinking this could be some find of fungas?

Please help me ID this, and any suggestions for removal would be very helpful.
Thanks!

ISpeakForTheSeas · Jul 6, 2024

MattPLaw said:
It looks like small white hair with a small ball on the end.

Those are hydroids:

ISpeakForTheSeas said:
Agreed with hydroids:
I've heard smothering the hydroids with kalk paste may work, but here are some other threads with suggestions that might be helpful:

Hydroids: a reference to some strategies

Like many of us, I have had problems on and off over the years with Hydroids. The ones that have always given me the most problems are the common ones that almost look like a smaller and darker version of the beginner coral called Yellow Polyps. But the colonial Hydroid is much smaller than...

www.reef2reef.com

Hydroids - How do I eliminate- They have taken over my tank

So I have this stuff that has pretty much taken over my tank and I can't get rid of it. I'm looking for an ID and an eradication plan that is anything short of a total teardown.

www.reef2reef.com

ISpeakForTheSeas said:
These may help:

Fenbendazole dip for blue clove polyp/hydroids.

FYI So I had more than few blue clove and what i believe are hydroids pop up on a few frags and start spreading in the frag system. I didn't want to start out treating the whole system so I picked the most populated frags to treat. I mixed 1/4 gram of Fenbendazole with 1 cup of saltwater as a...

www.reef2reef.com

Edit: A relevant link in post 7 of the link above:

Here it is! Fenbendazole use against hydroids

Hi all! Well after getting a lot of questions about the use of fenbendazol I figured I would write this up. This is for informational purposes and I will not be held liable for improper use. Fenbendazol must be used exactly as I instruct or run the risk of a tank crash. Now lets get to it! So...

www.reef2reef.com

Solo McReefer · Jul 6, 2024

Reef Scabies

MattPLaw · Jul 6, 2024

ISpeakForTheSeas said:
Those are hydroids:

I will look into this, thanks!

MattPLaw · Jul 7, 2024

ISpeakForTheSeas said:
Those are hydroids:

Okay I think these are definitely hydroids. Do you have any suggestions how to remove them from my maxima clam?

ISpeakForTheSeas · Jul 7, 2024

MattPLaw said:
Okay I think these are definitely hydroids. Do you have any suggestions how to remove them from my maxima clam?

If you can remove the clam safely, then I'd probably pull it out, give the shell a good scrubbing/cleaning (possibly giving it a light scrub with some kalkpaste at the end, if it's possible to get it off without irritating the clam), rinse it with RO/DI, then put it back in.

YMMV though.

Solo McReefer · Jul 7, 2024

ISpeakForTheSeas said:
rinse it with RO/DI

Freshwater for a clam?

I know it's closed up, but have you done this before with no ill effects? How many times?

My impression is that clams are more sensitive to this kind of stuff than corals

ISpeakForTheSeas · Jul 7, 2024

Solo McReefer said:
Freshwater for a clam?

I know it's closed up, but have you done this before with no ill effects? How many times?

My impression is that clams are more sensitive to this kind of stuff than corals

I was meaning just literally rinse the shell off, not the clam/mantle itself (and not a dip or bath or anything).

Never done it myself, but yeah, you want to be careful with the actual clam - a little freshwater on the shell (not the mantle) isn't going to hurt it though.

Edit: to add, others (like outerbank in the thread below) have done freshwater rinses with clams before without issues:

Clam emergency should I dip?

Looked great yesterday now it looks like it’s gonna die. Fresh water dip? No changes made made to tank in the last couple weeks. Had the clam for a month and a half. And always looked good.

www.reef2reef.com

Edit 2: If the freshwater makes anyone nervous, it should be fine to rinse with tank water or freshly made saltwater too - you just don't want to use the water you were scraping the hydroids off in. (Also, if you do use freshwater, I do suggest RO/DI, as tap water quality varies greatly from one place to the next, and some stuff in tap water can be harmful even in small quantities).