8-Pointed star shaped hitch hikers on my zoas

[schlemazl]

What are these guys? How do I kill them dead? My new zoas won't open.

I'm pretty new. Been reefing for about a year. I apologize if this is a boring/easy/already thoroughly covered question.

 

[Katrina71]

Looks like another coral trying to take over

 

[ReefingDreams]

Clove polyps (daisy). Are typically very invasive, but I haven't heard of them causing zoas to close without being at smothering levels. Makes me wonder if something else is going on. Only known treatment is fenbendazole. Research and proceed with caution. If this is your only thing with these invasive polyps, I'd recommend removing from the tank. It's not worth this taking over your tank over some easy to replace zoas.

 

[Shawnman]

Those are zoa eating sea spiders. I got rid of mine by grabbing with a tweezers when the lights are off. Looks like yours might be reproducing. Best to get them fast as possible. Mine just sat there until i was able to grab them. I was afraid they would scurry off if I missed but they did not. Kinda dug in like a wood tick until I grabbed it. They generally do not move far from where you have seen them. You can dip the zoa's in coral rx but if they are inside the polyp it won't work nor will it get the eggs. Be vigilant before it gets out of control. Good luck.

 

[F i s h y]

Clove polyps was close. Def not zoa spiders. Looks like blue sympodium. Invasive and should be removed if possible.

blue sympodium - Google Search

 

[Shawnman]

This is one I caught last week. I could be wrong on the diagnosis tho. Hard to tell.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Yeah, some kind of (likely highly invasive) soft coral like clove polyps. I'm not sure what the best removal strategy would be, but I'd definitely try to get it out before it spreads (if you try to remove it manually, I'd suggest doing so in a bowl of tank water outside of the tank itself, as these things can spread by dropping pieces that grow into new corals - since they're on zoas, you may also want to toss some carbon in the bowl and work on in it a well-ventilated area to be safe).

Speaking bluntly, though, as ReefingDreams said above, fragging some un-infested zoas off and getting rid of the frag may be the best course of action.

 

[Shawnman]

Clove polyps was close. Def not zoa spiders. Looks like blue sympodium. Invasive and should be removed if possible.

blue sympodium - Google Search

I believe you are correct. My bad

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Those are zoa eating sea spiders. I got rid of mine by grabbing with a tweezers when the lights are off. Looks like yours might be reproducing. Best to get them fast as possible. Mine just sat there until i was able to grab them. I was afraid they would scurry off if I missed but they did not. Kinda dug in like a wood tick until I grabbed it. They generally do not move far from where you have seen them. You can dip the zoa's in coral rx but if they are inside the polyp it won't work nor will it get the eggs. Be vigilant before it gets out of control. Good luck.

No, those are anthellia