how do you get rid of hydroids?

surfn · Sep 30, 2006

so does anybody have a good method of getting rid of these things?

i think the most successful methods i've used was joes juice/kalk paste. but it gets messy. you gota take the rock out of the water, and basically soak the stuff on them and hope it doesnt run all over your corals that are attached to the rock.

a read a while back that someone suggested superglue. tried that, seems to work temporarily, but just noticed today they are back when i glued them up previously.

any other ideas?

jessiesgrrl · Oct 1, 2006

From Anthony Calfo:

Removing finger-like hydroids
Stinging hydroids have few natural predators that we can regard as reef-safe. If you have corals in the tank, it may be difficult to avoid manual extraction. In the meantime, you could try a stiff bristled toothbrush tied to the end of a siphon tube so that you could siphon slowly and scrub at the same time. We need to avoid fragmenting and spreading them. Bets regards, Anthony>

Still looking for you though...

Laurie

jessiesgrrl · Oct 1, 2006

Here's a natural predator, but imo once the hydriods are gone he would die if you couldn't find someone with the same problem to trade him to?

Laurie

Q&A from WetWebMEdia.com:

What can I do to get rid of the hydroids short of finding a sea dragon, Pteraeolidia ianthina. <Not really that east due to their size - you may have to extract the rocks they are on and remove the hydroids with tweezers.> I have not found a single supplier of them. <The sea dragon? Heavens no... these typically do very poorly in captivity.>

jessiesgrrl · Oct 1, 2006

Another from Calfo that focuses on starving them to death:

Stinging hydroids 6/15/04
Hi Guys
<cheers>
Wonder if you can help me. Are there any species of fish or invertebrate which would feed on stinging hydroids? I'm having difficulty controlling them in my tank. Thanks and regards
Adrian
<while there are many fishes and invertebrates that will control hydroids... they are not likely to safe with your other fishes and/or invertebrates (cnidarian feeding Chaetodontids, Asteroid sea stars, etc.). And if you could ID your species of hydroid and find a nudibranch, for example, that was an obligate predator... the nudibranch would soon starve. Your real solution is to get to the root of the problem (excess nutrients) and not focus on the symptom (hydroids flaring). Focus on starving them into submission and then polishing them off with a lite bit of manual control. Improve water changes, be more aggressive about skimming, increase water flow to get excess food/particulates exported rather than lingering to feed the hydroids, etc. Best of luck! Anthony>

jessiesgrrl · Oct 1, 2006

<Erica, if it were me, I would get a syringe from the pharmacy and make up a strong solution of Kalkwasser and when the buggers are out, inject them with that. It should do the trick. James (Salty Dog)>

surfn · Oct 1, 2006

yeah, looks like kalk is the best way to go still.

jonbar1 · Oct 1, 2006

I have yet to find a decent way to control them. I've got the type you have and the Pom Pom ones. I pray you never get the Pom Poms, they are as tenacious as and grow just like Caulerpa.

Stixbaraca · Oct 1, 2006

What I do is litterally goop some superglue on them!! I know it sounds funny, but it has worked for me! Kalk never worked for me

surfn · Oct 1, 2006

Stixbaraca said:
What I do is litterally goop some superglue on them!! I know it sounds funny, but it has worked for me! Kalk never worked for me

i tried that, and it seemed to work short term, but new ones would just pop up beside the ones i killed w/ superglue

twon8 · Oct 1, 2006

i put a millepora or hyndophora on them; seems to take care of them quickly

surfn · Oct 1, 2006

twon8 said:
i put a millepora or hyndophora on them; seems to take care of them quickly

lol glue milli frags all over the place?

i dont have plaque proportions by any means. just trying to be proactive.

i think soaking them in a kalk solutions is a true way to kill them for sure. only downside is you gota take the rock out of the tank, and gota be sure there is no run off that gets onto any corals on the rock.

but the very high pH will basically *burn* the hydroids to death by that method.