Hydroids, how they come to be?

[Sophie"s mom]

Evening everyone, so this is simply a curiosity question here. I was reading earlier about hydroids on some zoa’s. My question is how does one get them? Is it something that must be introduced somehow into a tank? Once there, how do you get rid of them? I don’t have them, just curious.

 

[Cthulukelele]

Evening everyone, so this is simply a curiosity question here. I was reading earlier about hydroids on some zoa’s. My question is how does one get them? Is it something that must be introduced somehow into a tank? Once there, how do you get rid of them? I don’t have them, just curious.

Hydroids are pretty ubiquitous creatures that easily hide away on frags (the colonial ones people have trouble with). The problem with them is that they're very enigmatic. In most cases, they melt or don't really grow in someone's tank, but in tanks they like they reproduce at a blistering and uncontrollable rate. The only real way to "beat" them if they grow well in your tank is a never ending manual removal cycle, restarting the tank, or some butterflyfish are known to munch them (especially the less reef safe ones)

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

My question is how does one get them? Is it something that must be introduced somehow into a tank? Once there, how do you get rid of them?

Yeah, like all hitchhikers, they have to be introduced somehow - they can come in as polyps or medusae (think pod-sized jellyfish).

For getting rid of them:

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

This thread is for the general discussion of the Article Hydroids: a reference to some strategies. Please add to the discussion here. 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...

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

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

 

[romperstomper]

hydroids

we had them on live rock and removed them manually by scraping off ,I did hear that it's more of a new tank thing which ours was not had them since which was around 9 years ago now .

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Hydroids are pretty ubiquitous creatures that easily hide away on frags (the colonial ones people have trouble with). The problem with them is that they're very enigmatic. In most cases, they melt or don't really grow in someone's tank, but in tanks they like they reproduce at a blistering and uncontrollable rate. The only real way to "beat" them if they grow well in your tank is a never ending manual removal cycle, restarting the tank, or some butterflyfish are known to munch them (especially the less reef safe ones)

Ahh, got ya! So, if they come in on coral frags, will dipping the coral get rid of them? I always dip corals before they go in my tank.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Ahh, got ya! So, if they come in on coral frags, will dipping the coral get rid of them? I always dip corals before they go in my tank.

No. Nothing short of manually removing the hydroids and their "roots" will get rid of them (for colonial hydroids, that is)

 

[Sophie"s mom]

No. Nothing short of manually removing the hydroids and their "roots" will get rid of them (for colonial hydroids, that is)

Got ya! So something to keep a serious eye out for. Thank you