Please Identify this weed???!!! (pics included)

[amarg]

Ok, i bought a leather midway through the summer, and hitchhiking on it was this brownish weed/polyp. It is growing and spreading like wildfire. Nothing seems to be eating it. It doesn't seem to be doing any harm in the tank but it looks awful and is spreading along the rocks like crazy.

Right now it is contained to two largish rocks, if someone can tell me what it is and the best way to get rid of it i can eradicate it now before it gets worse.

Here are some pics...

[Mulder]

It looks similar to colonial hydroids but it's hard to tell from the picture.
Here is a link that mentions colonial hydroids. Check to see if it is what you have.

http://www.xtalworld.com/Aquarium/hitchfaq.htm

Cheers

[ajx22]

It looks similar to colonial hydroids but it's hard to tell from the picture.
Here is a link that mentions colonial hydroids. Check to see if it is what you have.

http://www.xtalworld.com/Aquarium/hitchfaq.htm

Cheers


:iagree: You are correct sir!!


Get some Kalk paste and KILL THEM NOW!!! They are a scourge like no other. They will sting corals, and kill them.

If need be - remove the rock(s) they are on!!

Trust me - I had them in my tank once - and it took MONTHS to get rid of them!!
---Here's a pic of them from my tank:
http://www.aquariumpros.ca/userfiles/AJ-Tank-Nov-03/hydroids.jpg


Again - KILL EM!!!!

Good luck!

[amarg]

damn!!!

that seems to be what i have in my tank...

so far it is restricted to two rocks that i can remove from my tank fairly easily. Any suggestions on how i should remove the polyps... possibly take the rocks out of the tank and scrub them off using a toothbrush in a pale of freshwater??

[ajx22]

damn!!!

that seems to be what i have in my tank...

so far it is restricted to two rocks that i can remove from my tank fairly easily. Any suggestions on how i should remove the polyps... possibly take the rocks out of the tank and scrub them off using a toothbrush in a pale of freshwater??
Won't do anything... I tried it.

You can try a THICK kalk paste - but keep the rocks seperate from being able to spread to other rocks...

or - completely kill the rock - let it dry out completely for a few weeks - bake it in the oven - anything to 100% kill everything on the rock.

I started out with a 2" section of them - and it spread to over 150lbs of rock...took me 6+ months to get rid of it.

[earn]

what if he boiled some water and dunked the rocks in boiling water? wouldnt that do the job?

[ajx22]

what if he boiled some water and dunked the rocks in boiling water? wouldnt that do the job?
I'm telling you - IT DOESN'T WORK...they are absolutely the hardest thing to remove. I tried EVERYTHING - and after 6-months of battle...won by the methods I listed.

[amarg]

OK PANIC MODE

what the heck is kalk paste and where can i get it!!!!!!!!!!

[Mugster]

OK PANIC MODE

what the heck is kalk paste and where can i get it!!!!!!!!!!




Kalk paste is just kalkwasser powder and water mixed until you get a thick paste. Any of our sponsors probably carries kalk.







:hi1:

[steve w.]

OK PANIC MODE

what the heck is kalk paste and where can i get it!!!!!!!!!!




Kalk paste is just kalkwasser powder and water mixed until you get a thick paste. Any of our sponsors probably carries kalk.







:hi1:




How long would you leave the rock out with the kalk on?

Would simple rinsing be enough to put the rock back in?

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[amarg]

Thanks Mugster,

I've completely removed and disposed of the rock that the leather was attached too, hopefully the leather does ok, it is pretty stressed (as am i)

i have moved the second (larger rock) away from all other rocks. it is lying upright on the sandbed, with the area of the rock affected leaning on the glass. am i better off removing it completely from the tank now and just killing the rock over the next few weeks???? since this rock is not that "important" would that be the safest route.

OR do you recommend i follow with the kalk paste treatment, or should i remove the rock, put it in a bucket and continue the kalk paste treatment their????

please provide any input possible...

also how long did the kalk treatment you use take to kill it???

[Croman]

I tried squirts of vinegar and it kills quickly. Just use little at time and don't aim it at any corals.

[ajx22]

I tried squirts of vinegar and it kills quickly. Just use little at time and don't aim it at any corals.
...and it just comes back!!

I went through a 4L jug of white vinegar over my 6-month battle!

[Mugster]

Thanks Mugster,

I've completely removed and disposed of the rock that the leather was attached too, hopefully the leather does ok, it is pretty stressed (as am i)

i have moved the second (larger rock) away from all other rocks. it is lying upright on the sandbed, with the area of the rock affected leaning on the glass. am i better off removing it completely from the tank now and just killing the rock over the next few weeks???? since this rock is not that "important" would that be the safest route.

OR do you recommend i follow with the kalk paste treatment, or should i remove the rock, put it in a bucket and continue the kalk paste treatment their????

please provide any input possible...

also how long did the kalk treatment you use take to kill it???





Actually it was AJ that used this method. I was just helping out with your question about kalk paste. I'll let AJ answer the method questions.








:pompom:

[ajx22]

Thanks Mugster,

I've completely removed and disposed of the rock that the leather was attached too, hopefully the leather does ok, it is pretty stressed (as am i)

i have moved the second (larger rock) away from all other rocks. it is lying upright on the sandbed, with the area of the rock affected leaning on the glass. am i better off removing it completely from the tank now and just killing the rock over the next few weeks???? since this rock is not that "important" would that be the safest route.

OR do you recommend i follow with the kalk paste treatment, or should i remove the rock, put it in a bucket and continue the kalk paste treatment their????

please provide any input possible...

also how long did the kalk treatment you use take to kill it???

It took multiple treatments for mine to dissapear on some rocks...and refused to go away on others. The ones that wouldn't clear up - I tossed out the rocks into the garden.

[newreef8584]

I agree with AJ. Take no chances. Remove the effected rocks from the tank. Get a scrub brush and remove as much as possible by hand. Then either mix some kalk into a paste and cover rocks. Or you could use a bottle of vinegar and completely submerge the rocks for a few days to allow it to saturate the whole thing. Either way when your done rinse the rock for another few days in fresh water changing frequently. A couple of kettles with boiling water couldn't hurt just for good measure..

The vinegar method was suggested to me when I ran into this problem on my first tank. It worked quite well for me and the rocks were back in the tank in a week. Haven't tried the kalk method but others seem to have had success with it.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[amarg]

ok, i've removed all affected rocks from the tank and have decided that since they are not instrumental rocks (in fact i really really like the aquascaping of the tank without them, it has really opened up the tank and allowed for more water flow in more areas...) i am going to kill the live rock.

What is the best/fastest/most effective way of doing this????

andy

[mortigas]

Question: If a small patch (like less 1-2" circumference) of hydroids, is it possible to chip off this section of the rock? Are hydroids deep-rooted? Thanks.

[Sea MunnKey]

Get a freakin' Power Washer to exterminate these suckers...LOL!! We'll see how clean it gets from this treatment....:lolol:

[D.Style]

amarg, I believe these types of hydroids can spread without physical contact with other rocks so you want to remove the two afflicted rocks from your tank.

I had a nasty bout with this pest when I first got into the hobby. It can get really bad.

Like AJ says, smothering the rocks with kalk paste is the way to go. However, if you do not have access to kalk paste, you can place the two rocks into a bucket filled with as much vinegar as you can spare (at least 2 liters). The fill the rest of the bucket with tap water so that it covered the entire rock. Let this sit for a day or two. This is how I got rid of my biggest patches. (Everything will die on the rocks so make sure any corals have been removed prior)

There is a good possibility that there may be a polyp here or there on other rocks. If you see some. kill those ASAP. A single polyp can become a tank-nightmare in a matter of months

On a side note, I've had 2 different flame angels that ate these hydroids but I never read any other information on the net about others success with them.

[amarg]

Thanks for the help everyone,

I have moved all affected rocks into an empty (wateless) bucket, once i get home from work i'll soak them completely in 100% vinegar, let it sit for a few days, than start a kalk paste treatment, than boil, i'll probably repeat this process a few times as i am in no hurry to add these rocks back into the tank.

Hopefully after a couple of weeks that'll get rid of the problem. if not i'll take aj's approach and tess em into the garden.

I just hope that no polyps have been left anywhere else in the tank, if so it will likely be only a few and at which case i will kill them immediately.

i'll keep everyone posted on how things go.

Once again thanks for the help

andy

[amarg]

AJ, i have found two single hydroid polyps on a rock that can not be removed from my dt tank. Fortunately these polyps are precisely next to where the infected and now removed rocks once where.

As i can not remove this rock from the tank, how would you suggest i treat/kill these two polyps.

Should i apply the kalk paste directly to the polyps that are on the rock that is in the dt tank? is this safe?

thanks in advance,

andy

[ajx22]

AJ, i have found two single hydroid polyps on a rock that can not be removed from my dt tank. Fortunately these polyps are precisely next to where the infected and now removed rocks once where.

As i can not remove this rock from the tank, how would you suggest i treat/kill these two polyps.

Should i apply the kalk paste directly to the polyps that are on the rock that is in the dt tank? is this safe?

thanks in advance,

andy
Yuppers. Just target the individual polyps!!

:cheers: