what is on my live rock

[mobilechange]

i think its a feather duster, it looks orangish-brown and its on a vine that strings accross the rock. it doesnt retract into the rock either. it acts like a zenia it will close up. dont say aptaisa either....

 

[matt_trace]

its defo not a feather duster they look like this see pic attached its the thing at the back sticking out the side of the rock

 

[thominil]

Kind of blurry, but they look like hydroids to me, bad.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Welcome to AA!

Yeah, looks like the pics I've seen of colonial hydroids.

 

[neilanh]

Welcome to AA!

Really hard to be sure in the pic. Check this link and see if you can see it more clearly.

Xtalreef

 

[roka64]

Welcome to the site!
I'm going to move this to the SW ID section.
If it is viney, I wouldn't say hydroids.
Can you get a clearer pic?

 

[mobilechange]

yes its def COLONIAL HYDROIDS i got this rock from a lfs everything in there tanks was covered with this. i had no idea. his reef tank had it all over. maybe i should call him...... how should i get rid of them????? just throw out the live rock before it spreads????? could i cook the live rock?

 

[melosu58]

Moved to SW ID forum.

 

[neilanh]

If they're isolated to a single rock or something easily removed, I would do that immediately. Once they start to spread it's going to be much harder to handle.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I've got a few patches of colonial hydroids, and while they're not desirable, they're not the end of the earth either. BUT... if that's what I'm seeing on that rock, if I was you, I'd just throw the rock out if that's possible. If they're colonial hydroids, you've got a TON of them. Of if you like the rock and want to keep it, then boil it and let it dry out.

Only thing that makes me think it's not colonial hydroids is the comment you made about the "vine-like" structure. That's not how colonial hydroids grow/spread. A closer and clearer picture would really help positively ID the stuff. A vine like structure sounds more like zoanthid/palythoas and they could just be some of those brown/yellow polyps.

 

[mobilechange]

sorry all i have is the camera on my cell phone. these are just on one peice of rock. do you think i could turn the rock over and bury in the sand the side that has these hydroids on it or are these things that tuff? they are def. hydroids the link neailanh posted above has a perfect picture of them. oh buy the way when i purchased the rock at the lfs. the manager acted like he had no clue what they were. so i called him to let him know my findings and HE TOTALLY KNEW! he said they have been battling them for a while. PETLAND! yeah never again! thanx for everyones help, this site is pretty good, just cant navigate that well on it.

 

[divedeep1689]

major pet retail stores will lie to you about anything just to sell you some livestock or a product

 

[mobilechange]

well my 25.00 rock just got a nice bubble bath and now its off to get a sun tan. oh well.........how long do i need to leave it in the sun before returning it to my tank????

i saw alot of neat creatures come off when it took a bath. even a starfish. bristle type i think. it was really small. now my rock is neon green. haha. will the sun take this away????

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

well my 25.00 rock just got a nice bubble bath and now its off to get a sun tan. oh well.........how long do i need to leave it in the sun before returning it to my tank????

i saw alot of neat creatures come off when it took a bath. even a starfish. bristle type i think. it was really small. now my rock is neon green. haha. will the sun take this away????

When you say it took a bubble bath... do you mean you used soap? Hope not... NEVER use soap on anything that's going into the tank. In my house, that includes my hands before I get in there and muck around. Soap residue is hard to get rid of and can give you an amazing boost in your phosphates. (Not a good thing.)

Assuming you just boiled the rock, I'd let it dry out for a day or two before putting it back in the tank.

When I boil rock, some of it often takes on a green tint. Sun won't take it away, but once the rock gets covered in coralline algae again, you won't see it.

 

[mobilechange]

yes i boiled the rock. the rock actually had alot of hard red sponges on it, even after a bil they are still there. will this cause an ammonia spike if i dump the rock in a couple of days or should i let the sun do some really good baking

 

[thominil]

I disagree with divedeep, I bought ALL of my livestock from Petland and have had NO problems with anything minus the flatworms because I was stupid and didn't dip my coral when I got it. You may have had a bad experience with your local chains divedeep, but don't stick that comment on every store in every chain as it is not true.

mobile-You will most likely have die off and may want to stick the rock in a bin of saltwater and watch the ammonia, nitrites and nitrates until it cure, or cycles again. Sticking it in the DT right away will cause huge issues with water params.

 

[mobilechange]

well everytime i buy something from a lfs i test there water when i get it home, petland has been the worst. the nitrates were off the chart so i didnt even bother checking the rest, where i live(ohio) we have aquarium adventure, water is perfect! i was amazed. So i guess both of you are right, maybe its just how good the employees are and there knowledge!

 

[thominil]

Hmm...probably is. The guys at the petland near me are great and know what they are doing and talking about. Usually when I walk in they say "You again?!?" I love going in there lol, nice to be able to talk to someone who doesn't think I'm talking in a foreign language when I talk about my tanks and stuff.

I tend to find that it is the kids that are lazy and don't want to do the slightest bit of research and are just in it for the money that are sloppy and have no idea what they are doing. It's the middle aged (25-50) people that do it for the benefit of others and for the fun.

 

[mobilechange]

i would have to agree with you on that. have you ever purchased any live stock from someone online, i haveny yet as im afraid it will die in shipping, even though i know thats how pet stores get there live stock.i guess im just not a risk taker.

 

[divedeep1689]

I disagree with divedeep, I bought ALL of my livestock from Petland and have had NO problems with anything minus the flatworms because I was stupid and didn't dip my coral when I got it. You may have had a bad experience with your local chains divedeep, but don't stick that comment on every store in every chain as it is not true.

sorry if i disturbed you thominil i really didnt mean every retail store, and as far as petland it is of my fav retail stores in my area most of my fish came from them as well as the tank , stand and most of my equipment. But yes some reatil stores and even some local stores will sometimes lie to you about something just to have you make a purchase i once took a water sample in for my 29 gal tank which was cylcing with a dead shrimp in it to help the cycle and they told me the quality was perfect when they noticed me looking at a sea urchin "which i did get for my other tank" my local petco used to be terrible until a employee from the petland started there and that there proves that is not really the petsotres like i said rather than indivizual employees at the store. sorry if my post earlier upset you i should have been more specific. And i am with you petland is great the ones who work thier remember everything about my tank how big it is wats in it and past water conditions if i am about to buy something that will not get along with a current tank inhabitant, they will remind me of it, but thier has been a few times petland has had a diff worker back there who has tried to lie his way into me buying something , but like i said i was wrong it is really the workers not the store.