Have this organism growing in my tank since about a week back

[Craigj247]

Have this organism growing in my tank since about a week back it is too small to take a picture of which is why I drew it out... It is growing from the sand bed up the glass as well as clusters of them in the substrate.

It is rooted to the glass while the lil arms wave around in the water.

I have tried cleaning my glass and sucking the water out but it comes back in a few days.

ANY IDEA WHAT IY IS AN HOW I SHOULD GET RID OF IT?

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[melosu58]

Is it looking like a plant (macroalgea) or an invert. Really hard to tell from the picture.

 

[Craigj247]

Hmmm not sure if it is a plant or not.. But it is white to transparent in color... My drawing is pretty much exactly what it would look like... The little arms with the three fingers are about just 3mm in length... They are quite small and I only spotted it cause I go through my tank carefully on a daily basis...

I take it that it's not something common and seen a lot of? :s

 

[Sniperhank]

How about an actual picture?

 

[Craigj247]

Too small for an actual picture...

 

[Craigj247]

Actual picture.

This is the best I can do since the organisms are so small... Hope you guys can help.

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[Reefmob]

Spaghetti worms?

 

[Craigj247]

Nope ain't that... I think it is somin rare cause I haven't been able to find it anywhere on the web.

 

[Sniperhank]

And you are sure it's alive? I had some "odd" things like that in my tank, but black...only to discover my dog had just shed her winter coat...

 

[Craigj247]

Yup they are alive all look a like and spreading... The lil three fingered arms seem to be reaching out almost like to pick things out of the water...

 

[AquaRick]

Actual picture.

This is the best I can do since the organisms are so small... Hope you guys can help.

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Looks like some branches of digitate hydroids.

 

[Badfishofbabylon]

I think they're a type of colonial hydroid.

Obelia

Hydroid | Learn everything there is to know about Hydroid at Reference.com

 

[Craigj247]

Wow thanks a lot guys... It is colonial hydroids... Are these bad for my Eco system? And how on earth has this started up since I think it is not a common organism for marine aquariums right?

 

[Badfishofbabylon]

I think they're pretty common, I've seen them in my fuge. That's how I knew what they were, I just looked that up about 3 months ago myself. Mine where in the medusa stage and they didn't cause any trouble so I think you'll be fine.

 

[Craigj247]

So I should just leave them alone and let them go through the motions?

Was thinking of adding a sea slug into the tank as a lot of people have done? What do you think?

 

[AquaRick]

I have some in my sump. Snails ate what moved into the DT. Not sure if hydroids are a staple of nerite snails, but I'm not complaining.

Problem with sea slugs/hares is that they're pretty sensitive to water parameters. Once they consume the algae in your tank, they need to be fed. I've owned a few and none switched over to seaweed once the algae was gone.

 

[Craigj247]

Oh ok in that case I don't want to introduce any slugs if they might die later on.... That is a crime.

I do have some banded trochus and nassarius snails.... Do you think they would work too?

 

[AquaRick]

I say just siphon them out if you can.

 

[Craigj247]

I have been doing it for quite a while now and containing it but there is no way I can get all of it out from siphoning.

Unless I get a slug from my aquarium and return it back after it has done his job?

 

[AquaRick]

That could be a possibility. Not sure what the natural predators of hydroids are otherwise I would recommend a solution.