Possible Ways To Kill Hydroids

[Squishie89]

So I have come up with a list of possible ways to kill hydroids. I would love you guys' input on this. I have a flowerpot colony that got infested and is slowly dying, but is also currently being my guinea pig as this colony is easy moved around. I have set up my quarantine tank so I can test on the coral freely without any affect to my display tank from any testing. So here is a list I have compiled, with some help from my other thread. If you have any more ideas I am happy to hear them. Obviously the main goal here is to kill the hydroids and not the coral.

 

-Starvation via lack of light or lack of nutrients (I am currently trying this in the QT with some clumps of hydroids I was able to remove, I am only trying lack of nutrients at the moment though)
-Use of NOPOX as a dip/bath for infected areas
-Use of NOPOX in the tank in high amounts
-Use of Tech-M to raise the magnessium
-Use of straight hydrogen peroxide as a dip/bath for infected areas
-Freshwater dip/bath (either whole coral or just for infected areas)
-Vinegar dip/bath for infected areas
-High salinity water
-Low salinity water
-High temperature water
-Low temperature water
-Boiling water dip/bath for infected areas
-Urchin
-Chocolate Chip Sea Star
-Camel Shrimp
-Nudibranch (unfortunately hard to come by

[Sharkey18]

I don't mean to highjack, but are these hydroids? 

 

[Squishie89]

I don't mean to highjack, but are these hydroids? 

 

 

Yes, those are called Colonial Hydroids. I would remove.

Edited June 27, 2014 by Squishie89

[gmerek2]

I must have had a different kind. I did away with them by weeding the garden. Simply pulling them off the rocks every chance I got with my fingers. If they were in a crevice I would take a heavy duty needle and scrape em out. Kalk paste as Tom mention to me will smother them. And that worked for what I couldn't manually remove

[John Ford]

I don't mean to highjack, but are these hydroids?

 

They almost look like feather dusters from my phone. I guess you could get the two mixed up easy then eh?

 

I would recommend not using boiling water. I've heard bad things about toxins getting in the vapor and people inhaling them. Here's one article found at a different site

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2253493

[Mattiejay6]

Acid bath with the rocks

[zygote2k]

Filefish eat them.

[Sharkey18]

Cool. I have a filefish and I'll see if he eats them and report back. 

 

I've left them alone cause they re really pretty. 

 

I would't boil them or you could end up Outlawed. ( a la Steve Outlaw)

[Neto]

I think there is a zeovit additive that kills them.

[sen5241b]

I must have had a different kind. I did away with them by weeding the garden. Simply pulling them off the rocks every chance I got with my fingers. If they were in a crevice I would take a heavy duty needle and scrape em out. Kalk paste as Tom mention to me will smother them. And that worked for what I couldn't manually remove

 

Also, try kalk paste over top of them.

[Jason Rhoads]

Remove by hand if they are not too numerous. 

[dave w]

I thought hydroids were a lot smaller.  Are there different sizes and species?

[Squishie89]

Hand/manual removal is not an option here as they put down roots into the skeletons.

If I were to cover the exposed skeleton of a flowerpot with kalk paste/super glue would the coral be able to recover?

 

Recent photos of the hydroids- http://wamas.org/forums/topic/66892-redoing-my-90g-reef/page-2?do=findComment&comment=601288

Edited June 28, 2014 by Squishie89

[dave w]

The small colonial ones that are linked in a chain are more like the ones I used to have.  I haven't had the aiptasia types, but then again it has been a while since I had a working tank.