any fish that eat digitate hydroids, or something that will?

Reef Puffer · #1 03-12-2012, 06:30 PM

looking for something that will eat digitate hydroids. preferably a small fish that can live happily with my current fish in my dt for years to come...

40 gal dt (upgrade very soon)
pink/blue spotted goby/pistal pair
old black molly
very small yellow tang
small scooter dragonet
young maroon clown
snails and hermits
some acans
my finger coral
pseudocorynactis and other random hitchhiker Corallimorphs/mushrooms?

please help, these worms are breeding fast and seem to bother the couple corals i do have. thanks.

marie · #2 03-12-2012, 06:33 PM

All my angels ate them (potters, cherub, black and regal) but non of them were reefsafe and polyps of any description were fair game

whatcaneyedo · #3 03-12-2012, 06:39 PM

I've never heard of anything available to us that eats them (edit: spoke too soon). Although there are probably species of nudibranch that do... I say that because there seems to be a nudibranch for everything. What I have heard of people doing is burning them off of the rock with a torch. A small butane torch should work but in one instance a friend of mine used a large propane tiger torch to burn them off of +200lbs of his live rock.

Reef Puffer · #4 03-12-2012, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whatcaneyedo

I've never heard of anything available to us that eats them (edit: spoke too soon). Although there are probably species of nudibranch that do... I say that because there seems to be a nudibranch for everything. What I have heard of people doing is burning them off of the rock with a torch. A small butane torch should work but in one instance a friend of mine used a large propane tiger torch to burn them off of +200lbs of his live rock.

seems a little drastic at this point (beeing only a couple dozen worms), i could see it for colonial hydroids or when the digitates get really bad. was just hoping there was something that eats them seeing that there is only a couple worms here and there (but on every rock). ide hate to pull out and torch every rock for a few worms on each... but will definatly keep that in mind if i cant figure it out before they get extreme. thanks.

Reef Puffer · #5 03-12-2012, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marie

All my angels ate them (potters, cherub, black and regal) but non of them were reefsafe and polyps of any description were fair game

hopefully reef safe fish... not like im having much luck with the corals so far anyways... thanks

whatcaneyedo · #6 03-12-2012, 07:31 PM

FYI Hydroids are from the Phylum Cnidaria meaning they are a coral not a worm.

If you only have a few on each rock torching sounds pretty easy to me. You don't have to baste the rock in flame killing everything with a tiger torch. You can just zap the individuals with a little butane torch and leave the rest of the rock untouched.

Just like the other pests (aptasia, majano, flatworms, red bugs, bubble algae etc) its a lot easer to deal with them when you first spot them than to wait until they take over. Long term natural control with a fish that eats undesirable coral but not desirable coral sounds pretty unlikely especially in a small tank with territorial fish like a clown and tang.

Reef Puffer · #7 03-12-2012, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whatcaneyedo

FYI Hydroids are from the Phylum Cnidaria meaning they are a coral not a worm.

If you only have a few on each rock torching sounds pretty easy to me. You don't have to baste the rock in flame killing everything with a tiger torch. You can just zap the individuals with a little butane torch and leave the rest of the rock untouched.

Just like the other pests (aptasia, majano, flatworms, red bugs, bubble algae etc) its a lot easer to deal with them when you first spot them than to wait until they take over. Long term natural control with a fish that eats undesirable coral but not desirable coral sounds pretty unlikely especially in a small tank with territorial fish like a clown and tang.

thanks. i assumed they were a worm but a coral would make more sense. was hoping for a little worm eating fish but as always in this hobby..., things are never easy. apparenly i am having luck with my corals, just not the ones ide hoped.. thanx again!!