Weird Thing on Glass

[new2reef]

Hi, I'm new to SW. Just finished third week of cycle.

 

The LR and LS seems to have a lot of life. I just noticed about 9 or 10 of these on glass, among the swarms of pods (good things).

 

Are they hydroid jellyfish or glass anemones? I know I received some aiptasia on cured LR, but the Peppermint Shrimp is working on it (one down, one to go).

 

Glass Anemones are bad, but are hydroids okay? Thanks for any help.

 

 

[BKtomodachi]

They are most likely hydroids as you have said, and harmless.

[circusordie16]

hydroids

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=132956

[c est ma]

These hydroid medusae are harmless. Enjoy them while they last!

 

--Diane

[Chris333]

I must have a thousand of them on my glass.

 

Enjoy them while they last!

 

Does this mean I won't have to clean them off my glass forever?

[c est ma]

I would never clean them off. But then, I've never had a "bloom," just a few at a time.

 

Don't you think they're fascinating to watch? Have you looked at them through a magnifying lens?

 

--Diane

[Chris333]

Horrible pic, but each of these white spots is one of these hydroids:

 

 

 

http://www.ronshimek.com/images/Animals/Cn...taurocladia.jpg

 

The animals are between one and two millimeters in diameter. These are organisms which are turning out to be relatively common. They are crawling hydroid jellyfishes, which do not swim, but rather move around the tank sort of like a small, soft, slow spider. They move by fastening on to the substrate with their adhesive patches. The tentacles are tipped with concentrations of nematocysts. There is a red eyespot at the base of each tentacle. These organisms become quite abundant in some reef systems, and then rapidly disappear without a trace.

 

A Japanese researcher, Dr. Yayoi Hirano, provided the following information:

 

"They are crawling hydromedusae, in the species Staurocladia oahuensis. There are about 15 species of this genus known in the world. All of them have branched tentacles, and can adhere to substrata, such as algae, by the tentacles, with the surface with eyespots facing upward. The tip of the lower branches are used for adhesion, and the upper branches have a few or more (depending on species) nematocyst clusters. Arrangement of the nematocyst clusters is a key to identify species. They reproduce asexually either by budding or fission, so under favorable conditions they often can become abundant in aquariums. This species has been found in a fish farm and also in a abalone aquaculture center in Japan. It seems the species has a high rate of asexual reproduction under favorable conditions. Even one jellyfish accidentally introduced in an aquarium may increase in a population of hundreds within a few months if the conditions are really good. It is also very possible that the polyp stage of the species lives on corals or rocks which may be brought into the aquaria. The polyps may form a dense colony if it is provided with much food. Within a short time the number of polyps may be very large, and the polyps may produce many jellyfish. The jellyfish and polyps will eat Artemia nauplii and copepods."

[c est ma]

Chris,

 

Wow, that is a lot! I guess I might scrape them if I had that many, too. Also, I have only had the kind that can swim, not the crawlers...plus I sometimes have something that I think is a ctenophore medusa.

 

FWIW, here's a grab bag of hydroid links & pics I keep in a file. There is indeed at least one type of hydroid (polyp stage) that can become a real pest, and various people have various opinions of the other kinds of "brown hydroids." Mine are not invasive...when they seem to be too close to a coral and are bothering it, I just pull out those hydoids (again, talking about the polyp stage).

 

Well, the links, unsorted (one of them is the article you quote, I believe):

 

********************************************************************

Shimek article with pics of “dots with legs”

http://www.ronshimek.com/Animal%20Groups%2...0Cnidarians.htm

 

 

Shimek hydroid article

http://web.archive.org/web/20020815020152/.../wb/default.asp

 

 

wetwebmedia page with pics & descriptions of hydroid and other tiny medusae (inc. a pic of one that resembles my no-tentacle medusa)

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/jellyidfaqs.htm

 

wetwebmedia pages, hydroid FAQs

http://wetwebmedia.com/hyzoanidfaq.htm

http://wetwebmedia.com/hyzoanidfaq2.htm

(Note: last example on last page WRONG—it’s a ctenophore, not a hydroid)

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/jellyidfaqs.htm

 

 

Colonial athecate hydroids (scroll down to 4th pic)

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-j...cnidarians.html

 

N-R threads re brown hydroids

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...c=82630&hl=

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...c=81306&hl=

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...&hl=hydroid

 

 

 

my brown hydroids

http://img490.imageshack.us/img490/1976/dscn1185small8co.jpg

 

 

pics of my white hydroid w/ ball-tipped tentacles

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/3348/ds...10medium6fb.jpg

 

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/4388/ds...15medium9kw.jpg

 

Pic of one of my white hydroid medusa

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/2143/ds...pedlargeig7.jpg

 

Some of my tiny white hydroid polyps on LR

http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/3071/ds...hcircles4cu.jpg

 

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/1604/ds...3croppedye7.jpg

 

 

“The Double Life of Obelia”

http://web.archive.org/web/20011222212937/...l98/obelia.html

 

 

N-R thread with various links:

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=135701

 

************************************************************

 

It does seem to be the case that these blooms happen early in the tank's history, but don't tend to repeat, at least not in the same numbers. IME most of the tiny hydroids, esp. the white ones (polyp stage), are poor competitors with the other things we add to our tanks.

 

--Diane

[new2reef]

Thanks to all for the helpful responses - both on confirming identification (I stumbled upon hydroids in this forum, but wanted to confirm), and for all the additional info.

 

Bottom line, they are normal in new tanks and nature will take care of itself! Wonder what's next?

[IrieReefer]

Sweet,

 

I have this same issue and I have been up in running for about 2 weeks. I also have some green things that looks similar but with long hair like tentacles or maybe hair algae of some sort but in patches like the jelly fish

[c est ma]

Thanks to all for the helpful responses - both on confirming identification (I stumbled upon hydroids in this forum, but wanted to confirm), and for all the additional info.

 

Bottom line, they are normal in new tanks and nature will take care of itself! Wonder what's next?

 

 

Be sure to let us know!

 

 

Sweet,

 

I have this same issue and I have been up in running for about 2 weeks. I also have some green things that looks similar but with long hair like tentacles or maybe hair algae of some sort but in patches like the jelly fish

 

 

Sounds like the also common filamentous algae...you may need to scrape this off if your view is significantly degraded...eventually you will probably be adding clean-up crew members that will take care of this.

 

--Diane

[Militant Jurist]

I've had a LOT in my tank for a bit now. Probably 30 or so on the glass, and a lot in the water. It makes it look like there is all sorts of junk in the water, but it's just these little critters.

[spirasol]

So that's what they are. I had a really dense colony on the glass but ever since I scraped them off they don't seem to be multiplying back.

[findmeinastreet]

Thanks so much! I have hundreds of these things in my tank and I couldn't figure out what they were.

[skydive]

new2reef thanks for the thread

 

My tank has been running for a little over a month.

I didn't notice them yesterday (don't know how) and now there are thousands of them everywhere. Somewhere up there it says they eat copepods. That explains why there's dead pods stuck on the back of the glass. Yay I have jellyfishes!

 

 

Edited: I don't want jellyfishes anymore. When do these mysteriously go away and never come back?!?

[new2reef]

Glad this thread was helpful to others - it was very helpful to me. Jellyfish poulation stayed small and disappearred after a few days, though I know there's still some in there.

 

Other things that have appearred are small tube worms, stomatella snails, hair worms, bristleworms (many small ones and one that's 2"), tons of pods (they are multiplying like mad - no fish yet)...

 

...and tonight a small starfish made it's first appearance! Hopefully this is not a danger to the few corals I have (zoas, ric and mushrooms).

 

Thanks.

[dmattlin]

Just dropping in here...

My tank is days old.. I think I have had a VERY minimal cycle.. tonight when checking things out I noticed the same white things all over my glass. Since they are harmless I am not too worried about them. But I do have a few questions:

 

1) Do these hydroid medusae generaly occure pre or post cycle?

2) Do water params make a difference to these creatures?

 

If these are any indication that my cycle may be completed I will definatly start to stock the tank.

 

THanks

[new2reef]

Mine appeared when, I believe, my cycle was over (params all zero, and only a slight Nitrate bump since). Did you start with uncured or cured LR? If cured, your cycle will speed up considerably. I had a mixture of cured and uncured LR. I did not do a water change till my params were zero for a week.

 

All my hitchers have survived, so I'd say my cycle was over. I now only see the jellies when I turn off pumps for water change - 5 or 6 will float to top. Over last few days, new hitchers have appeared - four starfish and a brittlestar.

 

I'm a newbie, so hopefully someone more experienced will chime in to confirm - good luck!

 

Here's a photo of tank at peak of cycle - brown algae:

 

 

Here's one today. My CUC (all are in view - 2 Trochus, 1 Nerite, bristleworms and 100s of pods) took care of all the algae! I've slowly been adding corals (Zoas, Mushrooms & a Yellow Ric on right - it was loose, so using netting to restrain). It's barren, but trying to add slowly:

 

[mp216]

I have some of these in my tank too (at least they look the same). My favorite thing to do is to take my turkey baster and gently blow them off of the glass, when they are free floating you can see them swim and move, just like little jelly fish (as these are jelly fish, as far as I know). Maybe its just me, but I think these little guys are endlessly fascinating.