HYDROIDS?? HELP PLEASE!!

[CrGiants]

I'm sorry I don't have any pictures to show, so I'll just have to describe, if you can bear with me.
Throughout a sea fan and to a plant, there is a "trail" of tiny white dots on a strand that is equivalent to that from a spider wed. It looks like a trail of dots wrapped and woven around parts of the fan. Near the water surface, several little white dots are scurrying back and forth, and are perhaps hatching from the strand of dots previously mentioned. None of this was here last night. Are these hydroids?
Help?? Please? They are about the same size as copepods, but do not look like copepods. Do hydroids swim rapidly around?

Thanks,

Cliff

 

[nuff40]

if these are hydroids (do thye resemble a tiny jellyfish?), then they should be fine. I had them in my seahorse tank, and was told by Dr. Ron Shimek that they would not harm anything. Never did see any larger than a pin head.

david

 

[CrGiants]

Thanks for the reply! I can't really tell. They are no bigger than copepods, but they have a different shape than copepods, and hang out at the water's surface. It looks like they have a body and maybe little legs or tentacles, but they are too small to determine. They just scurry around the surface and it seems like they reproduce like crazy. I am worried because they are in a small tank with dwarf seahorses (H. zosterae).

Cliff

 

[Chucker]

CrGiants, there are a few pics of hydroids in the HHFAQ. What you can sounds more like one of the various 'pods, or mysids. Youcan find more details and pics of them in the HHFAQ too.

 

[CrGiants]

Thanks for the response and site Chucker. I'm still looking. The things I have seem to be attracted to light. It seems though they are nowhere to be found, and as soon as the light goes on, they are at the top of the tank. I only see them swimming, and they reproduce like crazy, which is what alarmed me. I'm hoping these are totally harmless.