Tunicates? Help Needed!

[SanJoseReefer]

After doing some research, it looks like I have Tunicates that came in on a coral. It has only been a couple days and they have expanded onto my rock quickly. Everything I read says to get them out. These are on the 3rd level of my branching rock tree. I would have to take 3 levels out and it would impact more than a dozen corals that have taken to the rock in other areas. I took the coral out, but how can I get rid of the remaining tunicates on my rock without spreading them throughout my tank????

 

[Kensington Reefer]

Does not look like tunicates from here....maybe eggs?
Remove from tank and brush off with coarse toothbrush
Repeat as needed

 

[SanJoseReefer]

Definitely not eggs. When I took the coral out and looked close, they were tiny tubes. They were spreading rapidly.

 

[Turkeysammich]

You do know that when you buy coral. You’re supposed to chop the coral off the plug and remount them on a new plug. Most eggs are at the base or on plugs. This prevents hitch hikers. Dunno what it is. Unfortunately.

 

[Arvin R]

Looks like colonial tunicates. There are many different types of colonial tunicates and some are good, but these are unfortunately the invasive type that you got. Put a tooth brush on the end of a siphon tube with rubber bands and scrub and siphon them all out. As for the coral if you still have it, put it in a seperate container and scrape the hell out of the skeleton and remove it from the plug its on. I would do a double or triple saltwater bath after to make sure none follow on.

Make sure to closely inspect any new incoming coral closely outside of your main tank, dip and scrub skeletons. Or just buy corals from us. We take care of the pests for you so you don't need to worry or take the time to dip and long acclimate.

 

[tribbitt]

That’s cool, but unfortunately invasive

They’re chordates, meaning they’re more closely related to us than they are to coral :0

 

[Alexander1312]

After doing some research, it looks like I have Tunicates that came in on a coral. It has only been a couple days and they have expanded onto my rock quickly. Everything I read says to get them out. These are on the 3rd level of my branching rock tree. I would have to take 3 levels out and it would impact more than a dozen corals that have taken to the rock in other areas. I took the coral out, but how can I get rid of the remaining tunicates on my rock without spreading them throughout my tank????

Where did you get the coral from?

 

[BayAreaSaltyReefer]

I would take the rock out at all cost to remove them with brush. Is ok to piss off other coral for a little bit because if one of these got into your sump then you never can get rid of them.

 

[BAYMAC]

I would take the rock out at all cost to remove them with brush. Is ok to piss off other coral for a little bit because if one of these got into your sump then you never can get rid of them.

They tend to crash after a while. They ebbed and flowed in my tanks over the years.

 

[SFREEF3R]

Does this kind of tunicate run the risk of smothering corals? I had several species of tunicates on my live rock when I started off my tank but while many filter feeders (clams, worms etc) have persisted, the tunicates never proliferated and eventually disappeared. I love the biodiversity and have always wanted to get them back. I didn’t realize there were species of tunicates that faired so well in a typical reef tank.