[Foos]

Hey all.

I've got a 7g AGA bowfront set up and running nicely, however, I think I have a pest...

On the top of one of my rocks (and rapidly spreading) are a bunch of tiny brownish polyps. I originally thought them to be aptasia (they are VERY small, and were difficult to see) as they were spreading quickly and growing quickly.

So - for my first real inhabitant (besides a few hermits) I got a peppermint shrimp. During the day, they guy always hides in this little cave, and at night I'm not sure how adventuresome he is because the red flashlight scares the cr*p out of him.

But, there is no evidence that he's eating the polyps. So... I think I might have misdiagnosed, and actually have hydroids. How to I remove 'em?

Also, water chemistry was good on Wednesday, but I lost a snail yesterday and the yellow polyps I have all retracted. Now, while they were 100% open before, they are all about 50% open. Ammonia spike? Should I do a water change? To close to the light (at the top of the tank)? And - why are there always one or two snails on their backs on the sand bed every morning? I'm getting tired of righting them on a daily basis. Is the peppermint shrimp being aggressive at night?

Anyway, thanks for the help. I've got a handful of 2 mega-pixel digital photographs I'm going to try and shrink down so I can post 'em here.

Cheers,
Brian