2 hitchhikers on corals

[jradishness]

Hey there everyone.

I was hoping to wait to introduce ourselves and our tank until it was more than a few months old and we could report success, but we have a few hitchhikers. I hope to upload a post later this week about our tank and journey so far.

The first is on our hammer. I'm not sure if it is a snail of some kind, or if it is a juvenile hammer branch that I need to leave be. I've shown it to the LFS and they didn't seem worried, but I'd feel better if I knew what it was.

The second is below our new rhodactis. As we were checking out, the gentleman at the LFS said, "There is a really nice zoa underneath it, too." I got it home and dipped and cleaned and i'm not sure if it's actually a zoa, or an aiptasia, or some other pest, whether beneficial or otherwise.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

- Jared

 

[Malifry97]

Hey there everyone.

I was hoping to wait to introduce ourselves and our tank until it was more than a few months old and we could report success, but we have a few hitchhikers. I hope to upload a post later this week about our tank and journey so far.

The first is on our hammer. I'm not sure if it is a snail of some kind, or if it is a juvenile hammer branch that I need to leave be. I've shown it to the LFS and they didn't seem worried, but I'd feel better if I knew what it was.

The second is below our new rhodactis. As we were checking out, the gentleman at the LFS said, "There is a really nice zoa underneath it, too." I got it home and dipped and cleaned and i'm not sure if it's actually a zoa, or an aiptasia, or some other pest, whether beneficial or otherwise.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

- J

second is aiptasia I believe

 

[Wolf89]

Vermitid. Glue over hole or crush.
Palythoa. Big zoa really.You can inject it with kalk paste, but I'd personally leave it be

 

[Wolf89]

second is aiptasia I believe

Paly

 

[El_Guapo13]

As mentioned, first one on the hammer is a vermited snail. Not really bad, but they capture food by leeting out a mucus net, and the mucus net can irritate corals. They also reproduce like crazy. So probably best to crush it with some tweezers or pliers.

Second looks like a paly. I have no experience with Palys or Zoas, so ask others for how to remove it, move it to its own frag, or whatever you choose to do with it.

 

[Greg P]

Agreed first is a vermetid. Outside the tank, scrape it off and remove all residue to ensure you get the whole base.
Second does look like a Paly of some kind. You can keep it, but remove it from the Euphyllia base to avoid irritation of your new purchase.

I've had brown Palys and most are just a nuisance pest that grow like crazy without any nice looking value.

 

[Malifry97]

Paly

Yes after second look I agree!

 

[jradishness]

Thanks everyone for the quick replies and responses.
I've dealt with the snail, and think I might leave the paly be for now until it looks like it's causing any trouble to the rhodactis.

 

[Malifry97]

Thanks everyone for the quick replies and responses.
I've dealt with the snail, and think I might leave the paly be for now until it looks like it's causing any trouble to the rhodactis.

I wouldn’t leave the paly...they can take over QUICK

 

[sixty_reefer]

Second is paly. BE VERY CAREFUL IF YOU DECIDE TO REMOVE AS THEY ARE POISONOUS, GLOVES AND GOGGLES MUST BE USED READ IN PALYTOXIN BEFORE ANYTHING.