Aiptasia on my live rock??

Deljadey4 · Nov 28, 2018

Hi guys!

I’m new to marine tanks just recently set my tank up a few months ago! I was wondering if anyone could identify this strange organism on my live rock. I’ve researched it n found out that it could be Aiptasia and I must get rid of it as soon as possible??

Crabs McJones · Nov 28, 2018

Correct, Aiptasia. Remove it before it spreads.
And welcome to R2R!

#WelcometoR2R

azbigjohn · Nov 28, 2018

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Yes, that is aptasia, and yes, it is not a fun pest. be very careful how you remove it (aptasia X is my choice, but a quick search here will provide options).

Just be careful, aptasia spreads very quickly, and if "incompletely killed" it sends out spores to "save" itself, and before long you have an infestation. I actually took a 180 gallon tank completely down, dried out and acid washed the rock, and restarted it because my aptasia infestation grew to biblical proportions!

Florida Sunshine · Nov 28, 2018

Definitely the dreaded aiptasia. If you can take the rock out completely, that is your best bet to avoid spreading spores. If you can't I would hit it with Aiptasia X being careful to get in directly in the mouth and then enclose what remains in super glue. Even if you think you got it all, put a dab of super glue gel over the place where it used to be.

Deljadey4 · Nov 28, 2018

Thank you! Luckily it was only on a small piece of live rock, I’ve taken it out and removed it [emoji16][emoji16]

KJ · Nov 28, 2018

Welcome to R2R

Hexabonal · Nov 29, 2018

I had a massive infestation. Aiptasia X kills individuals but they always appear elsewhere. Peppermint shrimp picked away at them but didn't like the lead in my water. My matted filefish demolished them and showed zero interest in my sps - apparently they can nip at it ... perhaps it's a last resort, I will give him to a friend or sell him if it's ever a problem.