Aiptasia?

VR28man · Nov 30, 2017

Found this hitchhiking anemone in the sandbed suddenly today, attached to a small piece of rubble.

Is this an aiptasia, majano, or other pest anemone? I've taken the piece of rubble out and put in in its seperate beeker.

It's about half an inch high. Any idea how long it takes to grow this big?

(sorry, I don't have a proper macro camera, this is the best I could get with my phone)

SDReefer · Nov 30, 2017

Looks like Aiptasia. If it's on a piece of rubble, I would just toss it out/let it dry in the sun. Even if you don't see them in your tank, consider investing in a peppermint shrimp to get rid of any unseen anemones.

DSC reef · Nov 30, 2017

Definitely aptaisia. Remove it if you can.

VR28man · Nov 30, 2017

Thanks. I'll pass by the LFS today, so i'll grab a Peppermint shrimp. Maybe I'll put it in the beeker first ........

Jason mack · Nov 30, 2017

VR28man said:
Thanks. I'll pass by the LFS today, so i'll grab a Peppermint shrimp. Maybe I'll put it in the beeker first ........

With a peppermint shrimp it’s hit and miss if they will eat them or not ..

VR28man · Nov 30, 2017

Jason mack said:
With a peppermint shrimp it’s hit and miss if they will eat them or not ..

That's why I'm going to put it in the beaker first. If it doesn't it's false advertising and I wanna refund.

. (Kidding - seriously, I know. I'm not going to be this flippant)

VR28man · Dec 1, 2017

Update just FYI: it attached itself to the beaker wall. I tried to move it to a larger beaker (that the shrimp could fit in); it was resistant of course and in contending with it inadvertently tore it apart. So far, it has not regenerated itself at all over two days, probably because in the beaker the (nonexistant) flow and lack of nutrients do not give it good prospects for growth (it is under a Kessil though). Suggesting that Aiptasia need those things to become pests.

As for the peppermint shrimp, I got it plus a cleaner shrimp and a turbo snail. They've gone to town on a lot of my tank's excess algae, to the point that I'll have to start feeding them soon. Too bad that I cleared out a lot of excess algae this week; I could have left it to them. (But they would have given back in the form of poop, though.

)