Aptasia identification?

Roccopaul · Dec 15, 2021

Hello all,

I’m super new. Currently cycling a 55 gallon with around 90lb dry and 10lb live I’ve noticed some life. I can’t tell if all of this is aptasia or some of it. I’m hoping someone can help identify this stuff so I know how to proceed.

Lastly, this I don’t think is aptasia, but haven’t been able to figure out what it is.

Thank you for helping!

PeterC99 · Dec 15, 2021

Yep aiptasi! Copperband is a great way to get rid of it.

JPM San Diego · Dec 15, 2021

I disagree. The last two pictures are clearly not aiptasia. The first picture also seems to show a coral skeleton; therefore not aiptaisa

Max H. · Dec 15, 2021

The first pictures look like aptasia. The last 2 might be some kind of coral though.

Roccopaul · Dec 15, 2021

JPM San Diego said:
I disagree. The last two pictures are clearly not aiptasia. The first picture also seems to show a coral skeleton; therefore not aiptaisa

That first picture I been back and forth because the tendrils are acting much different than anything else. Here is another picture of that first group hiding and not fully extended.

fish farmer · Dec 15, 2021

The first one are two cup corals, common on Florida live rock. The last two pictures are other types of stony corals found on live rock.

Pictures 2 and 3 are anemones, not completely sure they are aips, maybe majanos or curly cues?

SaltyT · Dec 15, 2021

Pic 1 is cup coral
Pics 2 and 3 are Corkscrew/ Curlique anemones
Pics 4 and 5 are a type of tube coral commonly found on gulf live rock

Oldreefer44 · Dec 15, 2021

IMO, first three are definitely pest anemones. Others are corals. Likely several more. Numerous threads on them with several mechanical options presented. I have only been successful using natural predators.

SaltyT · Dec 15, 2021

Roccopaul said:
Hello all,

I’m super new. Currently cycling a 55 gallon with around 90lb dry and 10lb live I’ve noticed some life. I can’t tell if all of this is aptasia or some of it. I’m hoping someone can help identify this stuff so I know how to proceed.

Lastly, this I don’t think is aptasia, but haven’t been able to figure out what it is.

Thank you for helping!

This looks like gulf or FL live rock to me. Where did you get it from? Rest assured none of the hitchhikers you posted are true aiptasia. I have a few corkscrew/curlique nems on my gulf live rock too. They do not spread like aiptasia but will get bigger over time and are capable of moving around your rock work like other anemones. You'll probably notice even more things on the rock over time. My gulf rock is 2 years old and I still find cool things popping up on it. Enjoy!

Roccopaul · Dec 15, 2021

SaltyT said:
This looks like gulf or FL live rock to me. Where did you get it from? Rest assured none of the hitchhikers you posted are true aiptasia. I have a few corkscrew/curlique nems on my gulf live rock too. They do not spread like aiptasia but will get bigger over time and are capable of moving around your rock work like other anemones. You'll probably notice even more things on the rock over time. My gulf rock is 2 years old and I still find cool things popping up on it. Enjoy!

Yes, the 90lb dry rock is from ARC and the 10lbs live rock is the deco version from gulfliverock.

SaltyT · Dec 15, 2021

Roccopaul said:
Yes, the 90lb dry rock is from ARC and the 10lbs live rock is the deco version from gulfliverock.

Awesome stuff! They have a hitchhiker ID section on their website check it out as you notice more stuff:

Gulf Live Rock.com

gulfliverock.com

Roccopaul · Dec 16, 2021

Thanks for all of the input everyone. I have one last one I found. It’s got a barbed like appearance. Any ideas?

Duncan62 · Dec 16, 2021

fish farmer said:
The first one are two cup corals, common on Florida live rock. The last two pictures are other types of stony corals found on live rock.

Pictures 2 and 3 are anemones, not completely sure they are aips, maybe majanos or curly cues?

One looks similar to baby rf.

Duncan62 · Dec 16, 2021

Roccopaul said:
Yes, the 90lb dry rock is from ARC and the 10lbs live rock is the deco version from gulfliverock.

Like above, I'm still finding creatures 2 years later. Baby rock flower maybe in one pic? Get a peppermint shrimp and he'll pick out the bad ones. And maybe a few that aren't. Lol. Enjoy

SaltyT · Dec 16, 2021

Roccopaul said:
Thanks for all of the input everyone. I have one last one I found. It’s got a barbed like appearance. Any ideas?

Those are the tentacles of a little sea cucumber. Another cool critter sometimes found on gulf live rock.

Duncan62 · Dec 16, 2021

SaltyT said:
Those are the tentacles of a little sea cucumber. Another cool critter sometimes found on gulf live rock.

Good catch. I use kp primarily because of hitchhikers. Love the free creatures

TnFishwater98 · Dec 16, 2021

I can tell that’s LR from the Gulf. None of those are the dreaded Glass Aiptasia. I have those in my tanks. Nothing to worry about.

Most people seem to yell Aiptasia when it’s not a BTA or LTA they usually see in their LFS

TnFishwater98 · Dec 16, 2021

Sexy shrimp hosting one. There are several species of these anemones. I’ve noticed one species does reproduce more (not invasive) than another species that hasn’t reproduced yet. You can PM if interested and I can send pics of the different species and t we lol you which one reproduced more. I haven’t try to kill any of them but if you wanted to get rid of a few I’m sure Aiptasia X would work ....