Can you help identify please

Kyle Kelley · Jan 2, 2018

I am sure this has been asked a million times but any help is appreciated.

This little guy popped up a day ago in a new tank that my sons and i setup on dec 24. The tank is still cycling with live rock from our LFS.

Frank as my sons have named him shrinks at night and pops up during the day and sways around in the current.

Thank you for your help.

stez · Jan 2, 2018

Looks like an aiptasia anemone to me look up some pictures and if it is kill it immediately or it will spread like wild fire. I usually use a little super glue and put some in its mouth in the middle of the tentacles or use lemon juice.

Big G · Jan 2, 2018

Can we get another picture? Kinda hard to see from the picture. But it's either a feather duster = good filter feeder; or aiptasia = bad and can multiply all over the tank. Here's a link you will want to save: https://www.lionfishlair.com/hitchhikers-guide/

SaltLifer · Jan 2, 2018

stez said:
Looks like an aiptasia anemone to me look up some pictures and if it is kill it immediately or it will spread like wild fire. I usually use a little super glue and put some in its mouth in the middle of the tentacles or use lemon juice.

+1
Peppermint shrimp will eat it.

thetaggeffect · Jan 2, 2018

aiptasia (majano anemone). reef pest and will spread rapidly. i have had luck with 'aiptasia x' or concentrated kalk injections.

Kyle Kelley · Jan 2, 2018

Try this pic, hard to get a good shot with phone.

Is it too soon to put in a peppermint shrimp?

Big G · Jan 2, 2018

Aiptasia. I'd pull that individual rock out and deal with it harshly. Bleach it, boil it, lots of differing methods. The darn things are pretty tough. Just drying the rock does not work.

SaltLifer · Jan 2, 2018

I didn't catch that you just set it up. The shrimp might survive the cycle and their cheap. Probably easier at this point to just pull the rock like Big G said. Be careful boiling rocks though, If theres anything else growing on them you can run into bad stuff being released into the air (i.e. palytoxin). Rare but not worth the risk in my opinion.

Kyle Kelley · Jan 2, 2018

Thank you for everyones help, i am going to try and boil the rock tonight, maybe i will do it on the barbecue outside just in case.

scuzy · Jan 2, 2018

If you do broil make sure you do it outside any paly on there could release toxic fumes. I suggest bleaching better that broiling.

Oldsalt01 · Jan 3, 2018

Why does everyone immediately go to the "nuclear option" over aptasia? Ya, they're a PIA, and yes, they can take over a tank if left to their own devices. But, bleaching, boiling, shattering rock always seems like over-kill to me. I've had very good luck with the few I've discovered in my system by just pulling the rock or (usually) the frag and either scraping and then supergluing the spot, or forcing the little bugger into it's crevice and sealing it in with superglue. I tried Peppermint's as a front line defense, but after they ate the centers out of my new Acans, which I ultimately lost, I banished them forever from my tanks. My advice, and it's just that... advice, is: don't panic. If you can see it you can kill it, without extreme prejudice.

Paullawr · Jan 3, 2018

Big G said:
Aiptasia. I'd pull that individual rock out and deal with it harshly. Bleach it, boil it, lots of differing methods. The darn things are pretty tough. Just drying the rock does not work.

Go AIP quite literally

Paullawr · Jan 3, 2018

Oldsalt01 said:
Why does everyone immediately go to the "nuclear option" over aptasia? Ya, they're a PIA, and yes, they can take over a tank if left to their own devices. But, bleaching, boiling, shattering rock always seems like over-kill to me. I've had very good luck with the few I've discovered in my system by just pulling the rock or (usually) the frag and either scraping and then supergluing the spot, or forcing the little bugger into it's crevice and sealing it in with superglue. I tried Peppermint's as a front line defense, but after they ate the centers out of my new Acans, which I ultimately lost, I banished them forever from my tanks. My advice, and it's just that... advice, is: don't panic. If you can see it you can kill it, without extreme prejudice.

Good question. Depends on your system and neighbouring Corals.

They sting... That's what anemones.do. Glass nems spread fast. Usually if nutrients is high or feeding is high.

Its best to get rid of them sooner than later.

If you have a few but no more and happy then fine but they reproduce a sexually, laceration and by any cells left on a rock ie scrubbing.

They ain't nice. And I've seen them. Overrun in one of my higher nutrient tanks.