First coral frags - few questions

lysaer · Jul 9, 2015

For better or for worse, I picked up some coral frags when my LFS had everything on sale. I think I'm glad I had to put them in a QT, because some stuff is showing up I didn't see originally.

First off, this little guy is crawling quite actively around this zoa frag when the lights are off - looks like 2 legs of some type of starfish...asterina maybe?
https://goo.gl/photos/ZNZfEcaFYmC6gJKc8

My Australian prism favia has developed a reddish fringe/thread/something that has worked its way from the outside corner around to the center of the mouth(?):
https://goo.gl/photos/vU2bgpzgBzFWMU587

Also, I think that's an aiptasia on the right side of it?

Pardon the bad focus on this picture, I'll try to get the glass cleaned a bit so it shows up better when I get home from work and the polyps are still open, but I have NO clue what kind of coral this is. Under the actinic/UV light the stalks are purple and the tentacles at the top are neon green:
https://goo.gl/photos/hvQT4RTpZHdAAzoB9

Finally, this little colony of what I thought were zoas but I'm not sure now, they don't open and I'm wondering if they're dead. I didn't know what an aiptasia was when I got this frag and thought the giant tree-looking thing was supposed to be there and I don't think the LFS guy noticed it because he was super swamped with the sale. At times this guy has extended out at least an inch and when I fed them he's visibly moving to pull in the food. There's several other smaller versions of it on the same piece of rock.

https://goo.gl/photos/ewjNS1Ekxxy48Uhu5

I'm going by the LFS today to get water and some Reef dip just to be on the safe side. My display tank won't be ready for these guys for probably another week. I'll also take some better pics when I get home while the zoas are still open.

ksfulk · Jul 9, 2015

1.) Looks like an asterina to me

2.) Looks like its expelling waste, but its hard to see in the picture. Definately an aiptasia on the frag

3.) Not sure on this one.... is it soft or hard? Soft, it could be a leather - hard it might be a porcillopora? Just taking a guess there

4.) Either some small zoas or green star polyps. Big aiptasia on that one too.

Easiest thing to do for the aiptasia frags is if the aiptasia is on the frag plug, remove the coral from the plug and glue it to a new plug. Problem solved, and you never have to risk the aiptasia getting into your tank. Coral dips wont get rid of them.

lysaer · Jul 9, 2015

#3 seems soft...they're...well, they wave in the water flow. I don't think it's a leather, it has tentacles that emerge during the day from the tips of all the polyps that you can kinda see in this pic. I'll definitely get pics when I get home.

The aipstasias on #4 are going to be hard to remove - it's on a piece of rock, and the aipstasias are growing from the coral itself, not the rock. The other frags are all on plugs. Good to know on dips not helping them...guess my best bet is to re-home the ones that are on plugs, add a bit of rock to the QT and introduce a peppermint shrimp to the QT before everything gets moved to the big tank?

ksfulk · Jul 9, 2015

I took a better look at it on something that wasnt my phone... looks like it might be a clove polyp or something similar like a pipe organ.

The aiptasia problem on #4 might be best solved by attempting to peel the coral off of the rock (gsp and zoas can be removed in this manner most of the time) and then tossing the rock or whatever you cant remove. Most new reef keepers have enough problems without having to willfully introduce them. If you are bound and determined to keep that frag and nothing else works, I've had good success with Aiptasia-X. It doesnt work every time, but if you're keeping the frag in a quarratine, then you can observe and treat the frag from there. You could also attempt to super glue over the aiptasia, but if you dont get the whole thing, you are begging for more trouble.

lysaer · Jul 9, 2015

Ooh, looking at pipe organ pictures I think you're right! Some of those look a lot like what it looks like fully open. I love the grown in look of that! Good pick, me.

I'm not dead set on keeping the rock, I just wasn't sure how difficult it would be to remove the coral from it...it's kind of encrusted around the corners and edges already. Could I pull the aiptasias off with tweezers, then glue over where it was?

ksfulk · Jul 9, 2015

lysaer said:
Ooh, looking at pipe organ pictures I think you're right! Some of those look a lot like what it looks like fully open. I love the grown in look of that! Good pick, me.

I'm not dead set on keeping the rock, I just wasn't sure how difficult it would be to remove the coral from it...it's kind of encrusted around the corners and edges already. Could I pull the aiptasias off with tweezers, then glue over where it was?

Glad to help! Here's a shot of the pipe organ colony from my last tank.

As for the aiptasia - you can always try. What I would suggest is that you remove the frag from the tank and into a small container of tank water (like a plastic bowl or tupperware) and then remove as much of the aiptasia as you can out of the water (pocket knife might work better than the tweezers, so you can scrape it off). Then put a coating of super glue (any cyanoacrylate glue will work, but gel works the best underwater), then dip the coral in the water so the glue "skins" over and let it rest for five minutes so it can start to harden. Then rinse off the frag over a sink (to rinse away any little bits you might have missed) before returning it to the tank. It might work, might not. Dont get discouraged though, and keep asking for help! Good Luck!

lysaer · Jul 9, 2015

Thanks! I know what I'll be doing tonight.

lysaer · Jul 9, 2015

Y'all, it's freaking impressive how an aiptasia can shrink in on itself when threatened. From the size of a quarter to the size of a pin. BUT I STILL GOT IT. Muahahaha.

lysaer · Jul 10, 2015

Ok, I think this is a better picture of the possible pipe organ coral, and I think that's a good call on the ID, @ksfulk!

https://goo.gl/photos/nnRsW1Lu22g7KZ639

ksfulk · Jul 10, 2015

lysaer said:
Ok, I think this is a better picture of the possible pipe organ coral, and I think that's a good call on the ID, @ksfulk!

https://goo.gl/photos/nnRsW1Lu22g7KZ639

Happy I could help! Sounds like the aiptasia hunting when well too. Keep an eye out all around that tank for little guys, as they can appear from even a small amount of tissue that didnt get scraped or glued over. That little frag will look great once it goes in a bit more - mine looked pretty rangey for a while before it took off too. Happy reefing!

lysaer · Jul 11, 2015

Morning coral inspection shows me to be mostly aiptasia free, but I noticed a couple strange things on this rock fragment...or kinda in!

First is a worm looking critter?

https://goo.gl/photos/AFxFV8tzM4TqWXgCA

And then there's this bright pink bit that looks like an itty bitty stony maybe? Pardon the crap focus, I tried three different cameras and my phone before I got THIS good a picture. It's a tiny, tiny bit of pink.

https://goo.gl/photos/shJoxHRCLnzNxY1g9

lysaer · Jul 11, 2015

Btw, on the first picture there I'm talking about the tubeworm looking thing inside the rock, not the thready bits that are very likely rogue cat hairs.