What is growing in my Zoa!?!?!

[bsquaredX2]

Hello! Recently noticed I had a couple things growing on my zoa… you can see the larger one and then a smaller on on the side. Any ideas on what this could be?

 

[DanyL]

That's Aiptasia, a pest anemone.
It reproduces quite fast and can take over your tank if not treated.
There is a good amount of information and treatment recommendations you can find on the forums. and all over the internet.

 

[Stephen8169301]

They say peppermint shrimp eat it never tried don’t pull it or pinch it will reproduce

 

[Just John]

Whether you decide to treat it in or out of the water, irritate the zoas or turn out the lights so they will close before applying any products to the aiptasia.

 

[DanyL]

They say peppermint shrimp eat it never tried don’t pull it or pinch it will reproduce

Peppermints may also cause them to reproduce faster unfortunately.
If were going with a natural eradication methods than a Berghia would be the most effective, however I wouldn't recommend to go overboard for a just a few aiptesias.

 

[Rp8]

Aiptasia x has worked for me when they are in close proximity to zoas. File fish will work better tho.

 

[Stephen8169301]

Aiptasia x has worked for me when they are in close proximity to zoas. File fish will work better tho.

I used a filefish for mine but then he went rouge and went for coral and then took a big nip out of my clowns tail and that was the trip back to the lfs for him lol

 

[Stephen8169301]

Peppermints may also cause them to reproduce faster unfortunately.
If were going with a natural eradication methods than a Berghia would be the most effective, however I wouldn't recommend to go overboard for a just a few aiptesias.

Yeah I’m not sure how good they are but that is useful info to me thank you I used file fish took about a week then got him out of tank

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

How long have you had that coral? Unless you are very attached to it, I would pull the rock out of the tank before its too late. Its probably already too late.......

Frag the zoa onto another rock and then put the rock in bleach water, that will kill the aptaisia.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Hello! Recently noticed I had a couple things growing on my zoa… you can see the larger one and then a smaller on on the side. Any ideas on what this could be?

This may help you with future IDs...

What is that!! A R2R guide to common new tank hitchhikers.

One of the greatest things about starting a reef tank is getting your live rock in and admiring all the diversity within it. The rock comes to life different creatures. This is a guide that I, along with a very well known critter identifier @KJ , have put together for the new reefer on what...

www.reef2reef.com

There is also a sticky thread about dealing with Aiptasia.

 

[Deep Dive Aquatics]

It looks like aptasia

Hello! Recently noticed I had a couple things growing on my zoa… you can see the larger one and then a smaller on on the side. Any ideas on what this could be?

Since there's what looks like two and you seem to have a new tank and not many corals I would pull out the coral and cover the aptasia with thick super glue. The if you have something to magnify what you are looking at it will be pretty easy to tell the aptasia from the coral because it's a more brown color that will likely turn into almost a dot out of water. Good luck!

 

[bsquaredX2]

Thank you everyone for all the helpful responses! I was afraid it was an aiptasia... It's a pretty new coral so I will get it out of the tank and get them removed hopefully!

 

[bsquaredX2]

How long have you had that coral? Unless you are very attached to it, I would pull the rock out of the tank before its too late. Its probably already too late.......

Frag the zoa onto another rock and then put the rock in bleach water, that will kill the aptaisia.

I will get it out of the tank asap and hopefully get them killed off!

 

[bsquaredX2]

Would anyone recommend doing a peroxide dip before trying to hit them with some thick super glue?

 

[Troylee]

Would anyone recommend doing a peroxide dip before trying to hit them with some thick super glue?

You can it won’t hurt.. them rocks are super clean! Is this a brand new set up? Doesn’t even looked cycled lol..

 

[bsquaredX2]

You can it won’t hurt.. them rocks are super clean! Is this a brand new set up? Doesn’t even looked cycled lol..

Yes it's only a month old tank. When I purchased the setup I also bought my saltwater out of my lfs tanks. It's been getting some cyano in the afternoon hours. Hopefully adding what I have wasn't a mistake! My lfs told me i'd be good to go

 

[DanyL]

Did they also provide any seeded media/live rocks?

 

[bsquaredX2]

Did they also provide any seeded media/live rocks?

It wasn't live rock. Just the live sand, dry rock, and also some additive they wanted me to put in. I honestly can't remember the name but I can check when I'm back home. They said id be able to add fish 2 days after once the cloudiness was gone. I waited to add my stuff for a few weeks though.

 

[Troylee]

It wasn't live rock. Just the live sand, dry rock, and also some additive they wanted me to put in. I honestly can't remember the name but I can check when I'm back home. They said id be able to add fish 2 days after once the cloudiness was gone. I waited to add my stuff for a few weeks though.

Did you feed the tank or anything? It’s possible they gave you ammonia to dose. If they did and you waited a couple weeks you might be okay.. if it was just bacteria such as mb7 you might have some problems.. is there any fish in it?

 

[DanyL]

It wasn't live rock. Just the live sand, dry rock, and also some additive they wanted me to put in. I honestly can't remember the name but I can check when I'm back home. They said id be able to add fish 2 days after once the cloudiness was gone. I waited to add my stuff for a few weeks though.

It probably isn't terribly bad, but isn't optimal either.
You should be aware that your system is still cycling and you may experience all sort of things in the coming month or so. I assume (or hope) like @Troylee that the LFS at least gave you ammonia to speed up the nitrogen cycle.

If it was me, I wouldn't put much trust in this LFS or particular seller in the future.
They should've explained every tiny bit of the process to you, or at least direct you to a good source of information rather than to rush things and make a quick sale.