What is this? Aptasia?

[NewbReefer3451]

hi all,

I recently found this creepy looking thing on my Zoanthid island. I have no clue what it is but it looks like a large brown zoa with long tenactles. It seems to shift places in the rock and live inside the rock at night. Not sure what it is or how to treat it. Should I pull the rock out and try to scrape it out. Is it harmful? Thanks!

 

[McFly]

Most certainly Aiptasia.

You can try taking the rock out of the tank and scrape/rasp the area, rinse and check if it grows back in two weeks.

 

[UnbalancedNights]

Yes it is aptasia I would take the rock out and cover the aptasia in super glue.

 

[NewbReefer3451]

Excellent - thank you for the confirmation. I have a peppermint shrimp that seems to live on the other side of my tank. I heard they like eating Aiptasia. I’ll pull the rock and try to scrape and clean it out first. I always hate tanking that rock out because I feel bad losing all the little copepods that end up falling off and running away while I’m working haha. Also feel like I disrupt the stability of the zoas.

 

[NewbReefer3451]

Yes it is aptasia I would take the rock out and cover the aptasia in super glue.

Ooo I forgot about the superglue trick. I read that somewhere before. Maybe I’ll do that instead of scraping. Thx!!