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JoJosReef

JoJosReef

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My turn. I'm decent at this, but this guy has me stumped.

1. This is a very small nem, about the size of a thick sharpie pen tip.
2. I found it on the shady side of my potato chip pavona.
3. This tank and it's 10g transferred predecessor has never had an Aiptasia. I do get frags from different places but heavily scrutinize them before adding them, and there are no aiptasia on any of the other frags/plugs.
4. 1/3rd of my rocks are from TBS and have had them for about 2 years. They have hitchhiking corals and such. They are also about 25 inches away from where the potato chip pavona was sitting.
5. I have 5 RFAs in the tank. And while I have been praying for babies, I've never noticed any babies and I just did a careful sweep of the tank with a bright light and didn't see any.

So, what do you think?

1685991571570.png

1685991649723.png

1685991670213.png


Definitely has a foot that it's been using to shift around a bit:
1685991709519.png


Mouth
1685991734580.png

1685991750729.png


Opened up its mouth while I had the super bright light on it:
1685991774121.png


Blue flashlight, no filter:
1685991796304.png


With filter an macro. It doesn't really fluoresce.
1685991826683.png


It flattened itself a bit with that bright light on it:
1685991858884.png


I'm not averse to keeping hitchhikers if they are not pests. Obviously no Aiptasia or majanos. Other nems don't bother me as long as they aren't invasive.

Thanks!
 
JoJosReef said:
My turn. I'm decent at this, but this guy has me stumped.

1. This is a very small nem, about the size of a thick sharpie pen tip.
2. I found it on the shady side of my potato chip pavona.
3. This tank and it's 10g transferred predecessor has never had an Aiptasia. I do get frags from different places but heavily scrutinize them before adding them, and there are no aiptasia on any of the other frags/plugs.
4. 1/3rd of my rocks are from TBS and have had them for about 2 years. They have hitchhiking corals and such. They are also about 25 inches away from where the potato chip pavona was sitting.
5. I have 5 RFAs in the tank. And while I have been praying for babies, I've never noticed any babies and I just did a careful sweep of the tank with a bright light and didn't see any.

So, what do you think?

1685991571570.png

1685991649723.png

1685991670213.png


Definitely has a foot that it's been using to shift around a bit:
1685991709519.png


Mouth
1685991734580.png

1685991750729.png


Opened up its mouth while I had the super bright light on it:
1685991774121.png


Blue flashlight, no filter:
1685991796304.png


With filter an macro. It doesn't really fluoresce.
1685991826683.png


It flattened itself a bit with that bright light on it:
1685991858884.png


I'm not averse to keeping hitchhikers if they are not pests. Obviously no Aiptasia or majanos. Other nems don't bother me as long as they aren't invasive.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Very similar to a dendro coral, Its a Hidden Cup Coral - true name . . . . .Phyllangia americana
Harmless
 
It is in a tupper outside of the tank for now.

Majano and Aiptasia are both possibilities, but I am wondering when/how they are introduced. I could imagine a frag plug that had Aiptasia or majano planula stuck to it that dislodge and settled on the pavona, but it seems unlikely, as I dip every frag, rinse, douse with undiluted hydrogen peroxide (outside of the coral polyps), rinse again, then observe and introduce to tank.
 
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JoJosReef said:
It is in a tupper outside of the tank for now.

Majano and Aiptasia are both possibilities, but I am wondering when/how they are introduced. I could imagine a frag plug that had Aiptasia or majano planula stuck to it that dislodge and settled on the pavona, but it seems unlikely, as I dip every frag, rinse, douse with undiluted hydrogen peroxide (outside of the coral polyps), rinse again, then observe and introduce to tank.
Click to expand...
Is it skeletal at the base? Maybe its a dendro type like vetteguy is saying
 
vetteguy53081 said:
Very similar to a dendro coral, Its a Hidden Cup Coral - true name . . . . .Phyllangia americana
Harmless
Click to expand...
I thought about that as a possibility. I do have cup corals (hitchhikers):
1685993057522.png

And a dendro (intentionally added):
1685993087215.png


But they have a stony skeleton, and this looks like it has a soft foot. I just poked it gently and it retracted and flattened:
1685993138793.png


Image quality makes this more difficult since I have to zoom to the max to get a shot of it.
 
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SpendoEndo said:
Yeah Im going to stick with it being an aptasia species (theres quite a bit) or at the very least a pest nem. Sometimes all it takes is a spore to get aptasia from water from another tank, or a frag.
Click to expand...
Looks like I'll be on Aiptasia surveillance for a while. At least this one is out of the tank. I made sure not to disturb it as I was removing the coral it is attached to (which was easy since it was sitting on the sand bed).
 
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EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal said:
I'm not saying it's aiptasia, just contradicting the other poster's comment that it will spread if it is...
Click to expand...
"There are quite a few aiptasia that don't spread... at least not rapidly."

I just want to note that you yourself stated it can spread. You didnt contradict me

Nems spread wether its a pest nem or a desirable nem is will spread, a day, a decade, it just happens. OP has established it is fleshy with no skeletal base. It can potentialy harm his desirable coral if left unchecked. It may not or may not be aptasia, definetly not mojano, but it can sting his corals and cause damage and thats a key issue
 
SpendoEndo said:
"There are quite a few aiptasia that don't spread... at least not rapidly."

I just want to note that you yourself stated it can spread. You didnt contradict me

Nems spread wether its a pest nem or a desirable nem is will spread, a day, a decade, it just happens. OP has established it is fleshy with no skeletal base. It can potentialy harm his desirable coral if left unchecked. It may not or may not be aptasia, definetly not mojano, but it can sting his corals and cause damage and thats a key issue
Click to expand...
Calm down there.

Fwiw, I had 2 large aiptasia in my tank for several years and have never seen another one... So, no, they don't all spread.
 
EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal said:
Calm down there.

Fwiw, I had 2 large aiptasia in my tank for several years and have never seen another one... So, no, they don't all spread.
Click to expand...
I wasnt trynna be fiesty or nun :( sorry you took it that way, im just saying even your two aptasia came from somewhere, they spread

I just dont want OPs corals to get hurt
 
I do believe there may have been a gulf aiptasia hitchhiker on my TBS rock when it first came in, but I went rambo on it before getting an ID, which I regret.

Seems unlikely that this would be related to that long-gone maybe-nem, though. It is still in a tupper and I will give it another day or so of observation. Might put it in my macro holding tank if it doesn't look like a spreader.
 
JoJosReef said:
I do believe there may have been a gulf aiptasia hitchhiker on my TBS rock when it first came in, but I went rambo on it before getting an ID, which I regret.

Seems unlikely that this would be related to that long-gone maybe-nem, though. It is still in a tupper and I will give it another day or so of observation. Might put it in my macro holding tank if it doesn't look like a spreader.
Click to expand...
Yeah its unlikely it could be from that incident it could not even be aptasia but its always good to take precautions and when in doubt get it out
 
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