White tentacles popped up

[AntonioR]

About a week ago these white tentacles showed up in my saltwater tank. And the largest one seemed to have moved. And there are more under my rock. Are they some type of anemone? Anyone know what this is?

 

[bradleym]

They are aiptasia anemone. They are invasive and can sting coral, so you will want to get rid of them as quickly as possible.

 

[flagg37]

They’re pretty much the bane of every reefer’s existence.

 

[boeingn747]

100% aptasia. If you only see one there is more to follow. I would remove that one rock if you can and boil it in rodi water for a few mins. As long as you don't have coral attached and there is only a few aptasia in the tank. If you attempt to kill it in the tank with any form of "aptasia killer" then you will only kill the one while releasing millions of spores into the water column thus making the problem much worse much faster. Don't ever kill an aptasia manually in your DT. If you get a bad infestation of more than 20aptasia per 20 gallons then I'd consider adding Bergiah nudibranch. They are far and away the best and arguably the only real way to eliminate aptasia from your reef tanks.

 

[Karen00]

I thought boiling rock is dangerous in case toxins are released. I agree about taking the rock out if possible but can't these be scraped off or glue put in the mouth or lemon juice? There are plenty of threads about getting rid of them.