help please

[sdbarton42]

i know this isn't necessarily the forum for this but I also know this one gets the most "foot traffic". I have some creatures in my tank that i need identified. really i just need to know if they are good or bad. The first is the thing that I think looks similar to aiptasia, but i'm not really sure if that is what it is. The bottom is what I think may be a tube anemone. It is hard to see but the one right in the middle is the easiest (you can see it's clear tentacles against the blue background). If you look to the right of that one you'll see a face on view of another one (it's harder to see and for some reason it cut the pic short so you can only see half of it). These have either spread like crazy over one rock or they are just starting to open up. I don't mind keeping them if they are not "bad" for a reef tank.

also kinda random but what is the best way to get good pics with a plain digital camera? it was really hard to zoom in on these pics even with the "macro" setting for underwater corals and stuff (even though i'm not sticking my camera under the water). nothing would come out clear.

 

[trido]

The first ones look like aptasia or a similar pest anenome. The second could possibly be a hydroid (larval stage jelly fish) I could be 100% off there though. Ive had the second in my tank, ignored them and they seem to be gone.

 

[Anonymous]

The first are like Trido said. The second are a type of corynactis or pseudocorynactis.

related to this:
http://www.melevsreef.com/id/orange_ball_anemone.html

 

[sdbarton42]

thanks for the responses! i will start trying to get rid of the "pest anemone thing", probably with a chemical of some sort (Joe's Juice or whatever it's called, i've heard it's good).

 

[Anonymous]

Folks have had good luck using kalkwasser, too (to inject the pest anemones).

 

[sdbarton42]

inject as in take a needle and stick it into the anemone? or inject as in putting it into the water? i was also thinking of just getting 2 peppermint shrimp in my CUC that I will probably put in my tank the week after thanksgiving and just letting them eat these pest anemones. but if they are not aiptasia then will they eat them? hm....

 

[Anonymous]

I tried kalk and joe's juice and the only thing that worked for me is the peppermint shrimp I have. Wiped out 40-50 aiptasia in my 125 in just a few weeks.

 

[namor]

I have found that using kalk powder mixed with the alkalinity portion of a 2 part additive such as (bionic, Oceans Blend, etc) and make a nice milky solution. approx 5 to 1 alkalinity to kalk ratio. Take that and using a syringe to either inject into the aptasia as much as possable or to blanket the aptasia with the solution, If you have made the solution thick enough but not so thick that it wont come out of the syringe it will cover the aptasia like a blanket of snow. I have eliminated whole tank infestations with this method, its cheaper and easier then buying expensive "aptasia remover" solutions.

 

[bfessler]

I had a constant battle with Aptasia in both my Nano and Frag Tank. Used a Copper Banded Butterflyfish in the Nano and Peppermint Shrimp in the Frag Tank. Both worked better than chemical remedies.

 

[Len]

I've always been lucky with Peppermints ... they get all of it. I used to kill them with Lye (actually 50% NaOH), which worked better than hot kalkwasser IME.

 

[sdbarton42]

thanks for all the advice! i'm going to go to the LFS next wednesday (12/2) and start my CUC, which includes buying a couple of peppermint shrimp. i don't want to add anything too early because my tank hasn't spiked yet. I do have 2 margarita snails in there that are very active and seem to be doing good (i'm not supplementing their feeding). I have noticed some new orange ball anemones but no new aiptasias.

 

[Anonymous]

thanks for all the advice! i'm going to go to the LFS next wednesday (12/2) and start my CUC, which includes buying a couple of peppermint shrimp. i don't want to add anything too early because my tank hasn't spiked yet. I do have 2 margarita snails in there that are very active and seem to be doing good (i'm not supplementing their feeding). I have noticed some new orange ball anemones but no new aiptasias.

Once you feed you will see the aiptasias reproduce faster. One pep should do IMO.

 

[sdbarton42]

One pep should do IMO

I don't understand... :lol: one pep? and i've been seeing this IMO I don't know what that means either!

I'm not feeding my snails they're just eating off my rocks

 

[Anonymous]

One pep should do IMO

I don't understand... :lol: one pep? and i've been seeing this IMO I don't know what that means either!

I'm not feeding my snails they're just eating off my rocks

One peppermint shrimp would be enough. One peppermint is enough for my whole 125 gallon that had numerous aiptasia anemones.

IMO=In My Opinion

 

[sdbarton42]

oh!! I understand now hahaha!

 

[sdbarton42]

My peppermint shrimp worked like a charm! I left Wednesday mid-morning to go home for Thanksgiving and he was still very reclusive after his first excursion around the tank after I brought him home. When I walked through the door Sunday evening, I went straight to my tank because I was worried about his well-being (I've never taken care of shrimps before). He was sitting on top of one of the rocks with a bundle of something in his legs turning it and just messin with it. All of my aiptasia is gone, so now I am off to the fish store to get him some supplemental food. Very very impressive!