Oh knowledgeable ones:identify these please

[yah-the submariner]

they look,eat like and resemble anemones. they were smaller than dime size when i first noticed them when i set up my tank. they were dead looking on some live rock i got and now they are about 2" or so and eat shrimp when i feed the tank. just curious

 

[yah-the submariner]

oops!

these guys.

 

[Widdy]

Aiptasia or glass anemone.

 

[yah-the submariner]

Really? hmm..i've heard of this....friend or foe?

 

[andylee]

One of the worst foes! Multiple treatments exist. Do not try to cut them out. Will multiply further. They can sting your "real" corals.

 

[yah-the submariner]

got it! appreciate it guys!

 

[yah-the submariner]

while i'm at it,if anyone knows what's considered "the best" method please let me know

 

[Widdy]

Berghia Nudibranchs worked for me, but that was on a 50g infested tank. I wouldn't recommend it for a few aiptasia, good chance it won't find it all in time before it starves. Others will chime with their preferred methods, perhaps peppermint shrimp; the proper ones. Chemicals such as Aiptasia/X or Joe's Juice made it worse for me. It seemed like it killed it, but it spouted some spores on its way out and just multiplied.

 

[yah-the submariner]

hmm..ok. thanks for the info. knowledge is power.

 

[fishman1069]

As stated above there are several methods to kill the aptasia. You can use the natural approach and go with bergias, peppermint shrimp or copperband butterfly fish. And then there is the chemical approach. I've heard of people using kallwasser and mixing it into a paste and covering them. Ypi have to be careful not to do too many treatments at once cause you can mess up the tanks parameters.

 

[Koyfam16]

Tagging along. I got the same thing some of which are among my zoas. I only see about 6 or 7 of them but I have a 6 gallon tank so to me, it's an infestation..lol

I am awaiting some berghia nudibranch or peppermint shrimp from Wingo.

 

[yah-the submariner]

cool,i just tried the lemon juice approach for the hell of it. worked really well so far. i'll wait and see what happens next

 

[fishman1069]

Be careful with the lemon juice too,if you add too much at once you could drop your Ph

 

[SIReefer]

If the rocks are small enough, just toss em out.

 

[Koyfam16]

If it helps, I picked up a peppermint shrimp yesterday and 90% of aiptasia is already gone.. within a few hours I saw the shrimp going to town with them.
I was skeptical but glad the shrimp took care of it!!!

 

[rookie07]

If it helps, I picked up a peppermint shrimp yesterday and 90% of aiptasia is already gone.. within a few hours I saw the shrimp going to town with them.
I was skeptical but glad the shrimp took care of it!!!

Do you have corals? I have witnessed Peppermint shrimp eating chalices and acans, and heard that they also eat zoas.

 

[Koyfam16]

I do have corals..some zoas,blastos,frog spawn,torch and a few other things..I did read some bad things about the peppermint shrimp as well so keeping a close eye on him..
If he starts messing with any corals or I notice any zoas declining I will have to get it out of there..
Hoping I won't have to..
Thanks for the heads up

 

[ed51802]

Yeah fish man had a huge one that ate his clown lol

 

[yah-the submariner]

Edge where'd you buy your peppermint from?

 

[duke62]

take care of the problem now.if the rocks is small enough boil the rock for 10 minutes.i did it with a 4 lb rock rinsed it off and put it back in the tank with no ill effects to the tankk.i have a 92 corner