Please help identify..

S.A.M. · #1 03-21-2011, 02:50 AM

Hi all,

I need your help to identify this. I bought this frag about 2 months ago. Not sure exactly what it is. There's a little piece that's starting to grow out from the side of it that looks completely different. Please see pictures below. Can somebody tell me what they are and should I be worry about the little one that is growing out of it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/5567741...n/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/5567741...n/photostream/

Thank you.....

Shane

matinbc · #2 03-21-2011, 02:59 AM

Nice zoa colony but your little friend there looks like an aptaisa.. With stinging tentacles and big sharp teeth... Be afraid... lol... Kidding.

Best thing to do is keep him away from other coral, the dont have sharp teeth but they do have stinging tentacles. I personaly like them cause they are natural water cleaners, the key is to have them in a sump or "Away from" other coral.

Whats everyone else think?

bignose · #3 03-21-2011, 03:05 AM

Aiptasia/pest anemone. Kill it now before it spreads in your tank. There are many ways to kill them. I use lemon juice for random aptasia, there are products that you can buy in stores also to deal with this.

matinbc · #4 03-21-2011, 03:08 AM

I was gonna say use lemon juice and a injection needle as well, but over time I found that lemon juice dont cut it... I was talking to a friend that says mixing calcium and fresh water in a high dose is one of the only things he has done where they have truly died. And the coral benifits from the calcium where the lemon juice will just throw your PH..

Murminator · #5 03-21-2011, 03:18 AM

ahhhhhh kill it kill it

S.A.M. · #6 03-21-2011, 03:30 AM

Oh no... I am worry now.

The piece of rock that it's on can easily be removed from the tank. Can I just take the rock out and remove it from the rock. I am not sure how it's attached to the rock. Can I just scrap it off the rock???

mark · #7 03-21-2011, 03:36 AM

For any pest suggest jump on them hard when first noticed so they don't spread.

Quote:

Originally Posted by S.A.M.

Can I just scrap it off the rock???

Seems if anything remains it will grow back

matinbc · #8 03-21-2011, 03:37 AM

you really only have one shot every half "Ish" hour at killing him.. Syringe, in his mouth, and make him melt... blow him up like a balloon. Or you can try that aptaisa killing soluition at your local reef shop.

Its like this, Everyone HATES aptaisa cause they can cause a problem sometimes.. Like a mass out break, or fighting with your favorite corals. But there are many things you can do to keep them in controll. Like get a pepermint shrimp. Thats how I have done it.. I leave the big ones (aptaisa) alone and they help keep my water clean. You can only controll nature to a certian extent. If you get a nice peice of coral and there are hitchhikers that you dont see, thats the way they choose to be successful in life. My CPR overflow is full of them and white sponges. I consider them to be my first line defense before my protien skimmer. hehehe..

Adapt and overcome I always say...

(Sorry about the spelling)

S.A.M. · #9 03-21-2011, 04:06 AM

The piece of rock that it's on is not very big. I have removed the rock with the Aiptasia out of the tank. Very slowly of course. The Zoa is very new and its not fully attached to the rock yet. I have cut the Zoa in half and remove the half that is further away from the Aiptasia.

The rock and the Aiptasia is now sitting in a pot of boiling water. I will boil this for a few minutes and hopefully this will kill everything on the rock....

reefwars · #10 03-21-2011, 04:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by S.A.M.

The piece of rock that it's on is not very big. I have removed the rock with the Aiptasia out of the tank. Very slowly of course. The Zoa is very new and its not fully attached to the rock yet. I have cut the Zoa in half and remove the half that is further away from the Aiptasia.

The rock and the Aiptasia is now sitting in a pot of boiling water. I will boil this for a few minutes and hopefully this will kill everything on the rock....

smart move .....there are better filter feeders to have then aiptasia.....take it from me i had 300 large heads and god knows how many small ones in a 33 gallon.once they become to large to control the only way to get them is by something that feeds on them.peppermints only eat the small ones and some dont eat at all.file fish and butterflys are good but can nip or even eat corals ...so not reef safe.

nudis are slow and quite expensive and high maintanance.

with any kind of kalk mix or joes juice or aiptasia x its good for ones you can see and reach but for the uber small ones and ones not reachable.....useless

^ same for lemon and lime juice and boiling water...cant kill what you cant see

matted filefish has been my best weapon but if you only have one then dont worry about it and just kill it