New to this, can you help with an ID?

[moonjelly]

Hi there,

My partner and I are starting up a saltwater aquarium but are at the very first stages. Right now the tank is cycling with liverock in it.

On the live rock I have noticed two plant(?) type things growing. They are growing from one main stalk then branch out into the wavy fingers you can make out on the pics. (Sorry, pic limit has left them hard to see). I noticed this morning when I went to turn on the lights that they retract during the night then come out in the day.

I'm sure they are something really obvious but I've found it hard to google a description and I am a complete newbie to it!

I appreciate your time thanks! Lucy

 

[jhampton_wsu]

Hi, welcome to AA what you have on your rocks are aiptasia. They are a small type of pest anemone. They aren't good but fortunatley you can kill them with a small amount of Kalkwasser powder (available at your LFS) mixed into a paste with water. You can use a small syringre to cover them or squish some paste on it with your finger. There is also a product called Joe's Juice and Aiptasia X that will accoplish this as well. If left unattended to they will spread rapidly and in my opinion they are unsightly. Not to mention they will sting your corals if you are planning on adding corals.

Jason

 

[moonjelly]

Yes just googled that name and you are right. thanks very much will try and get rid of them.

Thanks!

 

[roka64]

I agree!
I use this:
Nanoreefing.Com :: View topic - Aiptasia Killer

 

[moonjelly]

Well I think I have been lucky (?)

A couple of days ago, strangely one evening, both the aiptasia began to wander out from their holes. (Maybe a bit hungry? At the time the tank had nothing in so no feeding had been going on).

I thought I would take the chance to very carefully try and catch them and remove them from the tank.

With the stick from our aquarium glass cleaner/scrubber thing I flicked them in one movement from the rock and caught them in a net. They were 'whole'. I just took them out. Have not seen any more since! Hope that is the last of them because I heard more can grown from smal fragments of one aiptasia (I did catch them whole though).

 

[ezy33]

If you had 2 I'll bet there are more. I've had good luck using peppermint shrimp, they will eat the small ones and you kill the larger ones. Also it"s reported the Copperband Butterfly will control them but needs a large peaceful system.

 

[roka64]

Piggybacking on ezy, I have never been able to get any peppermints to eat them (lots of folks can) and my copperbanded only ate them and my feather dusters and then starved...so I go the manual removal so I don't risk any other critters.
Also, if you don't get the whole thing, the parts will grow back...