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[Guest]

After having my live rock set up over night a few of these guys started popping up. Do I have anything to worry about? Know which anenome it is?
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Sorry the picture is a little out of focus, I was being lazy, I can get another better picture if need be



[This message has been edited by Joey6P (edited 14 May 2001).]

[Guest]

That looks like Aiptasia. Aiptasia are VERY hardy anemones that reproduce like mad and can sting corals. To most they are a nuisance and are very hard to get rid of. If you pull it off, the pieces that are left will grow into a whole new one. They can overtake your tank. If you want to kill it, dip the whole rock in fresh water for a few minutes or inject the anemone with concentrated Kalk. The freshwater dip will kill the whole rock though. It is very cool to watch them reproduce though.

[Guest]

Thanks for the info Justus23. I did some quick and dirty research and found that Aptasia has a natural predator, Berghia verrucicornis Would it be wise to locate one and release it into the tank? I wonder if it would go after my Condylactus anenome as well?

[Guest]

just get a couple peppermint shrimp, they will eat up the aiptasia and unlike the berghia will not die once the aiptasia are gone. just give the shrimp some time, they will take their time sometimes.

[Guest]

I put a couple of peppermint shrimp in 2 months ago and haven't seen them since the first day. The aiptasia are still there.

[Guest]

I had a few dozen Aiptasia and added a pair of Peppermint shrimp. After a month all aiptasia were gone except for one. It's a big one so I think they're afraid of it (tell you the truth, I'M afraid of it! LOL)

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[Guest]

Joey, I had a trouble with these anemone's in my tank, they overtook everything. They are horrible to get rid of. I tried injecting them with boiling water, concontrated Kalk solution, the prepared stuff you buy in a bottle, Berghia nudibranchs, peppermint shrimp (I have 5 of them in my tank)and the only thing that has worked for me is butterfly fish. I tried a racoon and it worked well, after the aiptasia were gone for several months i removed the racoon and the aiptasia came back. I tried a copperbanded butterfly (three times before I got one that lived) and it did really well, has removed them and does not bother any of my other corals like the racoon did. I decided I will have to keep that fish forever to keep those nasty things away. Others have had luck with some of those other options but I did not. Good luck! Get on it right away before they overtake your tank like they did mine.

[ANEMONEBUFF]

That's not aiptasia. It is a curlycue anemone Bartholomea annulata. They are related to aiptasia,but do not reproduce as readily. They can be a pest but usually they are not. They are commonly found with pistol shrimps.

Dan

[Ranger]

I had good luck with blasting it with 5-10cc of boiling water. Shot it in the mouth and it hasn't been seen since. I have talked to several people on the subject because I was very reluctant to kill the first thing to grow in my tank. After talking to various marine biologists they all suggested that I get rid of it one way or another. Since I don't like adding any chemicals whatso ever to my tank I decided on the boiling water. Some people put shrimp in to get it with varying success. For some they work well, and for others the shrimp are never seen or heard from again. I didn't want to spend the money on a possibility when I could use the same odds with a free method first. Luckily the water method worked for me. I still feel bad about having to get rid of the first form of life to come out of my LR. If I was a creature still in the rock and the first thing to expose itself was shot with boiling water, I wouldn't come out either. Any how....good luck.


RLTW

[tangirl]

Anemonebuff - I thought it was a curycue at first too - I have a huge one in my tank. This one doesn't have nearly as many tentacles. Does that come with age?

[wasabi]

that is a curly cue. i actually paid good money for the two in my tank.4.00 each