Reef Discussion

[MichelleShocked]

Is this aiptasia? It probably is because the LFS the frag came from is wildly successful with aiptasia :-/
However the tips aren't thin whips as I'd expect but rather having nobby ends instead.
So I'm a little perplexed.
Opinions?
Sorry for the bad pic - can't get any better with my phone :(

 

[Ben Broadfoot]

Can you get a sharper photo?

 

[MichelleShocked]

Can you get a sharper photo?

No, it's too far back in my tank and my phone camera isn't really good with macro shots

 

[MagicJ]

It's hard to tell from the picture - if I had to make a guess, I would so no.

 

[MichelleShocked]

Ok i tried photographing it through a magnifying glass. A bit clearer.

 

[ezza]

I had an anemone which was mostly clear with balls on the end of the tentacles once. It is called a "ball anemone". Maybe check pics on google and see if it resembles it.

 

[hoangii]

Looks maybe a majano? Does it show fluorescence under blue light?

 

[Dean Lovett]

I had an aptasia and he was green, and thin whipped arms. It did not look like what you have there!

 

[MichelleShocked]

Looks maybe a majano? Does it show fluorescence under blue light?

It seems to have orange-ish fluorescence on the ball tips. I've seen majano before but they were always green-ish. I have a nice crop of Aiptasia - including tiny ones (*grrrrrrr*) but this looks different.

 

[ReeferRob]

There is a corallimorpharian that has ball ends that is endemic to the waters around Australia which is what your anemone looks like. http://www.melevsreef.com/node/493

 

[MichelleShocked]

Yes it could be a ball nem though it's not clear like those.

THESE (pictured) however are transparent but have serrated tentacles and a white mouth. Not aiptasia and not feather worms.
Dunno what THEY are either lol
(Yes i know about the Ric lol ;-)

 

[ezza]

View attachment 49868 Yes it could be a ball nem though it's not clear like those.

THESE (pictured) however are transparent but have serrated tentacles and a white mouth. Not aiptasia and not feather worms.
Dunno what THEY are either lol
(Yes i know about the Ric lol ;-)

Uh oh! That's my rock isn't it? They're colonial hydroids. I can only suggest breaking the rics off the rock and getting rid of the rock. They went all through my system years ago. That is the Medusa stage. Quite honestly, aside from anxiety for me- they don't seem to have caused trouble in my tank. They came on my live rock looking like a plant until they got big enough to move around. They're a type of jellyfish.

 

[MichelleShocked]

Uh oh! That's my rock isn't it? They're colonial hydroids. I can only suggest breaking the rics off the rock and getting rid of the rock. They went all through my system years ago. That is the Medusa stage. Quite honestly, aside from anxiety for me- they don't seem to have caused trouble in my tank. They came on my live rock looking like a plant until they got big enough to move around. They're a type of jellyfish.

Lol yeah i wondered if they were hydroids but they look bigger than the hydroids I've had before (well....*I* didn't have them, the tank did but...never mind)
I will leave them for now. I have bigger bones to pick with the aiptasia in my tank. Stupid LFS. I keep explaining people won't buy their corals if they're swarming with pests but they don't fix it. I'm dying to try a laser.

 

[curly747]

There is a corallimorpharian that has ball ends that is endemic to the waters around Australia which is what your anemone looks like. http://www.melevsreef.com/node/493

I had an anemone which was mostly clear with balls on the end of the tentacles once. It is called a "ball anemone". Maybe check pics on google and see if it resembles it.

Thanks, you both just helped my identify something i have had in my tank for a couple of years now. It seems you are both talking about the same thing and looks exactly like what i have in my tank. Although it does not look exactly like what is in MichelleShocked's tank. That does not seem to have the bulb where the tentacles retract into.

 

[ezza]

Lol yeah i wondered if they were hydroids but they look bigger than the hydroids I've had before (well....*I* didn't have them, the tank did but...never mind)
I will leave them for now. I have bigger bones to pick with the aiptasia in my tank. Stupid LFS. I keep explaining people won't buy their corals if they're swarming with pests but they don't fix it. I'm dying to try a laser.

I am so sorry. I was actually starting to wonder if my population had reduced, as I haven't seen as many of them around. I used to have a fuzz covering the rocks which was hydroids... everywhere. That rock you have is from Canberra. I am also embarrassed about that green algae on it. It all looked so good until the white lights came on. I would totally recommend dipping it in peroxide. It will at least kill the pests. The 3% in the first aid section of the supermarket that costs $4 is good for dipping into.

*hangs her head in shame*

I feel like i just passed on chicken pox... or an STD! *shudder*

Maybe even inject the aiptasia with peroxide? Though the way I got rid of the few I had was to take the rock out, hang it upside down until the aiptasia started to droop out and pulled the sucker right out of the rock with tweezers. It was way more effective than Aiptasia-X.

 

[MichelleShocked]

I am so sorry. I was actually starting to wonder if my population had reduced, as I haven't seen as many of them around. I used to have a fuzz covering the rocks which was hydroids... everywhere. That rock you have is from Canberra. I am also embarrassed about that green algae on it. It all looked so good until the white lights came on. I would totally recommend dipping it in peroxide. It will at least kill the pests. The 3% in the first aid section of the supermarket that costs $4 is good for dipping into.

*hangs her head in shame*

I feel like i just passed on chicken pox... or an STD! *shudder*

Maybe even inject the aiptasia with peroxide? Though the way I got rid of the few I had was to take the rock out, hang it upside down until the aiptasia started to droop out and pulled the sucker right out of the rock with tweezers. It was way more effective than Aiptasia-X.

Lol I'm actually intrigued by all the life on the rock - it's got bright red fan worms and other little critters that I'm enjoying watching. The little hydroid things are a small part of it and I'm just delighted to have populated live rock to watch :D
None of your rocks had aiptasia, @ezza - those are from the LFS here :( I superglued a couple and that seemed to work. I have one monster that I'm worried might eat my glass shrimp :( it needs to go very very soon.

 

[ReeferRob]

DO NOT use a laser under any circumstances. You'll be overrun by the damn things. See if you can find some Berghia nudibranchs or another nudibranch that eats the hydroids. For everything in a reef tank, there's something that will eat it and has exploited that niche in that ecosystem.

 

[MichelleShocked]

Yes i read your experiences, @ReeferRob and had kept them in mind :) I'm not keen to add the Berghia nudis because i got some as hitchhikers once and they wiped out some morphs i was particularly proud of within 2 days of arriving. I was NOT a happy camper. So I'm wary about those.
Also, i lost my last nano because I'd bought a wrasse from a local marine supplier which was meant to deal with an amphipod plague. It was adult and bigger than expected and wild caught - it was very stressed and within 24 hrs had carked it :(:( i found it within 30 mins of it dying but too late - my tank was nuked :(:(:( got very depressed and gave up for a while.
I think i will use a combo of injection, Aiptasia-X and superglue, depending on size & location. My particular problem is that i have no depth perception and cannot judge how far the needle tip needs to go from above. Have to view from the side but even then i can't judge if I'm in front of the target or behind. :(:(:( I was never going to have a career in the defence forces lol

 

[ReeferRob]

Berghias eat 1 thing and that's aiptasia, they eat nothing else and will die when they run out of their food source. Peppermint shrimp are hit or miss in my experience and if you don't get Lysmata wurdemanni they won't eat at them and if they find an easier food source they will exploit that instead of eating aiptasia anemones. Nudibranchs are specialized feeders. I'm looking for the one that eats those damn colonial hydroids, I'll find it before the end of the night.

 

[MichelleShocked]

The Berghia i had in my tank was similar to this (pictured), only pure white, not creamy. It's unlikely the species that wiped out my morphs is the species you are referring to because yours comes from the Atlantic and is not found in Australian waters (according to slugforum) so because the LFSs in this state are supplied directly from the Great Barrier Reef and because no LFS or supplier is allowed to import living corals or tissue, i don't think they're the same species. I know the ones i had wreaked havoc before i killed them all :( This also means i cannot access the Atlantic version of Berghia to deal with Aiptasia :(:(
Back to the drawing board *groan*