Aptasia or dusters?

[jeffjcet]

This is my first post on this site so.... HEY!!

This site and others like it are the only way a newby like me can do well in this hobby. So thanks!!

Now the question.

Will Aptasia retract when you touch it with something, like a feather duster will?
I hope the answer is no and I have duster clusters and not Aptasia.

Thanks
Jeff

 

[BreefMe]

Yes, Aiptasia will react to touch. The best thing to do at this point is post a pic to be certain. Feather dusters are pretty cool, and fit right in with the reef; they usually come as a bonus on live rock. Iaptasia, while not harmful, will spread like a weed. That is basically why it is undesireable.

If Aiaptasia is addressed early it can be irradicated fairly easily. There is agreat article in this forum on identification and control.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=803632

I used the syringe and injection with lemon concentrate method because I only had 2. If you have a lot you should limit how many you kill a day to be safe. I think the natural way if you have a lot, is to put in a peppermint shrimp.

BTW, my name is Jeff, too.

 

[bertoni]

Featherdusters have a much more regular crown of tentacles. This thread has Aiptasia pictures:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=803632

 

[kass03]

Yes they will but not quite the same as a featherduster. Aptaisia are small anemones and don't have a tube to go in.
Theres also hydroids which resemble feather dusters and can grow in clumps and sting others near them to.
Another problem anemone is the mojano. Pretty but can sting neighbors and multiply fast.

Here are a few hitchiker sites to help you identify. Without a pict. it's hard for any of us to say.

http://melevsreef.com/id/
http://www.xtalworld.com/Aquarium/hitchfaq.htm



and Welcome!

kass

 

[jeffjcet]

I will try again to get a pic of the little suckers. So far I have had zero luck with my macro on my camera.

 

[bertoni]

Oops, forgot:

[welcome]

 

[jeffjcet]

Aptasia or not? Sorry best image I could get

 

[bertoni]

I can't tell.

 

[zoomfish1]

If it looks like it's on a thin foot and not coming out of a tube-like thing, I would say aptaisa. I know a lot of dusters, when small, don't really have much of a tube made so it's hard to tell.

 

[jstlsn]

I think I have something very similar on my live rock. I also have a small aptasia. If I take my glass scraper and move it very close the top of the aptaisia the whole thing retracts. If I move it close to these other things, they suck into a tube.

Brad

 

[AllenFord_SC]

Stick a peppermint shrimp in there. If it's aiptasia he should eat them. He might even eat them if they are dusters so you should be good either way.

 

[jeffjcet]

They seem to pull back into tubes. But the heads are not like my feather dusters, they move more and are longer and thinner.

Could these be hydroids? Look a lot like some images I have found.

 

[jeffjcet]

They look a lot like this image I found on this site.

 

[bertoni]

Hydroids or tube anemones, maybe, then.