Is this aiptasia?

[TotalKhaos]

I've counted at least 6 of these living in my skimmer and the overflow of my tank. This area gets next to no light and is mostly full of green and white sponges and teeny tube worms.

I have some peppermint shrimp that are proven aiptasia eaters but they live in the display. I've searched every inch of my display and have never seen one there.

The picture is poor as its very difficult for me to manuever a camara in the 6 inch gap behind my tank Sorry about the yellow backlight I could only seem to get a good pic if I put a light behind it. They are transluscent white in color and look like dime to quarter sized anemones.

I'm not to worried about them, but would like to know either way. thanks.

 

[wombat2]

Yes it is. They can and will reproduce in the absence of light, so be careful. I would remove them ASAP.

 

[Wee-Reef Master]

YYYYEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Remove it immediately before it's too late!!!!!!

 

[wombat2]

Here is Matty's 100% effective and cheap method for Aiptasia removal. Want to buy an expensive nudibranch or fish that might eat your Aiptasia, and probably not completely eradicate it, especially the ones stuck in your overflows, or plubing, or skimmers? Want to try to inject a tiny little anemone with a hypodermic needle full of boiling hot water? Want to go through the trouble of actually finding a hypodermic needle? Good luck with all that. I prefer not to coddle my pests with natural or ridiculously difficult deaths.

So, here it is.

Make sure you get the kind with the nice blue flame or torch, not the cheesy yellow flame. Pull the rock out, torch it until you hear hissing/popping/ or see glowing live rock. It kills a dime sized spot of live rock, which quickly recovers. The Aiptasia doesn't.

Aiptasia on your tank wall/plumbing?

Aiptasia accepts other forms of credit card payment, as well as any old stiff ID card.

Cracks me up that places will sell temperate nudibranchs as "Aiptasia eaters". Torch them. Torch them, torch them, torch them.

Hope this helps.

 

[Jus Reefin]

Hard to tell from the pic but it looks like them. I would say they are feeding on the nutrients in the skimmer body

 

[bluenassarius]

i agree with wombat's method of removal

 

[TotalKhaos]

I was pretty sure but you know, gotta check with you experts before I go ripping my tank apart.

Obviously my skimmer needs a good cleaning anyway.

Hi Ho Hi Ho Its Off to Work I go......

btw: thanks for that Matt. :lol:

 

[wombat2]

I like to inform and entertain simultaneously when I can.

 

[lilleahseafreak]

i torched the first one i ever saw.

but now i have a new prob with them. 2 came with the nano i bought from sloreefer and in between them are some blue zoos. so torching is not an option, they are too close to the zoos. so i guess i will have to get a peppermint shrimp, but that will have to wait 2 weeks!!!!

i know that pinching them off is not an option, they would grow back and wouldn't any free floating bits regenerate into new ones as well?

mesa no like dumb anemos!

 

[wombat2]

Lilleah,
Unfortunately they have a nasty habit of growing back if you chop their heads off or otherwise try to mince them up. Peppermints will eat them, but they never seem to kill them off completely. I suspect that they leave the foot intact. If you are willing to leave the peppermints in permanently, that would work. The flip side is that there are fairly common stories of peppermints eating zoanthids and picking at clam mantles. Catch 22 in this situation for you.

How close are the zoanthids to the anemones? Are the anemones entrenched inside a hole, or is their foot exposed on bare rock? I'm thinking if you can't torch them carefully you could buy a soldering iron (about $10) and kill them that way. Problem is if they are inside a hole there's no way to get to their foot without killing a small area around the hole.

One more way to easily eradicate one or two of them is to just smother them with epoxy. If it's in a hole, place a grape sized ball of epoxy on top of it.

Another option: Just leave them be if they don't cause any problems. Lots of folks have Aiptasia or Majano anemones for years and years without them ever dividing. I had one for my first 2 years of reefkeeping without ever knowing what it was. I thought I was lucky to get it...hah!

 

[TotalKhaos]

You could always use a needle and a syringe and inject em with some Joes Juice or some other killer concoction.

 

[wombat2]

I hear more bad things about Joe's Juice than good.

 

[Justin74]

Im counting the days waiting for my syrnge TK, hopefully I wont clog this one up.I like using kalk its like salt to slugs :bigeyes:

-Justin

 

[jimsar]

Matt, thanks for the great suggestion. Found a torch yet that works underwater?

In the defense of aiptasias, they're not that bad if you keep them under control. I even read somewhere that some folks use them as filters to control organics. I kill aiptasia using kalk solution delivered via syringe with a pipette tip instead of a needle. A few here and there in inaccessible spots don't bother me. But then, a few dandelions on my lawn don't freak me out, either.

I've got a couple of blue majanos that I've spared. Hope they split so I can start a new fad!

Jim

 

[stabruciandosi]

umm i think i have one growing out of one of my rocks.. thats not good. because removing the rock to burn it off would be a pain considering the organisms that have rooted there.. what do you guys recommend?

 

[TotalKhaos]

Im counting the days waiting for my syrnge TK, hopefully I wont clog this one up.I like using kalk its like salt to slugs :bigeyes:

-Justin

Well I'll Bring you an extra needle just in case you clog it - The Syringes should be easy to keep clean and flush out. the needles shouldnt clog if you flush them right after use. flushing them with peroxide or something of that sort works well.

 

[Whaledriver]

Pull the skimmer and wash it out with vinigar. Flush out the sumps with vinigar or lime water. Rinse everthing well before your done.

You must go nuclear at the first sighting.

 

[JahReefster]

I have just recently discovered 3 or 4 little guys I take to be aiptasia. Unfortunately, they're on a piece of live rock very close to my RBTA, which is anchored in between that rock and the next door neighbor, making it pretty much impossible to remove and use Matt's blowtorch method. I want to get them quickly before they spread further but am concerned that if I use Joe's Juice or some other method (B-Ionic, maybe) I might inadvertently do harm to or even kill my bubble tip. Can anyone offer any advice, caution, or reassurance?

Thanks.

Fred

 

[MelodyCorals]

I have to admit to using the "torch" approach with great success - but I had the luck of having the offenders not near others in the tank. For one in a long hole in a rock I simply filled the whole with the gas from the lighter and then touched it off a few times - worked very well and was also fun to watch (should have taken a video of it) I have also used the epoxy approach and it has worked for me - you just end up with a bit of epoxy that looks a bit odd for a few weeks. I opted for the immediate fulfillment approach, as I did not want to risk waiting for a product to be ordered and take the chance of it spreading.

-- Josh

 

[Reefugee]

Fred -

if they are big enough, you can use a syringe and inject it with something link vinger. You can also try a peppermint shrimp - but that's a hit and miss process. It took me 6 peppermint shrimp before one of them at all the aptasia.

Minh