What is this pest?

[jcarlilesiu]

Hey all.

My tank has been overtaken by some kind of pest, but I can't tell what it is. Previously, I used a file fish to eat them, but after removing the file fish they returned. I now have a Racoon Butterfly working on them, but he will only eat them out of the water column.

It appears to be some type of anemone, but doesn't seem to sting any coral, more just pushes them out with aggressive growth. Another consideration for anemone is that when I blackout the tank, they end up all over the glass presumably moving around looking for light. They will take over entire rocks, end up making my snails look fuzzy. They typically remain small, no bigger than 1/4" diameter. Once in awhile Ill find one that looks close to half inch but never bigger.

I recently took a majano wand to them, and simply agitating them and they let go... at which time my Racoon Eats them.

Really want to figure out what this is and get it out of the tank. Any ideas?

 

[mcgyvr]

Aiptasia

 

[jcarlilesiu]

It doesn't have the long stalk or tenticles.

 

[mcgyvr]

It doesn't have the long stalk or tenticles.

Sure looks like aiptasia from what I see there..

Turning the blue channel of your lights off or way down and taking another pic may help.

 

[Systemwizardinc]

aiptasia

aiptasia

aiptasia hands down

 

[ggfrancis]

Majano


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[jerseyboy]

not aptasia. its majano anemones, they are pretty but will eventually take over. (ask me how i know). just had to remove 75% of my rock anf freshwater dip for 3 days to kill it

 

[WVH]

I agree definitely majano anemones.

 

[mcgyvr]

Yeah now that I'm on my bigger monitor I can make out the "bulbous" tips that is more indicative of a Majano..

Same plan of attack/treatment as an Aiptasia so it really doesn't matter..

 

[jcarlilesiu]

Well unfortunately, this is in a 150 gallon tank that had been neglected for sometime. As such, I have them everywhere, thousands... no hundreds of thousands of them.

So the war begins. Since I didn't have really a reef to speak of anymore, a Racoon Butterfly went in. The first few days, I would see him eat them in the water column. They do let go quite a bit, especially after lights out. Now, I see him cleaning them off the rocks too. In just two weeks, I can see a dent.

I also put in a Filefish, but I am not sure if he has taken to them yet.

On top of that, I am trying to be a team player, so I am wiping out large swaths of them with a Kalk Paste.

Due to the pounds and pounds of rock I have in there, even if I can knock them back, not sure I can actually ever eradicate them without breaking down the tank.

This is going to be a challenge.

On a side note, these majanos notoriously push other coral out of the way and use up real estate essentially suffocating zoas and GSP. other than that, do majanos actually sting? They have been right next to a monti cap I have, and they are growing on the stalk of a leather coral, and don't seem to be causing any irritation.

 

[Higher Thinking]

I tore down my entire 180 gallon because of majanos. They're the worst. Not all bad as I upgraded my tank.

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[clevername]

hard lesson to learn, dry rock is wayyyyyyyy under rated when starting out.

Honestly at this point you might just want to save your self stress and time by just taking it all out and freshwater soak with hydrogen peroxide, then bleach, then basic salt water curing rock. It only takes ONE small rock from a friend with diseases or pests...