Harmful Aiptasia

[phillipjfrye]

Found these hitchhiking on some live rock i purchased a couple months ago. So far i have not found any new or smaller ones. I'd say there is a total of 6 all of them half dollar sized or so. I'm prepared to go in with a syringe full of vinegar and take the little buggers out if necessary. The last thing i want is a tank full of em.

Thanks

[david7700]

Keep us updated! I shot a few aiptasia (w/ vinegar) and it seems the bigger they are, the easier they die, some smaller ones ended up comming back. Boiling water also works well from what I hear.. or.. boiling kalkwasser

[ziggy222]

those look like rock anemonies.if they are then their worth money

[superclouds]

The bad ones I had look more like the ones pictured here Aiptasia and those do look more like these Rock Anemone (Epicystis crucifer)

[david7700]

Well, here is a similar pic of an aiptasia anemone. Peppermint shrimp seem to be very hit-and-miss so as long the ID comes up as definitely aiptasia you got the right idea with chemical injections. Or maybe you could kill 5 and leave one since there are 6? I have 5 or so they are a pain but not as much of a pain as algae.

[phillipjfrye]

I have two peppermint shrimp and so far they have had nothing to do with whatever kind of anemone i have. I think i'm going to kill off the brown ones but the white one is pretty cool. Thanks for the info everyone.

[ziggy222]

i'd kill it all and be sure that you don'y get an outbreak

[david7700]

O yes, ^^ I agree, the white or clear ones are most certainly aiptasia. they can be brown with some other colors too, but they are never a welcome addition to any tank!

[phoenixhieghts]

Hey my lfs sells them - they call them scruffy anemonies! There not worth as much as the bubbletips but hey, they dont look like aiptasia to me.

[Jason McKenzie]

No I'd say they are Rock Anemones NOT Aptasia