Possible hitchhiker

..Just had my water tested and they said i cud add damsels and some live rock.....Kool So i bought them both the three damsels and 3lbs of live rockfor 22.00$..I WATCHED HIM WEIGH IT SO I KNEW I WAS GETTING MY MONEYS WORTH BUT ALSO PICKED KOOL PURPLE COLOR, THERE WAS NOTHING ON THEM SO I THOUGHT BUT ..NOW THAT THEYVE BEEN IN THE TANK FOR 2 HOURS IVE NOTICED A GOOD SIZED.. OF WHAT I WANT TO BELEIVE IS AN ANEMONE....BUT THOUGHT SOMEONE COULD HELP ME OUT I KNOW NOTHING. PICTURE ATTACHED

 

That is aptasia. It is bad and you have to get rid of it before it takes over your tank.

 

Indeed.


A bad thing, sounds like you might want to invest some time on 3reef. The guy at the local fish store has steered you wrong 3 times.

1. Rock with pest.
2. Stock an uncycled tank.
3 Selling you damsels.

Hang around 3reef and you will be better prepared to navigate the hobby.

 

With it being a brand new tank, I would just take that rock back to him and get a refund. Aiptasia can be VERY persistent and I think you're best bet would be to get rid of the rock rather trying to get rid of the pest.

 

Yeah, it is going to cost you more to treat/clear aptasia then it is to return the rock.

 

***! Now i have to act ignorant at "connies" Thanks everyone who commented and helped me out...i know very little as my tank has been up for 1 week..im headed to the LFS now to return the rock! ANY POINTERS ARE APPRECIATED I WILL FIND A NEW LFS SINCE IVE BEEN STEERED WRONG 3X... SO I SHOULDNT HAVE FISH? EITHER THEY SAID 2 DAMSELS WILL HELP CYCLE...GUESSING I BETTER GET MY WATER TESTED AGAIN TOO?

 

Super worried now should i start over ?

 

If you don't have a significant investment, I would return the rock and fish. If one rock from them has Aiptasia, I would not be surprised if the other rock has "babies" that just haven't popped up yet. Do not let your LFS talk you into things like Kalk paste, lemon juice, etc. and under no circumstances, do not "scrape" them off (just makes them spread worse). These are ways to combat aiptasia in an established tank. It's much easier to just eliminate the source if you're starting a new tank.

Cycling with fish can "work", but it is very stressful on the fish. The fish wastes create ammonia, which is a toxin for the fish. Eventually, your tank will create bacteria to convert the ammonia to nitrite and then nitrate. In addition, damsels are an aggressive fish and can be territorial when trying to add new fish later. They should be one of the last fish you add (if you add them), not the first.

There are better and safer ways to cycle a tank. You can start with base rock (Carib Sea or Marco Rock is nice stuff) and cycle it with something like a frozen shrimp. The shrimp will decay and become the ammonia source to start your cycle.

If you can, I would return your rock and fish, remove your sand (just to be sure there are no Aiptasia in it), spend a week or so researching a marine tank set-up, and start over. It is short term pain I know, but you will be much happier in the long run.

There are many good threads on 3reef and other sites that talk about cycling a brand new tank.

Good luck.

 

You have taken one good step,asking questions here! Corailline is right,you need to do some research and reading threads here is one good way.A good place to start would be to read threads pertaining to cycling your tank,if you have questions just ask,people here will be happy to help.

 

If it wasn't December 21st. 2012 I would say this thread is overly dramatic. Contrary to popular belief aptasia is not the end of the world.