Coral/Polyp ID please, pic

tjkohler

tjkohler

Member
This thing orignates inside the hole of the LR. It completely recedes at night. No colony or anything. Will it grow into a colony or is it just a single 'thing'. Thanks for your time.
 
dinhouse

dinhouse

Member
In my opinion it just looks like some soft of brown button polyp. If that is what it is it is harmless I have some in my tank they started out as thre then they gradually made more.
 
striker

striker

Member
That isn't a polyp. I'm not sure of the spelling because I've managed to get rid of them from my tank and haven't had to write about them for a while. It's definitely aitapsia. It spreads out fast under the right conditions and will sting corals in your tank. It can be eradicated by injecting it with boiling water or by adding a few pepermint shrimps to your tank. I added two peps and it was gone in a couple of months.
 
wrassecal

wrassecal

Active Member
I'm going with a polyp too. I have one that came on a piece of lr and it has been in my tank for about 10 months. I was hoping it would spread but there is still only one. I think yours is just like mine, a brown button polyp.
 
chris l

chris l

Member
Sure looks like a button polyp to me. I had one that just split last night. Looks like the same thing. I too have peppermints that ate some aiptasia in my tank but have not touched the button polyp.
 
M

mr hanky

Guest
ill bet 20 bucks that says it isnt aptasia(sp?) it is some kind of polyp. we sell,em at my lfs that i work at. they do spread very quickly.
 
flyinbrian

flyinbrian

Member
IT is Definatly NOT AIPTASIA!!!
I have had aiptasia in my tank and bought a peppermint shrimp to clean it up, and It worked. This polyp in the picture has been in my tank all along!! It has a completely different structure to it compared to aiptasia. The polyp in my tank that is identical to the picture has budded off another polyp. I think it will continue to produce a colony!
 
striker

striker

Member
I have to vigorously disagree. I have had both the top picture and the bottom pictures' animals living in my tank. The first picture is definitely aptasia and the second are button polyps. After researching I identified the top as aptasia. They generally were found individually scattered throughout my tank and when bothered retreated completely back into the lr. My button polyps(second picture) are found in colonies and spread quickly also but only in one area. They do not retreat into the lr but close up and when food is captured they do the same. I've had 2 pepermints in my tank for the 5 months and the pests in the first picture have since disappeared(had about 7 of them spread thoughout the tank) but my brown button polyps continue to thrive. Just like tjkholer says they retreat completely undercover into the lr and is not in a colony. I've no doubt that several others have had aptasia in their tanks but you must remember that there are different variations to this nuissance. The ones you've had might not be the same one as the picture.
 
nacl-h2o

nacl-h2o

Active Member
That top picture is of a type of common button poylp. They are commonly found on LR. They spread slowly through budding. It is not aiptasia.
 
jonthefb

jonthefb

Active Member
another vote for the button polyps here. tjkohler, does the tentacled polpy retract into the rock when touched? striker, button polyps can originate as individuals on live rock. i have one that was solitary for about 3 months and is now starting to divide and spread. this is very common on quality cured live rock. it definately does not look like aiptasia, as aiptasia tentacles that surround the oral disc are usually much longer and larger.
good luck
jon
 
striker

striker

Member
Duh! I take it back. I'm going to have to say it is most likely a polyp. I checked around my tank just now and found one aitapsia left and compared it to the first pic. They don't match. Sorry for the mistake. Now I'm going to go bury my head in the live sand:rolleyes:
 
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