Unknown grower

[ooferret]

I have recently noticed a weird stick looking growth off of my live rock. At first I thought it was coral or something but as it's grown rather quickly and is very flexible I figure my initial assumption was wrong. It's very thin and appears to have tiny purple buds coming off of it. It's still too skinny and whimsical for a good picture though. Any ideas would be helpful. I will try to get a decent picture of it later but my attempts the last couple days have yielded blurs. Any ideas? It looks cool and harmless enough but I'd like to know what it is still. It is very hardy too as the piece of live rock it rode in on was out of water for several days and it just started working

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by ooferret http:///t/395423/unknown-grower#post_3520412
I have recently noticed a weird stick looking growth off of my live rock. At first I thought it was coral or something but as it's grown rather quickly and is very flexible I figure my initial assumption was wrong. It's very thin and appears to have tiny purple buds coming off of it. It's still too skinny and whimsical for a good picture though. Any ideas would be helpful. I will try to get a decent picture of it later but my attempts the last couple days have yielded blurs. Any ideas? It looks cool and harmless enough but I'd like to know what it is still. It is very hardy too as the piece of live rock it rode in on was out of water for several days and it just started working
Hi,
Look up aptasia on-line, and see if the pictures match. At least that will tell you if it's that bad critter. Without a picture it's impossible to really say what it is.

 

[ooferret]

It's definetly not that but I may have come across another anemone that is. There two of them I think

[/IMG]
The images are in the order I mentioned them here

 

[ooferret]

This is the first thing I found although it appears the longer stalk is gone leaving just the short stuff behind.

 

[novahobbies]

First picture: Aptasia. Remove it.
Second picture looks like some kind of forameniferan, or possibly a small sea cucumber. Hard to tell with the picture, but the feather nature of the "arm" could be indicative. If so, it's a good hitchiker.

 

[ooferret]

I figured that was aptasia so I got a peppermint shrimp and he cleared them up very quickly. As for the other thing is there anything I can do to keep it growing? It is pretty cool looking but seems to grow some and then shrink back. It is in the current but was when it starting growing so I don't think it was killing it. Also since I had the pest anemone is that a good sign the aquarium can sustain others?