What is this exactly?

g-man

g-man

New Member
I've been told that this may be Aptasia? When this was smaller I bought a peppermint shrimp, but it never touched it??
Is this a strand of Aptasia?
ThX
 
tony detroit

tony detroit

Active Member
If it is not aiptasia then it is a curleycue anemone. How big is it? If it is the size of a quarter or bigger and you don't have tons more of them reproducing in your tank then it is probably a curleycue. If you do have tons more of them and they keep spreading then it is aiptasia. They are taken out many ways, but the way I found most successful is putting a kalkwasser mixture in a syringe as thick as toothpaste and covering them. Don't do too many at once or you will spike you pH. Good luck.
 
slappy

slappy

Member
im thinkin aptasia too, i had a few but i had 3 peps shrimp and they took right care of it. good luck
 
ronipa

ronipa

Member
Well, mine is "for sure" a curly cue anemone. I bought three of them from this site and have had them for months.
Roni
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Roni - see how yours has tentacles sprouting from the oral disk? Aiptasia do not do this. The animal in question is Aiptasia sp. yours is definately not.
 
ronipa

ronipa

Member
Oh ok... I see the difference. I guess it would be really hard to tell if you didn't know what you were looking for.
Thanks...
Roni
 
tony detroit

tony detroit

Active Member
Pretty big for an aiptasia, if it was that big you'd think they'd be all over the tank....hmmmn. I'm not sure what it is.
 
g-man

g-man

New Member
See Picture of tank below.. (25 gal)
This critter has a wing span close to 3 inches.. the longest fingers are 2" long.. It just kind of grew from the frag I bought almost a year ago! From this frag grew several things, I suspected they were aptasia and got the peppermint shrimp. It ate all the others - but never bothered this one. There's only one and there havent been anymore..
Thanks for all your replies to help em figure this out..
 
timo

timo

Member
That Aiptasia sure is big. Just about as big as they get. With only that single critter, I suggest you take extra precaution, remove the rock, kill the anemone with a mound of salt placed atop it while out of the water, clean well under saltwater (initially ensuring the water rinses directly off the rock, not over it), and replace it. As mature as it is, I would assume it has the ability to spread rapidly.
These are not benign creatures in the home aquarium left unchecked.
The same goes for that macroalgae.
If those bubbles get distracting remove the air intake hose. Gas exchange occours mostly at the air/water interface, that powerhead may be better suited aimed at the surface to increase the amount of water that comes in contact with air, maximizing gas exchange.
(Otherwise) The tank looks good!
HTH
Tim:
 
timo

timo

Member
Hard to tell scale there, Bang...
Tell me how off I am on the size thing..lol
OK, As big as I've seen then!
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
The Leaves on the Halimeda are about 1/2" across for scale.
The Oral disk on my Aip. is about 2.5" across, the tentacles extend 2.5 - 3". My Peppermints eat all of it's offspring but it's too big for them to eat.
 
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