ID please

[wooz29]

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y259/wooz29/004-1.jpg

[Cozen89]

hard to tell cuz the image is kind of blurry, but looks like an aptasia. People say they aren't too great to have and they multiply quite rapidly. I believe peppermint shrimp eat them. There are also other methods of getting rid of them by squirting them with certain solutions. I'm no expert tho, so get a couple of opinions. Good luck.

[drummereef]

Looks like aiptasia to me. ;)

[wooz29]

Here is a better pic.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y259/wooz29/007-1.jpg

[Mike 1911A1]

Definatly Aiptasia. Try plucking them with needle nose or you will have many more.

Mike

[wooz29]

Arrrgggghhhhh. Should I just remove that particular rock? This is the only one I have seen.

[serum153]

If you like the rock then, get a baby medicine syringe (baby section in store) and then throw a cup of water in the microwave for 2 minutes. Approach the aiptasia slowly so it doesn't tuck back into the rock then push into it and shoot the boiling water inside it. I removed 12+ of the pesty things. It started on one rock, then moved everywhere including the glass and sandbed.

[wooz29]

Spooky stuff. I'm not so attached to that rock that I cant take it out of the display. If I was to remove that rock & let it dry out would the aiptasia still return?

[garyw68]

try taking the rock out and burning the pest with a butane lighter. thats what I did and it worked great.

[wooz29]

On my way!! I'll be back tomorrow. Thanks for all of the info & wish me luck.

[Volkman]

Get a nice thick solution of Kalkwasser and basically use a baster in cover the aptasia (Pumps Off) with the Kalk. Leave it on for a 1/2 hour or so and then just swoosh off the extra onto the sand. Then turn your pumps back on. If you try and get it with a snipper or something, that will just make them multiply. I had a bunch of them and so far(knock on wood) none have come back. Good luck!!


p.s. Cool, my first advice giving!!! :)

[FishHick]

I had some that came on new LR and were quickly spreading. 3 Peppermint shrimp and two days later, they were all gone

[wooz29]

I took the rock out & it was strange. I figured as soon as I removed it from the water the aiptasia would retract, it did not at all? I went ahead & burned it off and then rinsed that spot with hot water and put it back in the tank after cooling a bit. The coraline on that particular spot changed colors from purple to dayglo pink. Any ideas why that happened? Was it from the heat of the lighter?

[calebjk]

i think that's just what happens when it dies, although i had a similar reaction when i used hot water to kill aptasia on a little rock in my tank. i actually boiled the whole rock because it has some bubble algae on it to.

[calebjk]

hey, if you've been doing this for 4 years and this is the first time you've had to deal with these things, then where do you buy your stuff, i'd love to find a place like that.

[wooz29]

This is the second sw tank I have bought LR for and I always get it at my LFS. I guess I've been dodging a bullet, until now :-)

[calebjk]

that's awesome, what store and city?

[RedSonja]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9696563#post9696563 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wooz29
Spooky stuff. I'm not so attached to that rock that I cant take it out of the display. If I was to remove that rock & let it dry out would the aiptasia still return?

I hate to break it to you, but if you have had that rock in the tank for more than a few days, you already have aiptasia cells in the tank other than just that rock. Taking out the one rock may not solve the problem. The good news is, if you can add a couple of peppermint shrimp, they will probably eat any small ones that start to develop from those cells. I haven't had any luck with peppermints eating larger aiptasia but if you hit them with kalk paste, the shrimp will clean up the remains and that particular one shouldn't come back.

-Sonja

[wooz29]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9698741#post9698741 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by calebjk
that's awesome, what store and city?

Petland in Omaha, Nebraska

[calebjk]

thank you, i've purchased a lot of lr at petland in iowa city and had great luck with it, even had some great hitchhikers. must be a petland thing!