What does aptasia look like when its tiny?

[otrlynn]

My 58 gallon reef tank has been set up for 10 days but the contents are from my 29 which was set up for around 6 months but with lower lighting. I added about 30 more pounds of cycled live rock to the new tank. I have just started noticing a few very small, (less than 1/2 inch) anemone-like creatures. They have very fine "hairs" At this point they don't seem to have a stalk, like the pictures of aptasia that I can find. The funny thing is that they are on the older rock and I'm sure they weren't there before the new tank was set up. Anyone have any pictures of very small aptasias, or have any idea if this is something else? I can't get a very good picture yet because of size and location.

[bertoni]

You might be seeing foraminiferans or perhaps hydroids. Hard to say. Google should turn up some pictures.

[Sk8r]

Looks like a grain of rice. I'd go with hydroids on this.

[pepino]

why is aptasia bad for the tank

[James11]

it spreads quickly and can over run your tank, plus when you get a whole lot of them they can look bad

[papagimp]

While I havn't seen to many tanks that I'd call "overrun" with them, they can get out of control easily and they are excpetionally hardy, fast growing species that can and do sting their neighbors. Not to mention a little unsightly IMO.

All the tiny babies aptasia's I've ever seen look just like their big brothers and sisters, just tiny.

[jackson07]

So how do you get rid of them? I have had an outbreak in my tank. I bet I have got 20 of them. And yes it makes your tank look bad. They even killed on my corals.

[papagimp]

I do vinegar injections myself, used to do the whole Joe's Juice thing, but then I guess I managed to get a joes juice resistant strain of aptasia's or something cause they kept eating it and not dying, lol.

[ahullsb]

When you inject it, are you using a needle? Or just a normal plastic tipped syringe and getting it close. My roommate has aptasia's and majano's I believe. We are trying to find a good way to eradicate them!

[waxy]

I just mix a good thick concentration of Kalkwasser and load it up in a syringe and blast away. There is no way that SOB is going to survive a pure shot of CALCIUM!

Just remember to dilute the water if you squirt the Ca on it, dont want that thick concentration congregating to any of your inhabitants.

This is my method, works great.

[otrlynn]

Well, I believe my "tiny things" are aptasia. They vanish into the rock when I wave my hand near them. Rats!!! Am I correct in remembering that true peppermint shrimp will often eat them when they are small? If so, I'm off to the LFS tonight. Can I add two or will they fight? If I'm not successful, I'm not sure what to do. I don't have "Kalk" at this point. Also one of them is located on the goniopora that I have, and I don't want to squirt anything there that will damage it. Any other thoughts appreciated.

[skeletor121]

Here are a couple websites that talk about Aipstasia and how to rid your tank of them.

http://www.reefs.org/library/aquari...s/aiptasia.html

http://www.reefscapes.net/articles/...ia_control.html