Live Rock hitchhiker-Baby anemone? aiptasia?

[Jonahnguyen]

I recently bought a used tank on Craigslist that of course came with lots of live rock. I just got it yesterday and noticed today that a 1 or 2 of these were on a rock. Should I be worried? Thanks

[Dayson]

Looks like Aiptasia to me. They are bad, i would try to kill them before it gets out of hand.

[Spacekitty]

Looks like Aiptasia to me too. Kill them all asap because they multiply like crazy. Within a few days your tank will be covered with them and they will be near impossible to get rid of.
Peppermint shrimp are popular to remove them if you have a problem, but if there are just one or two of them, AiptasiaX or lemon juice in a syringe will take care of it. If you have a serious issue with them and don't want peppermint shrimp, filefish will also eat them, but be careful because some will poke at your other corals (mine doesn't, but a lot do).

[Jonahnguyen]

Originally Posted by Spacekitty

Looks like Aiptasia to me too. Kill them all asap because they multiply like crazy. Within a few days your tank will be covered with them and they will be near impossible to get rid of.
Peppermint shrimp are popular to remove them if you have a problem, but if there are just one or two of them, AiptasiaX or lemon juice in a syringe will take care of it. If you have a serious issue with them and don't want peppermint shrimp, filefish will also eat them, but be careful because some will poke at your other corals (mine doesn't, but a lot do).

Its a light blue color. Can aiptasia be that color? Or only brown? Thanks!

[Jonahnguyen]

Originally Posted by Jonahnguyen

Its a light blue color. Can aiptasia be that color? Or only brown? Thanks!

I'm only asking because whenever I see pictures of aiptasia they are brown.

[Spacekitty]

Originally Posted by Jonahnguyen

I'm only asking because whenever I see pictures of aiptasia they are brown.

If they are in a low light area or very young (just popped up), they can be a near transparent color, though I am unsure if they are a very obvious blue. I am on my phone and can't see the coloration that well from your picture, but the shape looks very Aiptasia

[Jonahnguyen]

Another picture

[Jonahnguyen]

Seems to be transparent to me actually. Its aiptasia then. How should I go about killing them? I don't see any on the other rock but the rock that does have a few is in a bucket right now

[Jonahnguyen]

Could I just scrape it off or would that not be good enough?

[Spacekitty]

You could try scraping it, but the second you get near it, it will shrivel up and hide. I would recommend AipasiaX or lemon juice shot into it. Just make sure you get it into the main body of the thing before it hides.
Peppermint shrimp also eat them usually, but that could take some time and they could easily spread badly by then.

[AdamNC]

If only 1, use 2 part epoxy and smoother it in it's hole.

[blanden.adam]

Scraping it would be a bad idea. It will just shear and spread throughout the tank. I'd recommend injecting it with lemon juice. Many pharmacies will sell you hypodermic needles like the ones for diabetics, so take a big dose of lemon juice, get close to the nem, quickly stab it through its mouth into its body, depress the plunger, and watch it die.

[Happyschneider]

Got a gif of a dying Manajo in my build thread if you want to see what happens to those critters when treated

Someone gave me the tip to also seal the crevice where they were with super glue. Might be over cautious but then can you really be when it comes to aptasia?

I also had my stone removed from the tank for treatment but decided not to return it into the qt. Was not worth it. Fingers crossed that they did not spread in my nor your tank.

[Jonahnguyen]

Originally Posted by Happyschneider

Got a gif of a dying Manajo in my build thread if you want to see what happens to those critters when treated

Someone gave me the tip to also seal the crevice where they were with super glue. Might be over cautious but then can you really be when it comes to aptasia?

I also had my stone removed from the tank for treatment but decided not to return it into the qt. Was not worth it. Fingers crossed that they did not spread in my nor your tank.

Is super glue safe in aquariums? Couldn't you just kinda glue the aiptasia with super glue and see what happens? And Im just letting the rock dry out for a couple of days. Could cause a mini cycle but its a pretty small piece.

[Rx79394]

Originally Posted by Jonahnguyen

Is super glue safe in aquariums? Couldn't you just kinda glue the aiptasia with super glue and see what happens? And Im just letting the rock dry out for a couple of days. Could cause a mini cycle but its a pretty small piece.

Yes superglue is safe for the tank, that is what most people use to mount frags.

[LuciDog]

I use a syringe with airline on the end. Fill it all with boiling water. Aim and fire!!! Then once you've hit it well and it's dead looking, back the syringe up and pull it up your airline. No chemicals. No additives. Takes 5 minutes