Anemones ??

compmancp

New member
Anyone know what these guys are? At first when they were small I thought it was aptasia, but now that they're bigger I don't think they are because they haven't spread or replicated. Maybe anemones? I have two that started growing out of live rock, and they are not near each other in my tank.
 
Definitely try to kill them. There are so many ways. People say lemon juice, kalk paste, purpleup, the specific aiptasia killers, boiling water, vinegar... Pick one and see if it works.
 
Aptasia x .... Lemon... File fish... Must be put on or injected...Peperment shrimp.. best I have done take it out n scrape it off clean ..rinse in seperate bucket..
 
I use aptasia X on customers tanks with great success.

Lemon and boiling water tend to need multiple treatments and are more likely to reappear.

Filefish, some copperband butterflies, and peppermint shrimp(from Caribbean) will eat it as well.
 
Maybe tube anemone? Although it does look like Aiptasia. Just make sure. Don't wanna kill it if is an anemone indeed and nuke the tank.
 
It's a tube anemone, can you see the "stem"? If it's similar to a feather duster, it's a def a tube anemone. Aiptasia has far less tentacles. And they spread rapidly.
 
if you want to risk it, raccoon butterflies actually eat these things in no time. when i say "risk it" they are not reef safe, i used one for a little to overcome a small aiptasia problem and it worked like a charm. i would give it a try its honestly worth the risk.
 
def not a tube anemone. You can clearly see the mouth, and conspicuous lack of 2 sets of tentacles (which all tube anemones have). Aptasia... kill, kill, kill. Also aptasia X is simply CaOH/Kalk, so save yourself a buck.
 
Thanks for all the feedback. Seems to be some difference of opinion on aiptasia vs tube anemone. Any definite way to tell?
 
Thanks for all the feedback. Seems to be some difference of opinion on aiptasia vs tube anemone. Any definite way to tell?

Tube anemone has a hard tube like a feather duster or coco worm. Aiptasia has a soft stalk, same color as the rest of it.
 
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This is a tube anemone. You can clearly see it has a tube for a stalk rather then a soft foot.

Easy way to eliminate the doubt. Just touch it with something. If its a tube anemone it will draw back quickly and will suck into a tube which will be easily seen. If its aptasia it will also close quickly, however it closes and shrinks very small into a small ball almost. If u see a hard tube, keep it, if there is no tube. Kill Kill Kill lol
 
Here's another idea that has worked well for me. Take a small ball of epoxy putty and cover the hole that it shrinks into. If you seal off it's cave then they die. After a couple weeks you can pop off the putty if you want, or leave it. This is the easiest thing I've ever done to get rid of them. Although it's not as practical if you wait too long and have dozens to kill.
 
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