A hitchhiking coral - can you ID?

Brakaan · Apr 13, 2020

A few weeks ago I noticed a coral growing on the rock that I did not purchase or place. I’m assuming it hitchhiked on a plug or something the last time I bought a coral.

I’m new to the hobby so I have no idea what this is (or that this could even happen!). I’m not bothered by it, but curious what it is. It looks like an LPS. I waited a few weeks to take a picture because it was so small I thought it would be hard to ID. It doesn’t phosphoresce like other corals. Just plan old brown (almost transparent) with tan bands on the tentacles.

For scale, the whole coral - base and tentacles - is maybe 1 to 1.5 inches.

Thoughts? Have you ever had a coral hitchhike?

NewGoby · Apr 13, 2020

Aiptasia - bad plague anemone spreads quickly - pepppermint shrimp will deal with them, and otherwise Aptasia X injected in a seperate container with a injection needle, sometimes glueing over them also works

Some people have bad experiences with peppermint shrimp where they also eat other coral - I believe that these are 'false' peppermint shrimp - as I've kept (and currently have) multiple, never had an issue

good source of information - https://www.liveaquaria.com/article/294/?aid=294

monti mike · Apr 13, 2020

Oh boy, that’s not a coral. That’s an aiptasia anemone. Kill it ASAP!

Brakaan · Apr 13, 2020

Thank you! I knew I should have trusted my gut— when I first saw it I assumed it was a bad hitchhiker. It looks so much like a coral!

Since it’s an anemone, does it move about?

From the research I just did, it sounds like peppermint shrimp is the way to go. I’ll give that a try. It’s the only one I see right now.