Anemone ID

[Dan Ugas]

Hello folks, I’m trying to ID this anemone that came as a hitchhiker in the TBS live rock. My tank is been running for about a month an a half, parameters are good but the nitrates a bit high, which I’ve been controlling with weekly water changes. I just saw this anemone expelling some white stuff from it’s mouth, that floated and went by a power head that spread a few of that “whatever it was” in the water, I was able to catch a good chunk of it inside a glass but I’m worrying it could be aiptasia spreading out?? I’m brand new to the hobby, and despite all reading and searching I can’t identify this thing. Does anyone know what kind of anemone is this?? It kind of look like cup coral but I have some of those too and I can see the crown they have which I can’t really see in this one.

 

[Hemmdog]

It’s not aiptasia but I’m not positive what it is.

 

[DSC reef]

Looks like a cup coral.

 

[Malifry97]

No idea but I’m curious

 

[John3]

Yup, cup coral. Pretty hardy, mine are going on 3 years since I got my gulf live rock.

 

[Hemmdog]

Yup, cup coral. Pretty hardy, mine are going on 3 years since I got my gulf live rock.

Are they NPS? They remind me of dendros.

 

[DSC reef]

Are they NPS? They remind me of dendros.

I believe they are azooxanthellate so feeding is necessary

 

[Dan Ugas]

Yup, cup coral. Pretty hardy, mine are going on 3 years since I got my gulf live rock.

It does looks like it, but I pulled the rock out of the water and it didn’t retract, I didn’t see a crown though. Is that the way they spawn? Is it probably dying? It looks fine right now ‍

 

[John3]

I believe they are NPS. They normally extend out at night and will actively catch food. They are very very slow growers. One of mine grew 2 new heads, the other 3 have grown none. If you hit them with a UV light at night they have green accents.

 

[Dan Ugas]

Update, the “anemone” is not swollen anymore and the crown can be clearly seen, it’s a cup coral after all. I found a page that talked about “bleaching” events that corals can face when they are stressed due to a rise in temperature. No other coral was like that but in such event the coral expels “the algae” and it can survive after that. I noticed my water temperature was at 78.8 which is more than 2 degrees than my regular (keep it at 76), looks like my heater is messed up, gotta get a new one tomorrow. I did a slow water change without having to heat the new freshly made water to bring the temp down and it went to 76.5. I guess I’ll probably need to keep a second heater handy and save money for an Apex lol!. Thanks for all the input guys!!! This site is extremely helpful!!!