I need some assistance

jacobcoral

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I have these parasites in my rocks. Does anyone know what they do and if they are causing issues? If they do cause issues what’s the plan to get rid of them because I’ve seen multiple and removed multiple as well. (I can’t take out the rock work because it’s all carefully epoxied together)

I have some kind of alage on a few of my rocks and zoa frags that’s agitating the polyps. I’ve tried using a brush and plyers to clean it and it just seems to be impossible to get off the drag completely. ( any tips on this)

There’s also a lot of these feather worm looking things around my tank and on some frags (what are they and what do they do) (3rd picture)

Lastly here is a video of the flow this mushroom is getting. (Seems healthy should I move it due to the flow)

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white light pictures would be best, but looks like aiptasia's (pest) and bristle worms (ugly, but good guys)
 
I’ll get some white light photos for you. What’s aptasia?
 

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I’ll get some white light photos for you. What’s aptasia?
Aiptasia is a common hitchhiker found on live rock or on coral plugs from time to time. It's a type of anemone, but it can spread out of control and sting other corals. 9/10 you want to kill it if you see it, and if you see one, always look for more.
 
Aiptasia is a common hitchhiker found on live rock or on coral plugs from time to time. It's a type of anemone, but it can spread out of control and sting other corals. 9/10 you want to kill it if you see it, and if you see one, always look for more.
How do I kill it ?
 
The worm-looking "parasites" are some variety of fire/bristle worm. They're largely beneficial detrivores that can sometimes cause problems, but 95% of the time they should just be left alone.

The anemones are aiptasia anemones, nasty little hitchhikers that can grow to plague proportions and crowd out anything else. Very hard to take down once they get established, most successful long-term tanks include animals specifically to predate on aiptasia. More on that in a second.

The algae looks like it could be bryopsis. It's a stubborn hair algae, made worse by the fact that most CUC won't eat it. There are a few creatures that will, but depending on what you have in your tank already there is a relatively simple treatment for it. Said treatment (Reef Flux) is not without its downsides, so don't just rush out and get some.

What size is your tank? How long has it been running? Do you have any corals beyond zoanthids and mushrooms?

As far as aiptasia goes - there are a range of things you can do to get rid of aiptasia. None of them succeed 100%, which is why long-term control usually involves some variety of aiptasia predator.

First, there are chemical treatments. This usually only works when there are just a few aiptasia present. Take a solution of some variety (kalk paste is my favorite, but there are other solutions that work) and smother the disc of the anemone in your solution. Alternately, pierce the body of the anemone and inject directly. This works to kill the anemone, but the problem is that one of their survival mechanisms is to release larvae when attacked. So if you don't kill it fast enough your one anemone becomes hundreds of anemones.

Second there are physical treatments. Things like hydrogen peroxide, superglue, UV torches, lasers, etc. These mostly have the same problem: If they don't kill fast enough, then the anemones can multiply and spread. Additionally, both chemical and physical treatments share the problem that they're relatively time-consuming to apply. If you have a large infestation, it can take hours to treat every aiptasia.

Finally, there are biological treatments. Bringing in something to eat the aiptasia. There are fish that will do so - Australian Stripey, some butterflyfish (most notably, copper-banded butterflies), bristletail filefish. There are also some invertebrates that will do so: Kukenthal's shrimp, certain species of peppermint shrimp, Berghia nudibranches. But there are problems with all of these as well, ranging from coral predation (most fish that will eat aiptasia will also eat corals), ineffectiveness (most shrimp that will eat aiptasia would rather eat other things) or obligate predation (Berghia only eat aiptasia, which sounds great until you realize that your population of Berghia will starve to death, usually before they completely eliminate aiptasia).

Controlling aiptasia is a complicated and never-ending problem in the hobby.
 
The worm-looking "parasites" are some variety of fire/bristle worm. They're largely beneficial detrivores that can sometimes cause problems, but 95% of the time they should just be left alone.

The anemones are aiptasia anemones, nasty little hitchhikers that can grow to plague proportions and crowd out anything else. Very hard to take down once they get established, most successful long-term tanks include animals specifically to predate on aiptasia. More on that in a second.

The algae looks like it could be bryopsis. It's a stubborn hair algae, made worse by the fact that most CUC won't eat it. There are a few creatures that will, but depending on what you have in your tank already there is a relatively simple treatment for it. Said treatment (Reef Flux) is not without its downsides, so don't just rush out and get some.

What size is your tank? How long has it been running? Do you have any corals beyond zoanthids and mushrooms?

As far as aiptasia goes - there are a range of things you can do to get rid of aiptasia. None of them succeed 100%, which is why long-term control usually involves some variety of aiptasia predator.

First, there are chemical treatments. This usually only works when there are just a few aiptasia present. Take a solution of some variety (kalk paste is my favorite, but there are other solutions that work) and smother the disc of the anemone in your solution. Alternately, pierce the body of the anemone and inject directly. This works to kill the anemone, but the problem is that one of their survival mechanisms is to release larvae when attacked. So if you don't kill it fast enough your one anemone becomes hundreds of anemones.

Second there are physical treatments. Things like hydrogen peroxide, superglue, UV torches, lasers, etc. These mostly have the same problem: If they don't kill fast enough, then the anemones can multiply and spread. Additionally, both chemical and physical treatments share the problem that they're relatively time-consuming to apply. If you have a large infestation, it can take hours to treat every aiptasia.

Finally, there are biological treatments. Bringing in something to eat the aiptasia. There are fish that will do so - Australian Stripey, some butterflyfish (most notably, copper-banded butterflies), bristletail filefish. There are also some invertebrates that will do so: Kukenthal's shrimp, certain species of peppermint shrimp, Berghia nudibranches. But there are problems with all of these as well, ranging from coral predation (most fish that will eat aiptasia will also eat corals), ineffectiveness (most shrimp that will eat aiptasia would rather eat other things) or obligate predation (Berghia only eat aiptasia, which sounds great until you realize that your population of Berghia will starve to death, usually before they completely eliminate aiptasia).

Controlling aiptasia is a complicated and never-ending problem in the hobby.
Now that's a thorough reply, well done
 
Thank you, my tanks been running for about a year, just zoas and mushrooms rn, one Kenya tree. I’m looking into getting 2 peppermint shrimp and 3 nudibranches. The aptasia dosnt seem to be bad at the moment. I’ve just been removing it with plyers but I see now that may not be the best idea. Also my tanks only 13.5 gallons
 
Thank you, my tanks been running for about a year, just zoas and mushrooms rn, one Kenya tree. I’m looking into getting 2 peppermint shrimp and 3 nudibranches. The aptasia dosnt seem to be bad at the moment. I’ve just been removing it with plyers but I see now that may not be the best idea. Also my tanks only 13.5 gallons
 
How do I kill it ?
You have common bristleworm and for aptasia, keep it simple. . . . Using a syringe or pipette, inject either lemon juice or better yet. . kalkwasser powder mixed with tank water into a paste the consistency of toothpaste and inject into the very center core and it will melt away
 
You have common bristleworm and for aptasia, keep it simple. . . . Using a syringe or pipette, inject either lemon juice or better yet. . kalkwasser powder mixed with tank water into a paste the consistency of toothpaste and inject into the very center core and it will melt away
Do you think I could just do Berghia nudibranches
 
Do you think I could just do Berghia nudibranches
The problem is for a few aptasia , they eat them then starve. Manual is best at this time, easy to do and rids of them right away
 
The problem is for a few aptasia , they eat them then starve. Manual is best at this time, easy to do and rids of them right away
I’m fine with them starving as long as it won’t cause any issues and fixes the issue. So you think a sharp syringe?
 
Do you think I could just do Berghia nudibranches

The problem is for a few aptasia , they eat them then starve. Manual is best at this time, easy to do and rids of them right away

Agreed completely. Berghia are tempting because they seem like a "throw money at the problem and it goes away" solution. But in practice, they're not a permanent solution. I have used Berghia multiple times, and the best-case scenario is that they take a few weeks to breed enough to tackle the infestation, wipe out 95% of the population, and then die before they can find the last few holdout aiptasia. They're not a permanent solution, they're a stopgap measure to regain control so that another solution can be deployed successfully.

Look for a dosing syringe that will take a Luer-lock tip, along with a packet of 14ga Luer-lock tips. Use that to dispense the solution of your choice - I agree with @vetteguy53081 that the kalk paste is the best option. Just be careful with that solution around corals - it will kill them just as well as it kills aiptasia if you drip it directly onto them.
 
Agreed completely. Berghia are tempting because they seem like a "throw money at the problem and it goes away" solution. But in practice, they're not a permanent solution. I have used Berghia multiple times, and the best-case scenario is that they take a few weeks to breed enough to tackle the infestation, wipe out 95% of the population, and then die before they can find the last few holdout aiptasia. They're not a permanent solution, they're a stopgap measure to regain control so that another solution can be deployed successfully.

Look for a dosing syringe that will take a Luer-lock tip, along with a packet of 14ga Luer-lock tips. Use that to dispense the solution of your choice - I agree with @vetteguy53081 that the kalk paste is the best option. Just be careful with that solution around corals - it will kill them just as well as it kills aiptasia if you drip it directly onto them.
Even a pipette works over syringe

1760396834175.png
 

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