Red thing with tube-things....

[HermanoToro]

Hey, guys. I scored some BTAs from a friend and, since they were already attached to this old SPS rock, she just gave me the whole thing. This little red thing is growing and has like....what looks like the bottom of an octopus tentacle (suckers) sticking out. There is also what appears to be a mouth at the center. It has grown a bit and extends / closes up with the light cycle. The picture is pretty poor and I had to engage SPS-mode on my light to capture it. Really doesn't show how ridiculously bright red it is. I thought it was maybe a sponge, or something, until I saw the sucker-looking things open up. It hasn't bothered anything and looks to be encrusting the rock it's on.....any guesses? Thanks for your time!

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Hey, guys. I scored some BTAs from a friend and, since they were already attached to this old SPS rock, she just gave me the whole thing. This little red thing is growing and has like....what looks like the bottom of an octopus tentacle (suckers) sticking out. It has grown a bit and extends / closes up with the light cycle. The picture is pretty poor and I had to engage SPS-mode on my light to capture it. Really doesn't show how ridiculously bright red it is. I thought it was maybe a sponge, or something, until I saw the sucker-looking things open up. It hasn't bothered anything and looks to be encrusting the rock it's on.....any guesses? Thanks for your time!

Can you get a pic with a flashlight shining on it? Almost looks like a ball anemone (not really a nem, but called that. )

 

[HermanoToro]

Can you get a pic with a flashlight shining on it? Almost looks like a ball anemone (not really a nem, but called that. )

I'll give that a shot now. looks comparable to a TINY ricordea but grows much different. Pictures below. Looking at ball anemones on google images....it certainly has a similar appearance but I don't think it's an anemone. Seems too elongated, in the way it's grown around its position, on the rock. Perhaps time will tell!

 

[HermanoToro]

Hopefully a little better.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Hopefully a little better.

Yup. Ball anemone. Actually a Corallimorph, but just called a nem due to how they look.

They are usually harmless, but if really close to a coral, they can sting it. I have quite a few in my tanks and have never had an issue, but some others have.

If you do want to remove, make a small nem cannon out of some 3/8” pex (just a short piece) and a smaller sponge. The link below will walk you through removing it with a nem cannon.

Or you can inject with some almost boiling vinegar to kill it.

up to you as to what to do with it.

Safe and Easy DIY way to remove Nems

Due to seeing numerous post recently about how to remove anemones and shrooms without hurting them or destroying rock work. I felt like this was in order. First off, a little back story. Years ago, when I lived in Florida and collected aquatic life on a regular basis, we always had issues with...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[HermanoToro]

Yup. Ball anemone. Actually a Corallimorph, but just called a nem due to how they look.

They are usually harmless, but if really close to a coral, they can sting it. I have quite a few in my tanks and have never had an issue, but some others have.

If you do want to remove, make a small nem cannon out of some 3/8” pex (just a short piece) and a smaller sponge. The link below will walk you through removing it with a nem cannon.

Or you can inject with some almost boiling vinegar to kill it.

up to you as to what to do with it.

Safe and Easy DIY way to remove Nems

Due to seeing numerous post recently about how to remove anemones and shrooms without hurting them or destroying rock work. I felt like this was in order. First off, a little back story. Years ago, when I lived in Florida and collected aquatic life on a regular basis, we always had issues with...

www.reef2reef.com

Nice! Thanks for the info. I'll let him chill for now; seems to be pretty happy and is up relatively high compared to all my peasant (soft) corals. Maybe all the red stuff around it is just coralline / something else and isn't part of the ball anemone's growth. Thanks again

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Nice! Thanks for the info. I'll let him chill for now; seems to be pretty happy and is up relatively high compared to all my peasant (soft) corals. Maybe all the red stuff around it is just coralline / something else and isn't part of the ball anemone's growth. Thanks again

Can’t really tell from the pics of the other red stuff, but could be sponges, coralline or even tunicates. Best thing to do if you can get a clear pic is to hit up google with the names I just mentioned and compare pics you see on there.