Something is the Zoas

Reeferbadness · May 14, 2022

Def Aiptasia in the Zoa's. Peppermint shrimp never worked for me. Best bet is either F Aiptasia - use carefully as it will also kill the zoa's that it touches but you need to get this under control or those suckers will take over your tank or, what i finally did to stop my 1 year battle with aiptasia was to get 20 Berghia Nudibranch from @saltyunderground and over about 6 - 8 weeks they ate all aiptasia. Be careful, if you have wrasse (i have 2 yellow coris) you need to add them at night and get many more than you think you need - to ensure that they survive and breed.

aggrofish · May 14, 2022

Zoas are Aptasia magnets. Anytime I’ve bought off local reefers the Zoas come with free aptasia. aptasia X does work but it’s difficult to inject it properly so it actually kills the Aptasia. If you don’t do it right they spread even more. It may take a few peppermint shrimp before you find one that eats it. Same with emerald crabs and bubble algae

IKD · May 14, 2022

I know not everyone can do this with their tank specs, but a Biota Aiptasia-eating filefish worked a miracle for me. He pokes around my SPS but doesn’t seem to be harming them.

Rohirrimus · May 17, 2022

Sharkbait19 said:
Hard to make out but I’m thinking aiptasia or feather duster worm.
I’m leaning towards feather duster because I can see the feathery ends and you mentioned it shoots back really fast.

Hi, today I managed to get a better picture:

I pretty much rulled out Xenia, so what do you think, aiptasia or worm? I think worm would’ve fallen out with the dip so probably the anemone?
thanks

Sharkbait19 · May 17, 2022

Definitely aptasia.

Duncan62 · May 17, 2022

Rohirrimus said:
Hello guys,
I have something in the zoas which I cannot identify.
The angle is very bad and I am having trouble seeing it. it looks like Xenia polyp, but the Xenia I have looks quite different.
Think I'm also ruling out Spiders since it's next to the polyp
this one is too thin. I tried grabbing it with pliers, but it retracts immediately.
Here are some pictures, hopefully, someone can identify it. Sorry that pics are bad but honestly they are 10x better than what you can see with the naked eye, it's very thin and on an awkward spot. I took pictures under white light as it's best seen.
Thanks a lot

Peppermint shrimp

IKD · May 17, 2022

Yes, definitely aiptasia

Great pictures.

just curious, I think you’ve had multiple replies over the past week this was a pest and you should treat quickly to prevent spreading. It doesn’t t look like you’ve taken any action yet and you’re adding more risk of this spreading further. Is there something you are still waiting for?

Rohirrimus · May 18, 2022

IKD said:
Yes, definitely aiptasia

Great pictures.

just curious, I think you’ve had multiple replies over the past week this was a pest and you should treat quickly to prevent spreading. It doesn’t t look like you’ve taken any action yet and you’re adding more risk of this spreading further. Is there something you are still waiting for?

I have taken action, I’ve tried to kill it but unsuccessful (blasting warm water but it’s microscopic , those Zoas are really tiny) ,
Did the dip with lemon extract which also didn’t work,
Now I got a decent size peppermint shrimp.
will see later on today when light come on but this morning I couldn’t see it so it seems like peppermint did it’s job.
In research of this I saw the Aiptasia eating nudibrench , and now I almost wish to have more of aiptasia as those guys are beautiful.
Later on will post pictures if peppermint got to it or not

Rohirrimus · May 18, 2022

Duncan62 said:
Peppermint shrimp

Got one yesterday

Rohirrimus · May 18, 2022

Sharkbait19 said:
Definitely aptasia.

Thanks, got the peppermint shrimp yesterday so I hope he will do the job that I failed to do.

IKD · May 18, 2022

Rohirrimus said:
I have taken action, I’ve tried to kill it but unsuccessful (blasting warm water but it’s microscopic , those Zoas are really tiny) ,
Did the dip with lemon extract which also didn’t work,
Now I got a decent size peppermint shrimp.
will see later on today when light come on but this morning I couldn’t see it so it seems like peppermint did it’s job.
In research of this I saw the Aiptasia eating nudibrench , and now I almost wish to have more of aiptasia as those guys are beautiful.
Later on will post pictures if peppermint got to it or not

Ok, understand. If it’s that size, a dab of coral glue to smother it should work easily enough for you. I hope the peppermint shrimp works for you otherwise.

Rohirrimus · May 18, 2022

IKD said:
Ok, understand. If it’s that size, a dab of coral glue to smother it should work easily enough for you. I hope the peppermint shrimp works for you otherwise.

He did a marvellous job, today the Zoas look clean:

There he is in his cave, after a hard night :

Wish my clowns were as good as this shrimp .

but I think he will do a great job if there is any leftover aiptasia that I don’t see, he clearly likes it

MaxTremors · May 18, 2022

Vagabond said:
It looks like aphasia to me.

Precisely. They’re having difficulty communicating what their issue is.

mindme · May 18, 2022

Sharkbait19 said:
Red thing might be a spaghetti worm.

That is also what I thought.

Duncan62 · May 18, 2022

Rohirrimus said:
He did a marvellous job, today the Zoas look clean:

There he is in his cave, after a hard night :

Wish my clowns were as good as this shrimp .

but I think he will do a great job if there is any leftover aiptasia that I don’t see, he clearly likes it

He'll clean up after your fish too. He will find aiptasia that you can't see yet. Good luck with him.

Sharkbait19 · May 18, 2022

Do keep an eye on the shrimp - many peppermints are known to get a taste for coral as well.

Rohirrimus · May 19, 2022

mindme said:
That is also what I thought.

sadly there seems to be more of it, it's algie like, doesn't really move. I think it's irritating zoa's since some of the heads are not opening and they have a bit of that red thing. I would dip it again but if it's not something that is resolvable with a dip I don't want to stress the colony even more. I'll take more pictures with it later when the lights come on

mindme · May 19, 2022

Rohirrimus said:
sadly there seems to be more of it, it's algie like, doesn't really move. I think it's irritating zoa's since some of the heads are not opening and they have a bit of that red thing. I would dip it again but if it's not something that is resolvable with a dip I don't want to stress the colony even more. I'll take more pictures with it later when the lights come on

Hmm, might not be a spaghetti worm then. They typically live in the sand and the red arms will spread across the sand picking up detritus etc.