What is this

R.moore80 · Mar 23, 2017

It looks like some form of algae but it glows in the blue light like a coral! I'm not even sure what it could possibly be!?

R.moore80 · Mar 23, 2017

It's kinda hard to see sorry but it's almost touching my zoa

Msprissy44 · Mar 23, 2017

Looks like a ball anemone or glass anemone. What color is the center of it?

Msprissy44 · Mar 23, 2017

They're harmless and beautiful if that's indeed what it is.

R.moore80 · Mar 23, 2017

It's like completely covered by algae so I can't tell if it's colored but the tentacles or arms or whatever are pinkish, I plan on removing the algae this weekend when I have the time... but if it is that anemone you said will it burn my zoa or will it move or will I most likely ruin it while trying to clean around it?

Edit... just googled ball anemone and aiptasia i think it may be aiptasia

Lionfish Lair · Mar 24, 2017

That's an aiptasia.

R.moore80 · Mar 24, 2017

What's the best way to remove it

Schwabie33 · Mar 24, 2017

Aptasia x - hot water - remove and bake rock if nothing is on there you want to keep

I personally have always used lemon concentrate with a all plastic syringe with no I'll affects.

Or if you want to go the natural route

Peppermint shrimp

Berghia nudis are great unless you have a wrasse, but keep in mind they will starve after all are gone.

Copperband butterfly

Msprissy44 · Mar 24, 2017

R.moore80 said:
What's the best way to remove it

Aiptasia X - however if you do decide to treat it with that I highly recommend that you remove that piece of rock into a either a separate container or a quarantine tank (if you have one). I learned the hard way unfortunately....I treated the Aiptasia in ours and boy did it raise the Nitrates high (40ppm) where ours have been consistent at 5ppm. Which in turn made all my corals very upset. So the next round of live rock my husband came home with as a surprise for me I treated the Aiptasia on them with the Aiptasia X in a separate container (our quarantine tank isn't set up yet) and after the treatment I flushed the rocks with fresh saltwater (frequently) for a couple of days before adding them to our 75 gallon. By using that method it didn't raise our Nitrates at all. I've heard you can use lemon juice to treat the Aiptasia but I personally have never done that. I'm a wuss when it comes to adding anything to my tanks. I guess you can say that I baby them. Lol. I would try to treat it ASAP as it has a tendency to multiply. I hope this helps you and good luck!!

ahiggins · Mar 24, 2017

Please dont bake/boil/take a blowtorch to any rocks.....
#worstadviceever lol

R.moore80 · Mar 24, 2017

Probably shouldn't of but right after I asked how to remove it I just pulled the frag out and pulled it off with tweezers and then wiped the frag off as best as I could

Schwabie33 · Mar 24, 2017

@ahiggins

Assuming this was pointed at my post it was early and I also wasn't very descriptive in my term "cook". Your post wasn't needed tho, specially without any insight to the op problem....

The term "cook" was slang and loosely used for essentially removing any pests, essentially there are many different ways and theory's for this; example soak rock in bleach for a few hours in a separate container, remove rinse, let dry outside in sun, put back into a freshwater container with some prime for a few hours, remove and let dry out, then can start the cycle to reintroduce into the tank.

You can also boil hot water, take that and pour overtop of the rock, and repeat a few times, rinse the rock out really good and let dry for a few days, restart the process to introduce back into the tank.

There's many different strategies to do to remove nuisances on the rock, sorry if my post was taken so seriously but it was loosely used considering we are looking at 1 aptasia.

LbulletM · Mar 25, 2017

Schwabie33 said:
@ahiggins

Assuming this was pointed at my post it was early and I also wasn't very descriptive in my term "cook". Your post wasn't needed tho, specially without any insight to the op problem....

The term "cook" was slang and loosely used for essentially removing any pests, essentially there are many different ways and theory's for this; example soak rock in bleach for a few hours in a separate container, remove rinse, let dry outside in sun, put back into a freshwater container with some prime for a few hours, remove and let dry out, then can start the cycle to reintroduce into the tank.

You can also boil hot water, take that and pour overtop of the rock, and repeat a few times, rinse the rock out really good and let dry for a few days, restart the process to introduce back into the tank.

There's many different strategies to do to remove nuisances on the rock, sorry if my post was taken so seriously but it was loosely used considering we are looking at 1 aptasia.

When you don't know how far into the hobby someone is, @ahiggins 's clarification is perfectly justifiable.

ahiggins · Mar 26, 2017

LbulletM said:
When you don't know how far into the hobby someone is, @ahiggins 's clarification is perfectly justifiable.

Thank you, I've been away for a bit.
Technically, the word used was "bake". If someone is newer (even if I was to see that) they may think the intended advice was to put the rock in the oven and bake it. Which can make the rock explode and/or release toxic vapors.