Is this Aptasia?
Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Main
Forum Name: General Discussion
Forum Description: Posts that don't fit in any of the other categories.
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=16744
Printed Date: May 14 2025 at 10:38am Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.03 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Is this Aptasia?
Posted By: eldiente
Subject: Is this Aptasia?
Date Posted: February 21 2007 at 2:22pm
Ok, so I have these small things growing and spreading in my tank, I thought aptasia were much larger but I don't know. these are about 1/4 inch at the biggest and on the glass they seem to be connected. I have placed an aptasia control liquid I got for them, but it hasn't hurt them at all. they are in my gravel/sand bed, live rock, and on the glass. they don't seem to be xenia, all though they seem to spread like them on the glass. I can scrape them off the glass but within a day or two they are back. thanks in advance also any ideas on how to get rid of them, if not I will probably just take out the live rock, sand and nuke em. (I do have three pepermint shrimp in there and they haven't touched it. )
------------- Brian Twin Falls, Idaho
210 Gallon Glass reef
|
Replies:
Posted By: sukie
Date Posted: February 21 2007 at 2:52pm
I don't think so. . . .
------------- http://sukie.mt-wudan.com/ - My Blog
|
Posted By: aaaj
Date Posted: February 21 2007 at 3:07pm
It looks like some sort of gorgonian to me.
------------- Amber
29 gallon reef
pictures of some of my frags at frags.org
|
Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: February 21 2007 at 3:21pm
No, it isn't aiptasia but I don't know what it is.
Mike
-------------

|
Posted By: Wudan
Date Posted: February 21 2007 at 3:25pm
The first pic shows what looks like aiptasia, but you can see in the upper right area that the strands have barbs on them, kinda like green star polyps. The second pic looks really cool, but different than the first ... "Fish Net Xenia"? (j/k, totally made up name)
Aiptasia is an anemone, do those things move around at all?
Regardless, it looks cool.
|
Posted By: Shane H
Date Posted: February 21 2007 at 3:45pm
Your peppermint would be hittin' those hard if they were aiptasia. That is like a peppermint shrimp Chuck a'Rama in there.
So, I'm guessing anthelia.
Edit: Anthelia would likely also be on the buffet at a peppermint shrimp Chuck a'Rama. Although there would not be a line ....
|
Posted By: Will Spencer
Date Posted: February 21 2007 at 3:53pm
Definately not Aptasia. I say let'em stay. I have cool little things growing in my tank that I can't identify too. It's always kind of fun to look really close and see the "little" life in there.
|
Posted By: eldiente
Date Posted: February 21 2007 at 3:57pm
I figured not aptaisia, but they are spreading and I don't really want them taking other corals out. they don't move around, just new ones pop up. they are not spreading real fast, I just don't want a tank full of brown stuff and nothing else. thanks for the input, I'll probably just leave them for the time being and see what happens
------------- Brian Twin Falls, Idaho
210 Gallon Glass reef
|
Posted By: Gahlenfr
Date Posted: February 21 2007 at 4:03pm
I totally agree it is not aptasia. Like Shane said it sure looks like Anthelia flava. Do a search and see if it matches.
|
Posted By: jfinch
Date Posted: February 21 2007 at 4:45pm
My guess is not Anthelia (I don't think anthelia are a stolonifera). My quess is some type of Clavularia sp. (clove polyps).
------------- Jon
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6y_EzjI_ljbIwf2n5uNzTw" rel="nofollow - What I've been doing...
|
Posted By: Adam Blundell
Date Posted: February 21 2007 at 5:02pm
I'm banking on a hydroid.
http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2403 - http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2403
Adam
------------- Come to a meeting, they�re fun!
|
Posted By: Shane H
Date Posted: February 21 2007 at 5:37pm
I'm banking on a hydroid.
I didn't even think of hydroid! I think you're right, especially with how quickly they are spreading.
|
Posted By: Gahlenfr
Date Posted: February 21 2007 at 6:14pm
Maybe but look at each tentacle, it has a feather like fingers. This does not look like the hydroid pictures I have been able to pull up? This leads me to a question, is the stranding behaviour what leads you to believe they are hydroids?
http://www.meerwasser-lexikon.de/eng/83/566/Anthelia/sp.htm - http://www.meerwasser-lexikon.de/eng/83/566/Anthelia/sp.htm
|
Posted By: Adam Blundell
Date Posted: February 21 2007 at 7:03pm
That picture almost certainly looks like Anthelia.
Adam
------------- Come to a meeting, they�re fun!
|
Posted By: pollo-guay
Date Posted: February 21 2007 at 7:36pm
It looks similar to what I have in my tank. It has been there for over a year and hasn't seemed to bother anything, and it is so small you really have to look to see that it is there so I just don't worry about it.
Here are some pics of what I have.
|
Posted By: eldiente
Date Posted: February 21 2007 at 8:42pm
I had some in a different part of the tank that look very similar to the hydroids pictured above, I was able to easily remove them. they seemed to all be connected to one stalk, however these seem to spread out horizontally, don't seem to bother anything, and they have spread from one frag "rock" to about a 11-12 diameter in a few months (nothing else seems to propigate in that tank). They are spreading up the glass alot faster though. They do tend to close up when I placed the aptasia control on them in fact I couldn't see them they would shrink or pull back so far and then the next day they would be present again. In fact it would give me false hope thinking I had eradicated them and then presto there they are. thanks for the help with the ID.
------------- Brian Twin Falls, Idaho
210 Gallon Glass reef
|
Posted By: rstruhs
Date Posted: February 21 2007 at 10:29pm
I originally thought hydroid too, however, I did not know that hydroids connect themselves to each other.
If they are spreading real fast and taking over, I would prune them back just in case they "crashed" and caused a problem (Whatever they are!)
------------- Rodney, Sandra, Jeffery, and Laura Struhs
South Jordan, Utah 98th South & 40th West.
(801) 282-2744
75 gallon reef
55 gallon reef
55 gallon FOWLR
20 gallon FOWLR
|
Posted By: eldiente
Date Posted: February 21 2007 at 10:34pm
They are not spreading real fast, its just that nothing grows(spreads, propigates) in this tank except my pom pom xenia (very slowly) so it sparked my attention when it has been spreading for the past couple of months (mind you things aren't dying either, it just always seems to be the same in there)
------------- Brian Twin Falls, Idaho
210 Gallon Glass reef
|
Posted By: jfinch
Date Posted: February 21 2007 at 11:14pm
Clavularia or other Stolonifera all grow by stolons connecting the bases of adjacent polyps or a fiberous mat like green star polyps. The polyps are retractile.
Anthelia don't exhibit stolons, but do grow from a mat. They are part of the xenia family and have non-retractile polyps.
So, if you touch the polyps do they fully retract into a "tube" (clavularia) or do they just curl up like xenia (anthelia)?
They could also be a hydroid, but I don't know squat about them.
------------- Jon
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6y_EzjI_ljbIwf2n5uNzTw" rel="nofollow - What I've been doing...
|
Posted By: tileman
Date Posted: February 22 2007 at 7:46am
It sure looks like the hydroids I had in my tank. Does not hurt other corals, but spreads all over. The only way to control it is to physically pull it out. Mine has finally all disappeared, after 3 years.
------------- 335G Reef TOTM. http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2015/2/aquarium ReefKeepers TOTM Feb. 2012 http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index....k-of-the-month
&
|
Posted By: eldiente
Date Posted: February 22 2007 at 2:23pm
When I touch them they kinda ball up more than pull back into a tube. They are so small it is kinda hard to tell. I don't know how I would ever get rid of them by plucking them out, they are so small and it is hard to grab them, they do scrape off of the glass, but on the rock they don't pull off.
------------- Brian Twin Falls, Idaho
210 Gallon Glass reef
|
Posted By: Firefish
Date Posted: February 23 2007 at 6:21pm
I wish I could take good close ups but these are a type of clove polyp that spread like blood veins and they spread VERY rapidly. They are a hitchhiker that usually hang out in the wild with leather corals and feed off of their mucus. I had them for years in my aquarium and they stayed in one spot (at the base of my leather coral) I think they adapted somehow and have branched out. This is a picture in a tank of some liverock that came from that same origional tank, minus the leather coral and they have spread like wildfire. I get their medusa larvae growing on the glass all of the time.
The zoanthids in the picture were spreading fast until the clove polyps reached it. Now the zoanthids have ceased to spread and soon (without help from me) they will be overtaken and start dieing off. The only way I can tell to get rid of them totally is by scrapping the liverock, and whatever else they are growing on.
------------- 5 gal fluval spec v http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=65727&KW=&PID=531710&title=my-new-little-one#531710 12 gallon jbj nanocube reef Stansbury Park (Tooele Area)
|
Posted By: eldiente
Date Posted: February 23 2007 at 6:30pm
That's kinda what I'm afraid of happening too. thanks for the info,
Firefish do you have any frags/single polyps of that orange/blue ricordia in the pic, I have been looking for one for a long time. thanks brian
------------- Brian Twin Falls, Idaho
210 Gallon Glass reef
|
Posted By: Firefish
Date Posted: February 23 2007 at 6:38pm
There are three of them (soon to be five) in that spot, and their foot is crammed way down in a couple of holes. I can't get them off.
Bruce Ewald (ewaldsreef) may have some. Check with him.
------------- 5 gal fluval spec v http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=65727&KW=&PID=531710&title=my-new-little-one#531710 12 gallon jbj nanocube reef Stansbury Park (Tooele Area)
|
|