[FishPharmD]

What does “junk anemone“ (Aiptasia) look like when it first starts growing? I’m talking about less than 1mm wide and tall. I have quite a few of these little buds/blooms growing throughout my live rock. It is very symmetrical and appears to have 8-10 tentacles, all the same length and the same distance from each other, making a perfect circle pattern. Also, when I run a fishnet or something close by, they disappear into the rock lightning-fast. I’ve seen larger Aiptasia on live rock at the LFS, but never tiny ones. Can someone post a picture of some Aiptasia after it has just hatched/budded? Thanks!!!!

[Ninong]

Are you sure you are counting tentacles on something that is only 1 mm across without a lens of some sort? There are approximately 25 mm in an inch, so something that is only 1 mm across is considerably smaller than 1/16", it is closer to 1/32". In fact, it is about 1/25", so 625 of them would fit in a square inch. I doubt I could even see it much less count its tentacles.

A baby Aiptasia anemone probably looks like a grownup Aiptasia anemone, only smaller. http://www.rshimek.com/images/Nichol...20Aiptasia.jpg