[Furchin]

I need some help IDing some stuff I have. Anyone able to help?

1. What is the polyp/animal in the picture below? (Dead center on the rock, and a profile can be seen in the first attachment just above the fiji yellow leather coral). I've read about Aiptasia, and this is definitely my worry, though it has a purple tinge which I thought Aiptasia wouldn't have.



2. What are the little hairs on the back of the Astrea snail in the second attachment?

3. What are the little white dots (able to move and swim) on the black back wall of my aquarium as shown in the third attachment, with the Astrea snail for perspective? I asked about this in another thread as well.

Thanks for your help! I'm new to all this and want to make sure I don't get in any trouble with things.

[Furchin]

Sorry, the attachment order got screwed up, but hopefully you can still tell which attachment belongs to which question

[saltjunkie]

you back glass looks like a flat photo of a flobe// with like say pinpoint markers in locations were you have a dennys or waffle house present..

sorry i cant help// but the pic was funny to me..

[Samper]

For the snail it looks as if it's either a feather duster of some sort or aptasia. The "polyp" could be aptasia but the pic isn't very clear and the tentacles look a little different than the ones I had.......they were smaller though. As for the back glass could be copepods and amphipods but without a macro shot it's hard to be sure without a little more detail from you on their appearance. A little odd that they only are seen on the algae..

[zhenya]

Hi Furchin,

Critters on the back glass could be either foraminiferans or a small feather duster type polychaete worms, like Spirorbis, for example. Hard to tell from the picture but some of them looked like those to me.
The Astraea sp. snail, those could be the sensory tentacles from the mantle under the shell of the snail, I'd need a closer image from the underside, to say for sure.
The polyp may or may not be an Aiptasia, hard to say from your image. There are lots of different small, colonial type anemones that could become problematic so I'd keep an eye on that one. There is another tiny anemone just above your leather coral and that definately looks like the dreaded Aiptasia to me. I'd would advise zapping it with some heated kalk paste, just to be on the safe side.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Furchin

1. What is the polyp/animal in the picture below? (Dead center on the rock, and a profile can be seen in the first attachment just above the fiji yellow leather coral).

OK, I wasn't going to say anything because the picture is not all that sharp to me but I will say that I do NOT believe it is aiptasia. It is probably a harmless little feather duster. I really can't even find it in the picture that you say shows it in profile.

[Furchin]

Originally Posted by Ninong

OK, I wasn't going to say anything because the picture is not all that sharp to me but I will say that I do NOT believe it is aiptasia. It is probably a harmless little feather duster. I really can't even find it in the picture that you say shows it in profile.

I circled it in the attachment below. Now I'm really worried -- some of you say this is aiptasia, some of you say the stuff on the snail is aiptasia, it's everywhere. I guess that's the whole problem with it, huh?

[Furchin]

Originally Posted by Samper

A little odd that they only are seen on the algae..

Actually they're everywhere on the back wall, including the algea. They're also swimming around in the water, everywhere.

I'm concerned about the TINY TINY white dots. I think you're talking about the air bubbles on the algae. I'm worried about the tiny white specks that you can see against the black.

It's just so hard to get a good picture. I have a water proof camera I could try sticking in there and getting a good shot tonight -- all the pictures so far have been through the glass.

Thanks!

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Furchin

I circled it in the attachment below. Now I'm really worried -- some of you say this is aiptasia, some of you say the stuff on the snail is aiptasia, it's everywhere. I guess that's the whole problem with it, huh?

Well,

In this shot it does show clearly column and it makes me believe that it is an anemone of some sorts. Looking at it straight in,the color of the oral disk resembles Majano anemone more than anything, at least to my eye.

[Ninong]

OK, the critter inside the red circle looks like an anemone now. It the tentacles are blunt on the ends, it's possibly Anemonia majano, if they are tapered towards the ends, it could be Aiptasia spp. If that's the same thing that I thought might be a little feather duster of some sort, then it's not. The profile view makes it look entirely different.

[jbicb3]

Originally Posted by Furchin

Actually they're everywhere on the back wall, including the algea. They're also swimming around in the water, everywhere.

I'm concerned about the TINY TINY white dots. I think you're talking about the air bubbles on the algae. I'm worried about the tiny white specks that you can see against the black.

Are they kind of teardrop shaped, with a little hairlike tail? If so, I just noticed some in my tank tonight. Also some miliped looking creatures about 3/8" long and mostly clear.

Any idea what these may be? Sorry I don't have a camera that takes clear, close-up pictures.

Jerry

[jbicb3]

Originally Posted by Samper

As for the back glass could be copepods and amphipods but without a macro shot it's hard to be sure without a little more detail from you on their appearance.

I looked up copepods & amphipods on google, and I believe what I see in my tank are copepods. And I guess they are a good thing to have. Still not sure about the miliped looking thing.

[Tribio]

Just checking to see if this looks like yours? One is where I dropped a shrimp pelett into the hole of it and it ate it. I'm still very green to marine life so it might be completly off.

[Furchin]

Originally Posted by Tribio

Just checking to see if this looks like yours? One is where I dropped a shrimp pelett into the hole of it and it ate it. I'm still very green to marine life so it might be completly off.

Yep, that's pretty much mine. What is it?

[Samper]

Definately nuisance anemone Tribio........get rid of it before it plagues you.

[kevinpo]

I believe it is a majano anemone. They don't multiply as fast as Aiptasia but can sting corals if they come in contact. Small anemones are not really a problem in a reef tank except that they can sting live corals if they come in contact with them. A very effective way to get rid of them is to use pickling lime. I mix 1/4 cup of water with 1 tablespoon of pickling lime in a small plastic container (old dip container) with a lid. I use an old Salifert test syringe with the very tiny tip (this gives very good control). I then feed a small amount into the mouth of the anemone. They actually eat it at first. It's pretty much gone in an hour.

HTH,
Kevin
PS: I will post some pictures if my post isn't clear.

[Reefland]

First for Furchin,

I do not think what you have in the picture is Aiptasia, they usually have longer tapered tentacles and do not have such solid coloration, more of a brown translucent.

For Tribio,

What you have pictured definitely appears to be Aiptasia and due to the rapid reproduction and aggressive sting they can inflict, I would get rid of it either by natural predation of manual extraction.

[Tribio]

Well, sorry Furchin for hijacking the thread then, I just thought my pic looked like yours and was a little more in focus. And thanks for the ID.