(Bad) hitch-hiker anemone

[berkdog]

I have some Aiptasia or Majano anemones... I think they're Majano.

Anyway, I read everywhere online about how they're "pests". They reproduce and take up space.

Other than that, why are they so bad? I mean, what harm do they pose on a FOWLR system? Is it really bad to allow 1-2 to stay, and pull out the rest? Do they poison fish? Steal nutrients? Produce bio waste and add bio load? Do fish get attacked by them? Do fish touch them and get stung?

I searched and tried to read online, but only see pictures and fear about how they're pests and undesirable, but other than the quick breeding, what's bad about them?

Thanks!

[leebca]

In a FOWLR system, they don't pose any threat to the fishes (unless you have baby fishes).

Usually in a FOWLR system we encourage or like to see the various colors provided by thriving coralline algae. These nuisance invertebrates cover up the rock and choke out the life of such algae. They become unsightly to most eyes. They also thrive best in poor water quality, which says something of how things are going in your system.

But if the above doesn't concern you, let them run rampant. Some fishes will nibble at them and some will eat them, so depending on the kinds of fishes you keep, they may or may not flourish.

[berkdog]

thanks!

just to claim my water quality isn't the poorest, these came with my live rock. :-\ i may pluck out some when pulling out the green grass hair algea that also came with my live rock. when i saw the cool additions, i didn't question the lfs keeper when she said these are nice live rocks and i could have them (already cured) for the same price as the not yet cured rocks. oh well... you (meaning i) learn

[reefplayground]

be careful with just plucking them out. this will simply cause them to spread even faster

[berkdog]

why?

[Ninong]

why?

Because any tiny pieces of tissue left behind can regenerate into new anemones. Each and every one of the tiniest pieces of tissue is capable of becoming a new anemone. This is why scraping Aiptasia or A. majano off rocks inside the aquarium is not recommended. You will probably leave several tiny pieces of tissue and each and every tiny piece of tissue left behind could become a new anemone. Those tiny pieces of tissue will usually be carried by the water flow inside the tank and end up in new locations. Before long you will have a thriving population of pest anemones.

Aiptasia seem to spread much easier than A. majano and they grow faster, too. You can 'inject' either of these pests with a variety of solutions to send them peacefully to anemone heaven. Just run a search on Aiptasia on this board or simply google "eliminating Aiptasia." The biological controls may not be the same but the chemical methods (injection) are.

There is a new product on the market called Aiptasia-X that sounds promising. It should work on A. majano, too.

[berkdog]

thank you for the help. I think they're majano... I already took them all off, so I'll do that in the future when/if necessary. thank you!