Hitchhiker Id Please (Sorry, Some New Ones Added!)

[heavenly_d3vi1]

I got some new LR today, and am having trouble Id'ing a couple of things!

And

A couple of these scary looking things! Was really hard to get a picture as its tucked away in a rock.. what ever it is, isn't confined to one place!
Its the brown thing in the middle of the pic in the big hole.. looks kinda like a spider, but with about 50 legs!! lol

 

[Uriel]

Second one looks like glass anemone

 

[-Nemo-]

First looks like dead/dying coral or some sort. Goniopora perhaps.

 

[heavenly_d3vi1]

lol, yes I thought whatever it was looked half dead! It has some yellow things in SOME of the holes, that all started to open up after an hour or so in my tank, but they've all closed up and gone back into their holes now. I'm not sure if I have enought light for them, its a bloody deep tank, and I only have 3x39w T5's

Do I want to get rid of those anemones? Ive had a quick google and it seems everyone who has them wants rid or have tanks overtaken by them!?

 

[lewiss]

Glass anemone or aiptasia are horrid, they spread very fast and over run a tank in no time. If you touch them or break them their parts that fall into the tank all grow into the same anemone and therefore multiply if damaged. Best way to kill them is aiptasia X or peppermint shrimp (which eat them). You def need to get rid of them.

That first pic def looks like dead goniopora to me! Or part dead if polyps are starting to cone through. I have goniopora with 2x T5's and it's survived 4months so far but it's a hard coral to keep alive. I know Sorgan has had relatively gd success - maybe he can give you some tips. Keep it as the top near the lights and give it lots if flow, will need EEG feeding of marine snow type food. Realistically it's not likely to survive but you can try!! And if it does die, it makes a great home for pods and other insects..

 

[sorgan]

Ah what a strange hitchhiker But it is goni however it doesn't look good at all.

The coral comes from lagoon and estuary types of habitat so unlike sps it is used to nuetrient laden waters, these means it needs a good feed regulary.
As it is a hard coral it will not like any phosphate in the water but TBH I would say it is to far gone to survive.

 

[seffieuk]

. Best way to kill them is aiptasia X or peppermint shrimp (which eat them). You def need to get rid of them.

Arrrr, my pretty you forget the best and most satisfying way, the soldering iron


Seffie x

 

[woody88]

I have a glass anemone on one piece of LR in my tank but tbh I like it.
Although i do have my megger ready in case it spreads.

What harm can they cause if left to thrive in a tank and how big do they get?

 

[-Nemo-]

I'm not sure how large they CAN get, but i have seen large ones, 2.5cm and larger...
Their main concern is with corals and stinging them.

 

[Donya]

What harm can they cause if left to thrive in a tank and how big do they get?

Harm: generally stinging as Nemo said and also smothering things with numbers. When they become numerous or large, it can become hard to feed things around them. When there are always a bunch of little Aip tentacles out in the way, they are very good at grabbing the munchies first. However, if there is nothing in the tank at risk of being smothered or stung, then it's simply down to whether you find them an eyesore. If you don't mind risking a bajillion of them (not all reproduce out of control, but the most common ones do), they can help filter your water nicely when in large numbers.

Size: depends on food, lighting, and how much harassment they receive on a regular basis. A few years back I had a some with stalks around 10cm in length fully extended and disks around third to half that in diameter. They would spawn off small armies of offspring weekly. Most don't get that big, but they may be able to grow even larger if fed. I never tried target feeding those large ones so I don't know. Currently I have another large one of a different species in my mantis tank, but I have yet to see a single offspring from it. I would guess it has a 3cm diameter disk with 5cm tentacles radiating out from it. No idea on the stalk length since it lives in a hole, but it's quite a big fellow and also never target fed.

 

[lewiss]

I had 1 which turned to 5, which turned to 10, which made me very unhappy. I burnt 3 - the smell was gross!! The others I used ais x - leaving one for food for pepper the peppermint shrimp!! Altho he hides in the day, he swims around the top at night!!

Ps never seen a yellow goni before, they come in many of colours!! But not send yellow. Keep it high in direct light! And feed regulary. Hope it survives, even though it's chances are weak!!!

 

[heavenly_d3vi1]

now I have some more than I'm struggling to ID! lol

Couple of slug/snail things.. And the red seaweed like stuff?

theres 2 ball like things on this rock, a browny one and a whiter one, are they some kind of sponge? Also the red stuff, it kinda looks like fish scales!

are these some kind of anemone? They were just dark green balls on the rock when we got it from LFS, but within 10 minutes in my tank they were all opened up!

And a better picture of one of the horrible looking glass anemones, another emerged in an easier photo location! lol

Thanks for the help

 

[sorgan]

It's not yellow it's bleached, when the flesh between the polyps of a goni stops expanding out with the polyps it's a bad sign for the corals health.

Oh and the snails are stomatella, the red stuff is some kind of macro algae. The nems don't look like goodies to me

 

[-Nemo-]

"are these some kind of anemone? They were just dark green balls on the rock when we got it from LFS, but within 10 minutes in my tank they were all opened up!"

Yellow polyps Type of coral. Spread quickly and easy to take care off. Good guys!

 

[heavenly_d3vi1]

Oh my.. I think I'm gunna have to find a different shop to buy my LR from in the future!

Will that coral do any damage to my tank or will it be ok to leave it there, dead?