Something in my New Live Rock

[ADVmarine333]

So I just started a new saltwater tank. 32 gallon Biocube. I purchased live rock yesterday and this morning I can down and saw a “growth” coming from a cavity on the rock. It seems alive and retreats like a turtle head when scared. I can’t figure out what it is. Can anyone help please?????

[empresto]

Looks like aptasia.  Boiling water and a syringe, Aptasia-X, superglue; all are options for killing it.  They are a type of anemone that is fast at reproducing and tends to sting and irritate coral.  I've had luck with peppermint shrimp in the past at controlling/removing this, but some have also had peppermint shrimp decimate corals as well, so that one is a potential risk.

 

Good luck!

[GregEmmitte]

It’s aptasia. Whether or not it’s the proliferating variant or not is hard to say.

[ADVmarine333]

Thanks so much! Never have been part of a forum before. Loving the help I was able to get from both of you so quickly. Much respect!

[FISHnChix]

I tried a bunch of stuff but finally tried apsistax from red sea. Wow that stuff is AWESOME!! Get it quick and knock that thing down before it spreads.. ? happy reefing

[ADVmarine333]

Thanks a lot! This tank is literally 24 hours old. I was gonna let it cycle and get a peppermint shrimp one week from today. If that doesn’t work I’m going for the aptasia x. I appreciate it!!

[FISHnChix]

That's what I did too. When I first started I thought it was a cool hitchhiker until I read up on it. By then it was too late and it spread everywhere  I got lucky to get a shrimp that ate all of them. But when it ran out of apsiata to eat it ate my corals.. i would never do it again.. ?..  now I use apsiatax and love it..

[Cintax]

23 minutes ago, ADVmarine333 said:

Thanks a lot! This tank is literally 24 hours old. I was gonna let it cycle and get a peppermint shrimp one week from today. If that doesn’t work I’m going for the aptasia x. I appreciate it!!

A week or two is not long enough for adding that invert. Just get Aiptasia X and do it right the first time.

[RayWhisperer]

5 minutes ago, Cintax said:

A week or two is not long enough for adding that invert. Just get Aiptasia X and do it right the first time.

This.

 

Ill also throw in some extra advice. Avoid the peppermint shrimp for reasons already stated, plus a few extra. The extras.there is about a 20% chance you’ll get peps that actually do what they are intended to (eat aptasia.) God knows, I’ve never had one that did. There is about a 50% chance of them eating some corals. I’ve had this happen a bunch of times. There is also a 100% chance of them irritating all of your corals by violently stealing food from them. Most shrimp and crabs are guilty of this. However, peps seem especially adept at it.

[ADVmarine333]

12 minutes ago, Cintax said:

A week or two is not long enough for adding that invert. Just get Aiptasia X and do it right the first time.

 Just ordered it on amazon. You’re right. It’s cheap enough and I want to do it right the first time especially as a new Saltwater tank. Thanks for your help!

[ADVmarine333]

2 minutes ago, RayWhisperer said:

This.

 

Ill also throw in some extra advice. Avoid the peppermint shrimp for reasons already stated, plus a few extra. The extras.there is about a 20% chance you’ll get peps that actually do what they are intended to (eat aptasia.) God knows, I’ve never had one that did. There is about a 50% chance of them eating some corals. I’ve had this happen a bunch of times. There is also a 100% chance of them irritating all of your corals by violently stealing food from them. Most shrimp and crabs are guilty of this. However, peps seem especially adept at it.

Yea wow. Interesting. In about 45 minutes after reading the posts and researching myself, I went ahead and ordered the Aiptasia X as many of you guys suggested. Itll be here Wednesday so ill get this wiped out ASAP. 

 

My LOcal Fish store is telling me in one week I should add a clownfish. Will the tank be cycled by then? My freshwater took a few weeks if not months to be fully cycled. 

[nicholc2]

Yes don’t wait. These guys could care less about a cycle. They’ll tuff it out and come throuugh smiling. Don’t try and squish it or tear it out either you could end up multiplying it in the process. 

[RayWhisperer]

3 minutes ago, ADVmarine333 said:

Yea wow. Interesting. In about 45 minutes after reading the posts and researching myself, I went ahead and ordered the Aiptasia X as many of you guys suggested. Itll be here Wednesday so ill get this wiped out ASAP. 

 

My LOcal Fish store is telling me in one week I should add a clownfish. Will the tank be cycled by then? My freshwater took a few weeks if not months to be fully cycled. 

No way should you add fish so soon. 

 

There are are many ways to cycle a tank. Unless you have cured rock, there isn’t a chance your tank will be ready. Just read up on some different cycle methods and decide which you would do best with. Take it easy, and take your time. We all know you are anxious to get some fish and corals. We’ve all been there.

[Cintax]

16 minutes ago, RayWhisperer said:

This.

 

Ill also throw in some extra advice. Avoid the peppermint shrimp for reasons already stated, plus a few extra. The extras.there is about a 20% chance you’ll get peps that actually do what they are intended to (eat aptasia.) God knows, I’ve never had one that did. There is about a 50% chance of them eating some corals. I’ve had this happen a bunch of times. There is also a 100% chance of them irritating all of your corals by violently stealing food from them. Most shrimp and crabs are guilty of this. However, peps seem especially adept at it.

Thanks. I have had three in the six years of owning a tank. One ate aiptasia which was the reason I got it while the others did not. One of them would occasionally eat my acans. They all would raid my corals as I was feeding them. Peppermint shrimp plus sun coral.. what a nightmare. If you want a fun and cool invert, a cleaner shrimp has all the personality of a peppermint shrimp with far less drawbacks.

 

15 minutes ago, ADVmarine333 said:

 Just ordered it on amazon. You’re right. It’s cheap enough and I want to do it right the first time especially as a new Saltwater tank. Thanks for your help!

Good to hear! 

11 minutes ago, ADVmarine333 said:

Yea wow. Interesting. In about 45 minutes after reading the posts and researching myself, I went ahead and ordered the Aiptasia X as many of you guys suggested. Itll be here Wednesday so ill get this wiped out ASAP. 

 

My LOcal Fish store is telling me in one week I should add a clownfish. Will the tank be cycled by then? My freshwater took a few weeks if not months to be fully cycled. 

You have had freshwater so you know what is up. Saltwater tanks need time to establish bacterial cultures just like freshwater. Minimum in my mind is 4 - 6 weeks. At that point I would add a few snails or crabs to take care of algae blooms. I find nothing good happens quickly in aquaria, but bad things do. 

 

 

You said you are new to forums. This is a fantastic forum for all things saltwater. You will learn a lot here and there are a lot of great friendly members to help you along the way.

[ADVmarine333]

On 3/11/2018 at 9:22 PM, ADVmarine333 said:

 Just ordered it on amazon. You’re right. It’s cheap enough and I want to do it right the first time especially as a new Saltwater tank. Thanks for your help!

I used the Aiptasia X. Wow. They all died within minutes!! Thanks!