Aiptasia??? Please no!!

[kylexarbor]

I have some tiny Aiptasia looking growth in my tank. Some are attached to my star clove polyps which have been shriveled for weeks now. They are really small, like 2mm across. Also have a Kenya tree that’s  struggling with these attached. Everything I research points to Aiptasia, but these look much smaller than what I’m seeing for reference. They are also an orange color. 

[Donny41]

Doesn't look like aiptasia. Kind of just looks like more clove polyps imo

[kylexarbor]

5 minutes ago, Donny41 said:

Doesn't look like aiptasia. Kind of just looks like more clove polyps imo

I might agree, but they are all over the place in random spots. On the rockwork and my clove polyps, Kenya tree, and toadstool. All of which are now struggling. 

[Kellie in CA]

+1 on the clove polyps.  They can annoy the heck out of whatever they are touching. 

[Aurortpa]

Doesn’t appear to be aiptasia. Looks like they have feathery tentacles—do they have 8 tentacles?—that can usually indicate it’s some kind of octo. 

 

When touched: 

-Xenia will just shrink and close up the polyps

-Anthelia will contract like xenia 

-Cloves will retract into an actual stalk

[kylexarbor]

40 minutes ago, Kellie in CA said:

+1 on the clove polyps.  They can annoy the heck out of whatever they are touching. 

My clove polyps have closed up since they have been on them, so I don’t think they would be weak against themselves. And I’m pretty sure I saw a couple of these in the tank before I ever added clove polyps

29 minutes ago, Aurortpa said:

Doesn’t appear to be aiptasia. Looks like they have feathery tentacles—do they have 8 tentacles?—that can usually indicate it’s some kind of octo. 

 

When touched: 

-Xenia will just shrink and close up the polyps

-Anthelia will contract like xenia 

-Cloves will retract into an actual stalk

Thanks, I’ll research this when I have a little more time. 

[moose2823]

Others have called these "sand polyps." They look like tiny brown clove/encrusting gorgonian type things.  I had these in my tank too, and also got them on a rock with green clove polyps, but both the original cloves and the sand polyps eventually died off.   They didn't seem to cause any harm, at least in my case. I've tried several times with cloves and they always seem to slowly wither and die for some reason, so good luck with yours.