Can you ID these hitchhikers growing on my clam shell please? 1/26/12
Hello Bob, James or other possible responsive crew member,
<Jen>
I have attached some photos of some hitchhikers that must've been on my clam when I got him. They started small and are clearly growing. I have two other of these besides the three on my clam in my tank attached to the live rock. They do not move. Initially when they were little I thought they were Tube Worms or a Vermetid Snail so I wasn't too concerned. Now I'm wondering if they are Aiptasia Anemones
<They are>
or Hydroids. I'm not sure as they seem to
have characteristics of all of these. Please advise. It doesn't appear that they are bothering anything. In fact, as you can see in the photos no matter where I move the smaller clam, he always finds his way right back to the bigger clam and prefers to be adjacent to him for some reason. Anyway, It doesn't look like these organisms were disturbing the mantle on my bigger clam even though they were touching. I was concerned because my husband had one of these hitchhikers on his maxima clam in his tank, and when he removed it with tweezers
<Won't work>
(did not expose the clam to air) the clam later died. I think it was related as the clam was doing fine, and there was nothing to indicate any other reason it should've died. After he pulled it out the clam stopped opening and died within a few days.
In the photos, the smaller clam on the left has three of them growing out of his shell. The biggest organism is in the front right on the clam in the photos and two smaller ones at the top right on the other side of the clam.
I moved him to allow me to touch the organisms so that you could see what they looked like when disturbed, and I wanted to try to get a better photo.
I have a 70 gallon display with DSB and 40 gallon refugium with DSB, Live Rock, rubble, Tisbe Copepods and Chaetomorpha Algae. AquaC EV-180 protein skimmer, and I change carbon in a media bag under the return for the protein skimmer every two weeks along when I do water changes. I have a Wavemaker with Koralia Power Heads, covered with mesh and sponge filters in the overflow box and one power head as well on intake and outtake in the refugium which I clean twice a week. Latest test results
Calcium 420
kH 10
phosphates 0
ammonia 0
nitrates 0
ph 8.4 lights on, 8.25-8.3 lights off.
temp 78 degrees
I recently started dripping Kalkwasser, and it seems to be working out fine. It raised my PH slightly, but it was slowly and now it's constant.
My calcium consumption rate is increasing as my corals and other livestock are growing, so I test daily and dose if needed.
<I encourage you to read re Magnesium, test for this as well... often
distorted ratios can cause troubles, in particular when dosing/using Kalk>
My tank inhabitants include:
1 RBTA
1 Ocellaris Clownfish
1 Red Linckia Starfish (ordered a Fromia, but they sent me one labeled as a Linckia)
1 Mandarin Dragonet-he eats most of the frozen foods I feed as well as copepods
4 clams, One Maxima and three Crocea
Yellow Sun Corals
Orange Sun Corals
1 Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
1 Blood Red Fire Shrimp
Hermit Crabs
2 Orange Spot Nassarius Snails
Bumble Bee Snails
Cerith Snails
Turbo Snails
A few LPS towards the bottom of the tank-one Scolymia, a colony of Trumpet Coral, a purple Blastomussa, Dendrophyllia
Several SPS towards top of tank-Pink Birdsnest and Acropora
2 different Zoanthus sp. colonies
3 different colored Ricordea Florida Mushrooms
1 Hawaiian Feather Duster that has produced several more
Several yellow Feather Dusters that have multiplied as well.
I have two Orphek PR-156W LED light fixtures on a daylight, moonlight cycle of 12 hours daylight, 8 hours moonlight, four hours total darkness. While the display is in moonlight/dark, the refugium T5's are on. I feed everyone a daily cocktail that varies including frozen Mysis Shrimp, Brine Shrimp, Hikari Blood Worms, Rotifers, Phytoplankton, Oyster Feast, etc. except the RBTA which I feed 2-3 times per week with baby clams or raw shrimp. I soak all my food with Selcon, and I recently ordered Vita-Chem and will be including that in my foods as well. I target feed the polyps on my Sun Corals daily. Even thought my parameters are great and my water is clear thanks to the carbon, skimmer, pods, filter feeders and Chaeto, I'm starting to get quite a bit of algae growing on my live rock and equipment, so I'm planning to add a small Zebrasoma tang to a quarantine tank once it's cycled then to the display after 4 weeks to take care of this.
I wrote a book as I want you to have all the information in case I need to destroy these hitchhikers so you can tell me the best plan of attack. I saw the preferred recommendations include injecting vinegar, Joe's juice, buying a Nudibranch that only eats anemones (but I have a RBTA) and Red Sea Aiptasia X.
<The last is my current fave>
I don't want to upset my well balanced setup.
<Mmm, perhaps better/best to just wait then... as you state, the Glass Anemones don't appear to be mal-affecting anything>
Thank You as always for your dedication, passion and information sharing.
Jenny
<Welcome! Bob Fenner>

Aiptasia? 1/23/11
Hello and thanks for having such a wonderful site.
I bought a rock from my LFS that had some nice corals on but over time the originals have started looking poorly and these other ones (main subject in photo) seem to be increasing in number.
Are these Aiptasia?
<Mmm, nope. Zoanthids. See WWM re; as can be dangerous to other livestock and you>
Kind regards,
Ian
<And you, Bob Fenner>

Hitchhiker on Coco Worm - Aiptasia? 12/6/11
Hi Crew,
<Roberto!>
Once again I appeal to your infinite wisdom and thank you for continuing to develop the best site on the web for us aquarists!
<Thank you for being part of it>
I am in the process of adding a Coco Worm (Protula magnifica), to my tank.
It has been sitting in my quarantine tank for almost four weeks now and I am getting ready to move it to the display tank in the next few days. However, she has a hitchhiker on her back (see pic). It came with her from the store and has grown fairly quickly in the quarantine tank Â. I fear this might be AiptasiaÂ. is this so? Or is it a benign type of SPS that doesn't deserve to die?
<I do see this anemone; and it does appear to be of the genus Aiptasia>
I would very much appreciate if you could ID the softie on her back before I kill itÂ. assuming it is Aiptasia, my thoughts were simply to cut it off as close to the tube as possible and then apply a layer of epoxy putty over the place it had to prevent any remains from spreading. I was planning on doing all of this underwater since I've read that Coco Worms should not ever be outside of the water to avoid problems with airÂ. does this sound reasonable?
Or would your recommend something different?
<Is a good plan... I would add scrubbing the attachment area w/ a soft bristle brush... in the hope of removing as much cellular material as practical>
Thank you for your advice,
Roberto
<Welcome. Bob Fenner>