UNKNOWN Hitchhiker Shroom 9/26/10
Hey lads,
<And lassies>
Good day to you and lots of greetings from Cyprus!!!
<Ah, have visited your island... back in 96... with the Hash House Harriers>
Been on the web for a while now searching for this mushroom growing day by day (was just a tiny piece and I didn't know what it was until it started rounding itself) but haven't found anything. Any ideas what kind it is?
Many thanks in advance!
<An Actinodiscus/Discosoma of some sort. Read here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/corallim.htm
and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

Anemone ID 7/22/10
HEY WWM!!!!
So me and my girlfriend got into a dispute about the ID of this frag we purchased today. Is it possible to clear up our confusion and positive ID from this photo? It is florescent and able to recede.
Thank you,
M & L
<Mmm, could be a Euphyllia sp., but most likely an Anemonia majano. Bob Fenner>

Jellyfish? Polypoid animal of some sort 7/5/10
Upon cleaning my tank, I have found something resembling a jellyfish, has tentacles, and is only found on my sponge filter.
<... a Polypoid animal of some sort... Appears to have the beginnings of a skeleton w/in... hence a Scleractinian of some sort. If not, and only w/ a single siphonoglyph, an Actinarian. Read here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/cnidaria.htm
and the linked files where you lead yourself. Bob Fenner>

"Coral" ID 6/18/10
Hey Team! So I just got my first 2 Corallimorpharians. 2 Rhodactis mushrooms I believe. Actually they are my first cnidarians as my tank is just about 5 months old. So on one of the rock pieces was this little guy. Just wondering if you could please help me ID him as he is obviously quite young/new.
<Yes... a delightful little Anemonia sp.>
He is about an inch away from the mushroom and I want to know if first off he is a coral of sorts
<An Actinarian>
which he looks to be for sure and second off if his proximity could be a problem?
<Not likely a problem, unless there's a bunch of them, crowding other Cnidarians>
Thanks guys, as always. You all do such a great job keeping me educated and enjoying all my tank has to offer.
Jordan
<Thank you for sharing. Bob Fenner>

Anemone/ Mushroom? ID help 6/13/10
Hi,
<Saludo>
My name is Nigel and I am from the UK.
<I'm Bob from the States>
I have searched your excellent website and the internet hoping to identify some animals that I have in my marine tank but alas am still unsure, I am hoping that you may be able to help with this.
<Some sort of Corallimorpharian>
I have kept tropical fish for over 25 years and have several tanks scattered about the house ranging from 10 gallons up to 90 gallons, luckily I have a very understanding wife who also appreciates the beauty of the hobby!
<A bonus>
About 7 years ago I was carrying out some work at a customer's house and happened to mention my hobby, the customer was also a fan of tropical fish having a small tropical tank himself, he also had a 21 gallon marine tank
which he was looking at breaking down as it was located in his cellar and he felt it was not getting the attention it deserved. I had always been interested setting up a marine tank and I was offered the opportunity to purchase the complete setup for a very reasonable sum (a day's work!)
<One way of figuring/looking at such things>
At the time the tank contained plenty of live rock, 2 small 'Green Carpet Anemones' a few small metallic green mushrooms and a few polyps.
<Mmm, these may well be some latter day starved out members of the middle group>
7 years later, I have added a sump under the tank containing a DSB, live rock and Caulerpa,
<Mmm, I'd remove this... dispose of properly. See WWM re>
the main tank now is also home to a large leather/toadstool mushroom,
<Oh, this Sarcophyton might well be (mal)affecting these 'Shrooms as well... chemical allelopathy>
10+ hermit crabs, hundreds of small bristle worms, thousands of Amphipods and several feather duster worms and mussels (hitchhikers).
<Neat!>
As I stated earlier when I bought the tank I was told that the green animals were carpet anemones but I am not sure, could they just be large mushrooms?
<Am pretty sure the latter>
7 years ago there were 2, I now have around 20 ranging in size from 2 inches up to the largest which is 8 inches, they appear to reproduce/ multiply by splitting and it is normally apparent that this is going to happen when the mouth of the animal splits into 2.
<Typical for the group>
Some are attached to the rocks and others are in the sand bed which is around 2.5inches deep.
They are fed twice a week on a frozen marine quintet (Artemia, red plankton, squid, chopped cockle and chopped krill superb), I places small pieces of these next to the mouths and they slowly engulf the food.
The specific gravity is maintained at 1.0.23
<Mmm, one decimal point too many>
Temperature is 25 degrees Celsius
PH is 8.2
Lighting:
2 x T5 marine blue tubes on 10 hours daily
<I'd switch out these for whites...>
2 x Metal Halide bulbs 250W 14000K on 2 hours daily
<?! These are on a 21 gal. system? I must have gotten lost here>
2 x LED Moonlights on throughout the night
Strong internal filters are positioned at either back corner of the tank and the sump water is returned to the main tank via a spray bar so water movement is good.
I was contemplating moving into the area of keeping marine fish (only thinking of adding a couple of clownfish and maybe a Goby initially) but like to think I have learnt my lesson and will thoroughly research both fish and their requirements before going ahead so I want to be 100% sure that my set up is suitable and in particular am concerned of the reputation of carpet anemones for eating fish!
<These should be fine here>
I have moved one of the animals to my sump to aid in taking the pictures, this particular one has a diameter of approximately 4.5 inches.
Pic 1 is under 1 x T8 Marine blue light
Pics 2 and 3 are under 1 x T8 Power Glo white light
<Mmm, should work out>
I would be grateful for your help in identifying the animal on the attached pictures and thank you for your time and brilliant work on your website.
Nigel
<Thank you for sharing. Bob Fenner>

Re: Hi quick question regarding weird growths 6/10/2010
Hi all
I wrote awhile ago on identifying this weird creature / anemone / something that was growing on my rocks, I sent some pictures, but they were very small at that time.
Since then my camera skills have improved and the "creature/anemone/whatever" has grown and spread on it rock considerably (though doesn't seem to want to spread to any other rocks - which is a shame, I quite like it!)
<Very nice>
Anyway I've included the two pictures in the hope you may be able to shed further light on this bizarre carpet, 8 armed thing that appeared from nowhere out of live rock! also if its bad/good
Many Thanks
Martyn
<Is an Octocoral... a Clavulariid of some sort... Please read here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/PolypIDF3.htm
and the linked files above... Are good tank additions, as long as they don't spread too much... Best to keep isolated to certain rocks. Bob Fenner>
Re: Hi quick question regarding weird growths 6/10/2010
ps if it helps any its a 65 liter "Nano copy" Superfish aquarium with somewhere between 8 - 10 kg of live rock 5 hermits and a very small blue/yellow damson.
There is no skimmer
<Likely part of the reason for you/their success here... the skimmer would likely remove too much food>
just LOTS of water movement with 2 internal filters (filled with carbon and Fluval Clearmax, sandwiched between filter wool, I change the wool every week), and a Koralia Nano movement pump (900lts an hour) the filters are a 200 ltr an hour one that came with the tank (fitted with a spray bar - which I keep about an inch and a half under the water pointing at the surface) and a 900 ltr an hour Ferplast with a dampener on the end to spread the output.
the maintenance schedule is I mix up about 30 ltr of saltwater a week and at the end of the week use about 3/4 of it to do a big change and clean(including filter wool) then mid week use the rest for a refresh. As I was told without a skimmer I should be pretty spot on with water changes etc.
Cheers
Martyn
<And you, BobF>