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FAQs on Anemone Identification 2

Anemonia majano.

Thanks and Aiptasia?
Thanks for your help on my nuisance brown algae. I stopped using Coral Vital
and the problem cleared up in a week. It was weird, little oxygen bubbles
would form on the bits a substrate algae, causing them to float to the
surface one by one and be skimmed off by my BakPak filter. Self Cleaning
Algae!
However, I've had this anemone growing in my DSB for about a month (see
attached jpg). Recently, I noticed two more pop up in completely different
areas of the substrate. Is this the dreaded nuisance anemone, Aiptasia (sp)
that I have read about? Do you recommend that I pull these animals from my
reef tank?
<You're correct, that is an Aiptasia. If you can, pulling these anemones out manually will be a great method of removal. Most likely, you will not pull out all of these anemones in your aquarium. With that said, Peppermint shrimp (Lysmata wurdemanni) may be an option. These little shrimp often will consume the dreaded Aiptasia in a small amount of time. I would highly recommend them for aquariums which contain Aiptasia and need to keep them under control. Take Care, Graham>
Thanks,
Joe T

Anemone ID
Hi and good day, crew from fish heaven. This is Bernd from Honduras. I obtained an anemone from the Bay Islands here in the Caribbean. It is 6-7" diameter. All the similar looking anemones I found were from the IndoPacific. What could it be?
Thanks, Bernd
<Hello Bernd! This is a Stichodactyla helianthus... Please see here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/twaanemones.htm
Bob Fenner>

Anemone pests
Hi my name is Gina and I have recently discovered your web site (which I
think is great).  I'm sorry about the attachment, I couldn't figure out how
to reduce it.  I am new to digital cameras as I am to marine aquariums.
Well as you can see from the picture what my dilemma is.  I have a 55 gallon
aquarium that I purchased from my co-worker's girlfriend.  With it came a
yellow tang, a tomato clown, a striped damselfish (humbug), 3 yellowtail
blue damsels, a couple of hermit crabs, a handful of snails, and a nice
amount of live rock.  To my amazement, at the time, the rocks had these cool
looking brown things that grabbed food as it came within reach, pulled it
towards their "mouths", ate it, and hey! you can see it as it goes down the
tube!!  If I only knew.  I started to not like them when they began to
disperse all over my tank and when I came to realize that I couldn't siphon
them out.  One of the yellow tail damsels has disappeared, I have moved the
live rock around but could not find "the body" anywhere.  I have always
suspected these nasty anemones.  But we will never know. Poor guy. I took
this picture, went to Athens aquarium and asked the an employee & owner what
the heck they were and how I could get rid of them.  Well they broke the
news to me.  They were not good things to have in a tank. Will sting my fish
and possibly eat the small ones. He suggested purchasing a copperbanded
butterfly fish or some shrimp.  Well the weekend before I purchase a Picasso
trigger (1 1/2").  He's tiny ;). Bad timing. The shrimp were out because the
Picasso will more then likely harass them.  So it's the butterfly fish.  I
have read that they are hard to keep and well with my new Picasso restricted
to a small area of the tank ( no thanks to his size, tank mates, and the
forest of anemones) and with the size of my tank it seems that this might
not be such a great idea to add another fish.  However, I need to get these
pests out of my tank before they take it over!!  I'm sure my fish would
really appreciate it!  Do you have any suggestions?  Thank you Gina.
<Hi Gina!
These anemones you're referring to are called Aiptasia. These small anemones are considered a huge pest for the fact that they multiply quickly, sting neighboring invertebrates, and are difficult to get rid of.
So, lets get to the crux of the message: How do I get rid of them? I first recommend you return the trigger. These fish will eventually outgrow your tank and will become extremely aggressive. Once you've returned the fish I recommend you to buy some Peppermint shrimp (Lysmata wurdemanni) for your Aiptasia problem. These shrimp will feast on Aiptasia. A group of about 5 shrimp should take care of your problem. For those larger anemones which the shrimp will not consume, try injecting them with a calcium hydroxide solution (Also known as Kalkwasser or Limewater, which is available at your pet store). Mix this Kalkwasser with RO/DI water until it becomes a thick paste. Suck some of this paste up with a syringe or turkey baster and inject it into the mouth of the Aiptasia. The anemone as a result should appear to melt and die. A Copperband would not be your best choice. These fish are difficult to care for and are extremely sensitive. Peppermint Shrimp would be much better to buy.>
Take Care,
Graham Stephan

ID of anemones 2/5/04
Hello,
<Hi Melissa. Adam here today.>
I have gone through the Wet Web Media site and have tentatively ID'd two of my three anemones, but I would appreciate a second opinion. All three are hitchhikers on a piece of live rock. In the first pic, I'm pretty sure the brown anemone on the left is an Aiptasia and I believe the colony of animals on the right are Anemonia cf. Majano.
<I agree with the Aiptasia on the left. The critters on the right appear to be Parazoanthus or some other zoanthid. Almost certainly not Anemonia.>
In the other picture, I really do not know what the short-tentacled critters are. They're about 1" tall.
<These are another kind of zoanthid, probably Zoanthus. Nothing to worry about.>
I plan on wiping out the Aiptasia, but I think that the Anemonia and the other short-tentacled polyps are rather cool. Would I be making a huge mistake by leaving them alone (and will they survive in my tank AND will they be a danger to my other fish - see below)? Currently this piece of live rock and another piece about 3/4 of its size are the only occupants in the 55 gallon tank. We'll slowly be moving in our yellow tang, clownfish, and skunk cleaner, as well as our snails and blue-legged hermits. The tank is lighted by a 4 foot shop light, and I have two full spectrum bulbs installed. I have no plans to add corals to this tank.
<Do get rid of the Aiptasia. The others are perfectly safe for your tank inhabitants. Without more light, they will probably not grow much, but they should hang on.>
Thanks for any advice you can give me! Melissa
<Always a sincere pleasure! Adam>

What type of anemone is this? <Hi Donovan, the anemone pictured looks like an H. crispa. And quite a healthy one at that!> Take Care, Graham Stephan

Anemone 1/28/04
I have tried to take a pic of the anemone, but it is not very clear. Maybe it will help though. Thanks again!!
Hello! I am a new hobbyist and have found your site very helpful already. I am currently trying to identify an anemone and see I am not the only one!!:) However, none of the other descriptions seem to match. This one has a brown and white speckled base (not unlike the tiger cowry I just bought) which mostly encloses the creature and feels sort of leathery. It is much more sturdy than the Condylactis. When closed up, it looks almost like a barnacle and it is attached to a piece of broken shell. When it opens, there are short tentacles surrounding the mouth. The tentacles have stripes running width-wise and are cream and tan. The mouth has sort of bubbles/cushions (hard to describe) around it. And the whole thing is smaller than a marshmallow. It was found in NE Florida on the east coast. Can you help describe this? Is it dangerous? I can try to send a pic if you want, but It is quite small and I fear it wouldn't be much help.<Hi there! First of all, coming from the NE part of Florida, it may not be used to tropical temperatures, and so may not survive. If it does, it probably isn't dangerous except to small slow moving fish. Do watch it if it does survive to be sure that it doesn't start multiplying rapidly. Some of these small anemones can develop into plagues quite rapidly. I am not sure of an exact ID, since these types of animals rarely enter the aquarium trade. Best Regards, Adam>

Creature ID 1/21/04
Hello again crew. I just noticed this little thing growing in a 10 gallon setup I am using to grow amphipods. It's kind of a grungy setup, with tons of Ulva and Hawaiian red for the pods. During some routine maintenance on the tank I noticed this thing attached to the glass. I am attaching a photo... any ideas? Steve
<its a Cnidarian and likely an anemone bud. We cannot tell any more than that at this point. Also, please send us only web-sized/courteous images of a few tens or hundreds of kb max. Large pics like this clog our mailbox, mate, and block other queries from entering at times. Anthony>

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