HELP: Whats is this thing living in my tank?

http://home.austin.rr.com/salahiands...%20whoami3.jpg

http://home.austin.rr.com/salahiands...%20whoami4.jpg

Sorry for the bad pics but it was the best I could get for now. I am curious
what the little creature just right of center is. I have noticed 4 of them
in my tank recently and have no clue if they are harmful or not. It has
white banding on its arms and is sorta similar to a anemone but also looks
like some sorta soft star fish. It seems to be pretty stationary and does
not move around. What is this thing ? Is it harmful to fish or anything else
that may be in my tank? If it is how do I get rid of it?

I did some searches and looked at some pics of different hitchhiker type
brittle stars and parasites and found nothing that looked like this. Any
help would be greatly appreciated.
thanks
G.

Heres another pic I took. Found 2 more of these things...

http://home.austin.rr.com/salahiandson/whoami5.jpg



"SalahiAndSon" wrote in message
...
http://home.austin.rr.com/salahiands...%20whoami3.jpg

http://home.austin.rr.com/salahiands...%20whoami4.jpg

Sorry for the bad pics but it was the best I could get for now. I am
curious what the little creature just right of center is. I have noticed 4
of them in my tank recently and have no clue if they are harmful or not.
It has white banding on its arms and is sorta similar to a anemone but
also looks like some sorta soft star fish. It seems to be pretty
stationary and does not move around. What is this thing ? Is it harmful to
fish or anything else that may be in my tank? If it is how do I get rid of
it?

I did some searches and looked at some pics of different hitchhiker type
brittle stars and parasites and found nothing that looked like this. Any
help would be greatly appreciated.
thanks
G.

"SalahiAndSon" wrote in message
...
Heres another pic I took. Found 2 more of these things...

http://home.austin.rr.com/salahiandson/whoami5.jpg

Is it the first guy here?

http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/pages/mai.../faq_rock1.htm

On Sat, 20 May 2006 02:39:09 GMT, "SalahiAndSon"
wrote:

Heres another pic I took. Found 2 more of these things...

http://home.austin.rr.com/salahiandson/whoami5.jpg

Looks very like aiptasia to me. They are a pain. There are many ways
to kill them, but they are hard to erradicate. I've just broken down
an old tank that had them, and picked out what I think are a few
pieces of clean rock to start a new mini-reef. I'm keeping my fingers
crossed, don't want those things again...

Steve

2 easy ways to get rid of them without bying stuff like Joes Juice. Mix
Kalk with water till its like a paste. Use a syringe and inject it in
the center of the disk. They will wilt away and die. That is the hard
way.

The easy way is to get pepperment shrimp. They will rid your tank of
aiptasia one and for all. My suggestion is to get 4 or more. They breed
readily and the small shrimp work on particles others miss and they are
great food for the fish.

Yep it's aiptasia.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



Steve wrote on 5/20/2006 5:30 AM:
On Sat, 20 May 2006 02:39:09 GMT, "SalahiAndSon"
wrote:

Heres another pic I took. Found 2 more of these things...

http://home.austin.rr.com/salahiandson/whoami5.jpg

Looks very like aiptasia to me. They are a pain. There are many ways
to kill them, but they are hard to erradicate. I've just broken down
an old tank that had them, and picked out what I think are a few
pieces of clean rock to start a new mini-reef. I'm keeping my fingers
crossed, don't want those things again...

Steve

On Sat, 20 May 2006 16:14:44 GMT, Wayne Sallee
wrote:

Yep it's aiptasia.

Ah, my past experience of viewing about 1000 of the little B******s in
one tank has paid off with respect to species identification. To see
them out of control was a formative experience.

Wonder what the "incubation period" for these blasted things is, ie
how long after you *don't* see one can you assume the tank is now
genuinely clear.

Steve

There really is not such time period, as small ones can be
living hidden for any amount of time.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



Steve wrote on 5/20/2006 5:50 PM:
On Sat, 20 May 2006 16:14:44 GMT, Wayne Sallee
wrote:

Yep it's aiptasia.

Ah, my past experience of viewing about 1000 of the little B******s in
one tank has paid off with respect to species identification. To see
them out of control was a formative experience.

Wonder what the "incubation period" for these blasted things is, ie
how long after you *don't* see one can you assume the tank is now
genuinely clear.

Steve

On Sat, 20 May 2006 22:43:25 GMT, Wayne Sallee
wrote:

There really is not such time period, as small ones can be
living hidden for any amount of time.

Great. Well I hope the cunning little devils aren't just biding their
time then...

Steve

I've had these for a while. Hard to control once they get started. I've
used the Kalkwasser solution for the big ones. They are more prevalent
in my sump.

I've tried the peppermint shrimp, but they keep ending up being an
expensive meal for my fish. I suspect the 6 line wrasse is eating them,
but I can't be sure. I also have a yellow tang, damsels (2), a clown,
and a coral beauty. I've also lost some cleaner shrimp. Guess my fish
just have expensive tastes.

Hope you have better luck.