ID - Good or bad "zooanthids"?

[ShirleyM]

Hello,
I am cleaning up and re-doing the 10G tank today.., and these little zooanthids or what ever they are have spread EVERYWHERE. They grow from the sides, from the stem of the large leather, out of every piece of LR, in the sand, everywhere. A couple months ago I scrubbed a piece of live rock under hot water and they looked like they were gone, but they all crept back out after I put the LR back into the tank. This pic is from last spring, so imagine quadruple the number now. They do not retract when I touch them, but they do if I clean the rock.

Thanks,
Shirley

[uurt]

Shirley, what size are they? I have some "nano"polyps in my 1gal nano, they are about 1/4" high with caps about 2mm across. My brother found this link for me
http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=12113
HTH
Lee

[ShirleyM]

They are about the size of my thumbnail. and some are smaller. They don't close up at night. They are reddish brown. The link you provided looks just like them, but when I do a search on Family Faviidae, I get sps corals...??

Even if they are harmless...they are growing everywhere like crazy and covering all the coralline that was on the LR.

Thanks...about to tackle the tank now.
Shirley

[tdwyatt]

Originally posted by ShirleyM
They are about the size of my thumbnail. and some are smaller. They don't close up at night. They are reddish brown. ... ...Even if they are harmless...they are growing everywhere like crazy and covering all the coralline that was on the LR...

Sorry Shirley, but from the photo it apperars that they are NOT Zooanthids...

They are Anemonea cf.majano, and are more closely related to the anemone families. If you try and pull one off with a pair of forcepts, they will squirt water out and deflate to almost nothing. These pests will sting true zooanthids into oblivion and overrun their reef positions. Best to remove them from the tank and kalk the rock they are on. Some recommend Racoon butterfly fish, but make sure they read the book...

Keep in mind that if you try to physically remove them, that they do rapidly multiply via pedial laceration...

I hope for the client that I am totally wrong, but it is what they appear to be to me, although they do not appear to have the normal "clubbed" tentacles.

Sorry, they are a plague...

[ShirleyM]

Hi Tom,

Thanks; I have considered them a plague for many months. Somehow, they got into the 10G tank over a year ago and have just grown like crazy. Troy and I just finished re-doing that tank today; waiting for the water to clear up - lots of coralline still growing in spite of these nasties, and I SCRUBBED the tarnation out of them, and they are peeking back out at me again!

I wonder if the puffer in the 125G fowlr would like to eat them??

Troy didn't think they behaved like zooanthids, but we couldn't find an ID on them, either. Yes the squirt water if you touch them, then they withdraw. They are VERY slimy and not grainy to the touch on the sides of their tubes the way zooanthids are. They live singularly, not as a "mat" or common "root" system.

I won't put any of those rocks near the 120G reef....

Thanks again,
Shirley

[ShirleyM]

Tom, is there a common name for Anemonea cf.majano?

Thanks,
Shirley

[tdwyatt]

They go by several names, most of them not repeatable here...

Most often as Rock anemone, or button anemone. They are listed with the other pests in one of the Delbeek and Sprung books, don't remember which one (funny how the things that were "state of the Art" have become so quickly dated...)

[asmith]

Wow Tom! I was just about to tell her to start fragging them and selling them to the LFS for credit!

Andrew

[tdwyatt]

Originally posted by asmith
Wow Tom! I was just about to tell her to start fragging them and selling them to the LFS for credit!

HEH!!!

scary thing is, I am sure that there are LFS's that would take them...

Shirley: I am sure that if you want to clean the critters down to the rock, the puffer would be the critter to do it, just keep in mind that these anemone can reproduce asexually via pedal laceration, and any scraps left over in a system where they could take a foothold will prolly see them ultimately. If you see them in a tank, remove the rock to a separate container and kalk the HECK out of it. Seems to work ok for a while...

[ShirleyM]

Okey-Dokey! I put one of the rocks in the 125 and the puffer is not interested...spoiled, he is!
I'll take it out in the morning.

Shirley

[tdwyatt]

Originally posted by ShirleyM
...I'll take it out in the morning.

These things can move, I'd take them out now before you go to bed, they might even jump off the rock, I have seen them float free in the water column...

[Junkzoo]

Yup , Shirley,,,,, i'd trade ya , cuz mine are greenish tinted,,,,,but better yet, get some kalc or pickling lime(Wal-Mart had big 'ol size of it on sale fer 50cents each!)get a syringe , mix some up w/ hot water,,,and go fer it! just watch your water chemistry,,,,,

[Jeremy1973]

hmm..okay...good thing this thread was started. I think I have these things in my tank. Mine look more translucent, but the tips look the same. I can't really take the rock out, it has some xenia, clavulaira, and a while colt coral attached. How can I remove them? Right now, from what I can see, I only have 2. *crosses fingers*

[ShirleyM]

OK...it's 7:30 a.m. and I'm taking them out now and putting them back in the 10G.
I can't really treat the largest rock in the 10 very well...it has a very old and very healthy feather duster on it...I'm afraid I'll kill the feather duster if I try to move it. There are tons of these things on that rock.

Yes, they have free-floated in the 10G and stuck to the glass, and stuck to the macro that grows in the overflow. They are EVIL!

Thanks for all the advice and info!
Shirley

[Casey]

Shirley get them out I agree with Tom I cant get my real zooas
to grow that fast lol Casey