Need an ID

[rrasco]

I have been watching this for some time now. It started growing about 2 months after the tank was setup, came in on the LR. I noticed the little fingers a while back; not sure what they're called, are they the polyps? I could tell it was going to be something, but I figured it was some crazy algae or something I had no clue about; I guess it still could be. However, today when I looked at it I noticed the mouth and it looks like a coral now instead of little hairs. Now that I took a picture it looks like another head is about to pop out in the middle of this photo. These are tiny, about 1/2", if that. I really couldn't say what kind of coral it is...that's why I'm here. My best guess would be some kind of euphyllia, mushroom, ricordea, but I could be dead wrong and honestly have no clue. Whatever it is it looks like it's going to be bad ***. A little help?

http://www.rrasco.com/AquaticPics/29reef/IMG_0847_crop.jpg

[Sherita]

I would say they are ball anemonies. Can be a pest in some systems, in others they show up, then fade away.

[rrasco]

Interesting. That sure looks like what it is. I figured it would be something that could be considered 'pesty'. We'll see what happens, I'm upgrading anyways so I could *hopefully* not take them if they become a problem. Thanks Sherita!

[Kristy]

Agree with Sherita that they are ball anemones. Treat it just like an aiptasia. We've had a run-in with these before. They get annoying.

[allan]

I got them too. Don't bother anything and they seem to melt away in the light.

Sticky... Touch one. I could only have them in tight dark areas because of the peps, idk.

[rrasco]

I don't have any peps, and this is just on the under edge of my bottom rocks, so it is rather dim. Only that top one kind of has light.

What's the treatment for aiptasia?

[Sherita]

Most folks use Joes Juice or Aiptasia X to get rid of them. I've had good success using lemon juice injected into the body of them using a needle and syringe. If you can get the rock out, just chip them off using a screwdriver. You can also cover them up using two part reef putty, this works well if you can't possibly get the rock out, or get at them with Joes Juice. I did this to a big aiptasia that was hiding in a crack, he never showed up again. Some folks will take the rock out and burn them with a lighter or soldering iron.

Ball nems are not as hard to get rid of as aiptasia, IMHO. Usually one treatment does a number on them. Aiptasia, otoh, sometimes require the use of high explosives.

[rrasco]

Thanks. I'll probably try the syringe and lemon juice method first. There are only 3 that I see and this is the base rock for my stack, so it's not coming out. I'll keep my bag of M80s handy should I ever encounter *gasp* Aiptasia.