ID 3 please...

[MAKOOKAM]

All three came in on a chunk of liverock i purchased 2 months ago.

First I'm assuming is some kind of macro (the yellowish pom-pom looking stuff) but i have no idea...

Next is a brain that was half dead from the curing shipping process but is now making a full recovery. Any idea on the species?

Last is a tiny little thing, maybe 1/8" across (actually there are two if them on the rock. the other one is a few inches away) that reminds me of a bubble anemone. It retracts very quickly when disturbed.

 

[Anonymous]

The first are hydroids, which some people say irritate coral, but I had some in my last tank and I thought they were an interesting and fun addition. However, with excess nutrients, they might multiply rapidly, so take care. Mine faded away eventually, but if you want to get rid of them more rapidly, burning them off with a lighter (having removed the rock from the tank :wink: ) will work.

Not sure about the ID on the coral I'm afraid, but someone else might chime in.

The third is a majano anemone, I'm afraid. A better looking irritant than the renowned glass anemone/aiptasia, but still an irritant for coral and as likely to explode to plague like populations given half a chance. My experience was that they were much easier to remove than aiptasia (I essentially pulled the rock out and pushed the majano off with a finger), but you can use the same methods as for aiptasia as well (injection with hot water, kalk paste or vinegar are popular options).

 

[Anonymous]

BTW, two things I forgot to say.

First off, lovely photos, even if two are of pests!

Secondly, :welcome:

:mrgreen:

 

[MAKOOKAM]

Well thank you for the compliment and the warm welcome! Glad to be here.

Guess i will eliminate the majano ASAP. Any techniques recommended? I was thinking of sucking them right off the rock with some rigid tubing.

 

[Anonymous]

Try that, I wouldn't be surprised if it works quite well! If they are more tenacious than the one I had, then the other techniques I mentioned should do the trick.

Always good to see new faces. Stick around!

 

[Anonymous]

Might have to disagree with you Tom. To the OP, on the yellow pom poms, do they have a rigid stalk or a tube? They don't look like hydroids to me (which are soft with no tube).

 

[MAKOOKAM]

Rigid stalk and they are all connected...looks like a runner you would see in a plant with branches coming off and then forming the "poms".

 

[MAKOOKAM]

Try that, I wouldn't be surprised if it works quite well! If they are more tenacious than the one I had, then the other techniques I mentioned should do the trick.

Always good to see new faces. Stick around!

Cant pull the rock out without compromising the structure so I sucked them out and decided to entomb the bases in cyanoacrylate, just to be safe. Thanks for the assistance

 

[Anonymous]

Rigid stalk and they are all connected...looks like a runner you would see in a plant with branches coming off and then forming the "poms".

Do the poms retract if you bother them? If so, sounds like harmless colonial feather worms. They are filter feeders, and the 'feathers' come in a variety of colors-the ones in my tank are white with a hint of pink.

 

[MAKOOKAM]

no retraction at all...oops i take that back. they retract slightly and slowly when i tap them with a chopstick.

 

[Anonymous]

Well, they stood up to the old chopstick test :lol: but I still think some kind of colonial something rather than hydroids.

 

[Anonymous]

Hmm. Well maybe that's why my "hydroids" were never that big a problem.

 

[Anonymous]

I think you're thinking of these critters Tom:

http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/anemones/pho ... ?b_start=4

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Tracy.

 

[Saltlick]

Your coral species is a Blastomussa, more than likely. A favorite of mine along with Wellsophyllia.
Neither is cheap, so you have something special there. The yellow things...I'd leave em and love em.