Melting Platygyra and identification 02/09/09
Hi Boys and Girls,
I love the info you make available on this site, however I have difficulty finding answers even when searches show results, I read through both linked archives entirely twice, learned all kinds of stuff but not the thing I wanted to learn. That being said I hope you don't mind answering this question yet again.
<Thank you and of course not>
I have a ~290g (tank+sump) that has been running for about a year and a half. 50 L x 32 H x 32 D. As I only add a little at a time we have about 210 lbs of live rock on the right side of the tank. We have one 450W MH over that side and 4 actinics that run the length of the tank . Will eventually add another 450 at other end before it becomes populated with corals and such. We have heaters and Tunze skimmer in sump. Top up daily and add Tropic Marine bio-calcium. We feed New Life Spectrum Pellets early day and alternate nightly with frozen Spirulina enhanced Brine Shrimp and Mysis Shrimp, 2 - 3 times a week we add an ounce of DT's Phytoplankton and alternate days Cyclopeeze. All chemical tests are in good to excellent range, Nitrite, Nitrate and Ammonia are 0, etc.
Inhabitants include
5 blue damselfish (blue devils) 1 male, 4 females
1 six line wrasse
1 blue green chromis and
1 clownfish (false)
1 sea hare, rather large 6-7 inches long (wasn't when we got it, 2.5 inch)
5 shrimp, 1 blood, 3 cleaner and 1 peppermint
25+ each, hermit crabs and snails
Ricordea, Rhodactis and Discosoma mushrooms, in blue, green, green stripe and spoted, red, and orange
Frogspawn
Elegance
Lg BTA that has split and now has smaller sibling
2 Clams 1 LG (volleyball size when fully open, about 11 in) and 1 smaller (4 in)
2 Fungia (1 Orange, 1 Green)
1 Blastomussa
1 Symphyllia
1 Platygyra
1 Green Star Polyp (weed in my setup slowly trading for other things)
5+ pieces candy coral
Anyhow, we had a large infestation of flatworms, and thought to syphon out as many as possible. Dummy, (that would be me) didn't think and syphoned through a screen putting water back into tank. <yikes!> It never occurred to me that I was going to poison my tank ( I now know better). <good>
I lost all 3 Tangs, yellow, blue and purple along with the flatworms. <?!>
At this point everything else was not looking so good so we moved as much as possible to a 30g that was running upstairs while waiting for toxin to clear up with carbon. Figured we had nothing to loose and decided to go ahead with a treatment of Flatworm Exit from Salifert. Seems to have worked great, my sand is white again. Ran carbon for 5 days before moving everything back. Everything seems to have recovered, but my Lg. Anemone decided to shift about 6 inches from where it has been for the last 10 months, bringing it too close to the Platygyra. I moved it up and over about 8 inches. Now it appears to be melting. Is it possibly damaged or hurt from Anemone?
<It is dropping polyps (a form of asexual reproduction). This is not necessarily a bad thing. It's actually pretty cool.>
Or does this coral propagate in this way. <one way, yes, bingo> Please see attached photo.
Also at the same time could you possibly identify a few things from these 2 photos as well. The polyp just under the Platygyra is a pest
<I can't see much in the photo (thank you for labeling them though), but they look like hydroids.>
that has been showing up all over my tank but I don't know what it is and the other coral above it in the photo I forgot to write down and the LFS doesn't remember that particular purchase and can't tell me.
<I do think they're pest hydroids (my guess):
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/hyzoanidfaq.htm>
In the other photo there are 2 mystery coral, one encrusting and one that is actually the live rock skeleton that survived and another pest that I have been trying to eradicate to no avail.
<The one encrusting looks like it might be Montipora, but I really can't tell from the photo. I'm sorry, but the other one is also just too difficult to make out. Do you think you could take and send better pics?>
Keeps coming back all over the tank, grows like a plant. The last photo is just entire right side just for visualization.
Thanks so much for your help in advance.
Christine
<De nada,
Sara M.>

I.D. Please; Featherduster 1/29/09
Hi guys,
<Hello>
I appreciate your service very much as it has been very useful. I am very green when it comes to saltwater aquatics. I have sent a pic to hope that someone my identify this little creature. They are white, round and feathery like.
<Looks like a small feather duster, a harmless filter feeder.>
I have 3 little ones as pictured they are about the size of a BB and I have a larger one about the size of a quarter. I would have loved to get a picture of the larger one, but, it's in a crevasse and not able to get any pictures. My tank is a 55g and is about 6 months old. Thank-you.
<Please compare them to http://www.wetwebmedia.com/feather.htm and the linked FAQs on ID. Also, compare them and the larger ones to
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/marine/inverts/cnidaria/anthozoa/aiptasia/aiptasia.htm and the linked FAQs on ID. Sometimes they are apparently thought to be the same. I do wish you much fun with your hobby. Cheers, Marco.>

What is it question 01/22/09
I have posted this on a couple of forums and have gotten various responses.
My tank is about 6 months old. I have added rock, sand and frags from several different tanks and locations. They showed up one time and thinking they were aiptasia I used pickling lime on them.
<Not aiptasia>
They have shown up again and in two different locations so I thought I should ask what they are.
<I believe they are hydroids.>
They are pretty small, about 1/16 in diameter to give you a scale. Two pics: one is under 20k MH with 460n actinic (darker one) the other is with same lighting with flash bounced in from the top. What is it?
<I'm 95% sure they are some type of hydroid (the brown proteinaceous tubes give them away).>
Thanks, Steven
<De nada,
Sara M.>

Coral/Polyp identification– 1/20/09
Greetings,
<Hello Jack, Minh at your service.>
I will repeat what most other writers say; you have a great web site. I would be hard pressed to total how many hours I have spent reading the information you offer.
<We're here to help.>
Four months ago I made the switch from fresh to what was intended to be a FOWLR marine by setting up a 38 gallon. I selected lighting ( a T5 HO fixture with one 39 Watt 10K and one 39 watt 460nm Actinic Blue) with no
expectation of keeping anything other than fish. Some live rock hitchhikers have me rethinking that.
<Excellent lighting choice. Most T5 HO set ups are very capable.>
The organisms in the attached photos seem to be doing well under my lighting and conditions. I am specifically looking for identifications for future care, and suggestions of other species that may do equally well under similar lighting conditions. Photo 1 upper half as well as a side shot at the lower right corner.
<The upper half in this photo shows a Zoanthid colony. More information including care advice can be found here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/zoanthid.htm.>
Photo 2 is a direct shot of the item in the lower right of #1.
<This coral appears to be one from the Faviidae family, genus Caulastrea. More information including care advice can be found here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/faviidae.htm.>
Photo 3 upper is the same as in #1 upper, and two other items in the lower lower left. There are others identical to these last two elsewhere, and they have grown about 4-5x larger in 4 months.
<These are pest anemones, Anemonia Majano. For more information including removal methods, please review: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/anemoniafaqs.htm>
All of these are between 8-12 inches from the lighting.
I have 2 Clowns, a Yellow Goby, a very small Bi-color Angel, and assorted crabs and snails. 40lbs sand, 30lbs live rock, HOT filter with Polyfilter and Chemipure and Remora skimmer. PH 8.2, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate barely measuring.
<It appears that your basic water parameters are within proper range. As you venture further into a full blown reef tank, more attention should be paid to some other water parameters such as phosphate, calcium, alkalinity and magnesium. For more information on these elements, please review this excellent multi-part guide: "The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners" (http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-03/rhf/index). Furthermore, I suspect other soft corals (http://www.wetwebmedia.com/soft.htm) such as corals from the family Alcyoniidae (http://www.wetwebmedia.com/alcyoniids.htm) and Xeniidae (http://www.wetwebmedia.com/xeniidarts.htm) would do well in your tank's current lighting scheme.>
Thanks you any information or suggestions.
<You're welcome. Cheers, Minh Huynh.>

Identification if possible... Majano or Palythoa 1/16/2009
Hello,
<Hi there, Mich here.>
I have read a lot of information on your site over the past couple months and it has been a big help.
<Glad to hear!>
Now I have a question that I cannot seem to find the answer to. I have posted on two different forums and the replies I got were mixed. Basically guesses, and I have searched the web and looked at tons of photos with no luck. The closest I got was a picture that looked similar to it but they didn't know what it was either no help there. I'll be enclosing 2 photos there the same photo only one is closer. They are unfortunately blurry but the best I could get at this time.
<I see, not the clearest, but....>
This item I'm wondering about came home with me when I bought a piece of live rock from a LFS *the only store I use for the live critters* they only sell saltwater items. It was a small rock but had a brittle star, about 30 zoas of 3 different colors, some feather dusters and other hitchhikers on this tiny rock.
<Sweet!>
Well the issue is the one lone living thing it has doubled in size since i got it 2 months ago,
<Fast grower.>
It is brownish darker in the center. Reminds me of a Zoa but instead of one row of tentacles from it it has two distinct rows.
<Ahhh, the photo almost looks like a Palythoa, but the double row of tentacles makes me think it is a majano, as you can see in this image here:
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.esanaquatics.com/Majano_An
emone.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.esanaquatics.com/Majano%2520Anemone.htm&usg=_
_KJ0A3D9LRtmfucyiJgJtZFbPYN0=&h=600&w=800&sz=114&hl=en&start=4&um=1&tbnid=b3
PGLWR5F-vbzM:&tbnh=107&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmajano%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den
%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den-us%26sa%3DN
I just recently had aptasia show up *only 2 right now*
<Good.>
I will be dealing with them this weekend when i can pick up some stuff to rid myself of it.
<Boiling hot water, lemon juice, Kalk, also work well.>
*I'd like to use a live means such as a shrimp over chemicals, opinion?*
<See above. A note on peppermint shrimp, they work well if they are hungry, but I think Aiptasia are the human equivalent to white rice, though some people like rice, it's just not most people's first choice if they could have a something else.>
Anyways this thing hasn't bothered anything I have other zoas and some star polyps along with a BTA and two clowns.
<I do think it is a Majano and would remove it.>
My systems tests have come up normal everything looks good, all is healthy in the tank. It is however a 26g
<Too small for two clowns in my opinion.>
I will be upgrading in a couple months but don't wanna do that till I at least attempt to correct the problems now.
<Will need more room soon.>
Okay here are the pictures ... it isn't touching the zoas its tentacles are not bulbous just straight like the zoas. Im hoping its just a neat type of Zoa or at least something that isn't bad.
<Could be a Palythoa, but I'm still leaning towards the Majano.>
My system is only 6 months old but i have a bunch of copepods and amphipods and other critters on the glass and the Stomatella snails have been multiplying
<All good.>
*many babies on the glass* any idea what this is would be very helpful or at least a place to look at pictures of what u think it is. I have looked at pictures of majano anemones it is not that from the pictures I've seen anyways.
<If it's not a majano, then I think it is a palythoa, but I do wish the picture was just a little clearer.>
thank you so much for your help
<I hope this helps.
Cheers,
Mich>