Clear little bug creature with tentacles, day 5 in new Biocube 14

[tanner789]

So its day 5 on my first saltwater experience; just now seeing first signs of life. I only have this guy, there are no others. Is he bad? He hitchhiked in from either my live rock or live sand. He sticks to the glass only so far. It's really small, probably less than 1/4" long.
Thanks in advance!

 

[courterbobby]

Looks like Aptasia to me imo, but im no expert. I had some climb up on the glass when I got my LR and that looks the same

 

[tanner789]

Oh no. From what I've read they're bad. After some time google-ing that was the only thing I could find with that type of tentacles. Should I flush him just to be on the safe side? What did you do to get rid of them?

 

[courterbobby]

If it is an aptasia and he is on the glass he should be fairly easy to pick off. I used chopsticks to get mine off my glass. And yes they hitched a ride on the porcelain express.....

 

[Brien H]

I had quite a few Aiptasia when I first started my tank (probably hitchhikers from LR I purchased). I had great luck with Aiptasia-X. You just have to go in slowly and inject the solution/paste into them and they are gone. After my cycle I added a few peppermint shrimp and they've done a pretty good job of keeping the Aips under control.

 

[tanner789]

Thanks for the replies!
Brien H, would you second the opinion it is Aiptasia? If so, this thing is so small there's no way I could inject anything into it. I'll just grab it off the glass and flush it. I kind of feel bad flushing the first signs of life in my tank.

 

[HEREFISHYFISHYF]

I will second that its a baby aiptasia. Ive used a syringe and lemon juice to get rid of them with great success. The hard part is sticking the trunk before they suck themselves into the live rock. Since yours is on the glass it shouldn't be an issue.

 

[1Reefer]

You could try peppermint shrimp, they eat aptasia and would probably leave it alone if its not aptasia

 

[tanner789]

You guys are great! This place is a wonderful resource.
1Reefer, would you agree day 5 is a little early for a shrimp? My test kits don't even get delivered till tomorrow. I bought "cured" rock, but I'm guessing I'm no where close to having a cycled tank and its probably still too early for a shrimp. Or are they that hardy...?

 

[1Reefer]

I would wait..... that was my bad I didn't realize the tank was that new. Sorry about that, wait at least till you get your test kits and can verify water quality.

 

[tanner789]

Cool, thanks.
Hopefully he's on the glass still when I get home tonight. I'll just grab him with something. No injection needed. Thankfully I haven't spotted any others yet. Fingers crossed...

 

[courterbobby]

Yeah keep your fingers crossed. I have a ton of aptasia in my tank bc of the LR I bought, but I am slowly getting rid of them. When they start to move I just pick em off with chopsticks. I will be getting some peppermint shrimp soon to help me get rid of them.

 

[Brien H]

Tanner...I'd third that it is a small aiptasia. I've had a couple small ones show up in my fuge on the glass baffle. I don't have any peppers in my fuge, but I was able to use aiptasia-x on it...just very carefully. You kind of squirt a little bit onto it and it thinks it is food and closes around the fluid. As stated, since it is on the glass, it should be pretty easy to get (no where to hide).

The problem with manual removal(simply pulling it out), is that they can spread when doing that, and you will end up with more.

I'd also recommend against peppers at this point until the tank is fully cycled.

 

[tanner789]

Thanks for the tip. I'll grab some tonight. I want to nip this one as soon as possible

 

[staresatrocks]

I'm gonna differ and call it a juvenile jelly; fairly common in new tanks, and will not live long as a free-swimmer. You might want to siphon it out, anyway.

Ditto on the peppermint shrimp to eat aiptasia, because it's rare not to have any in a new setup.

 

[tanner789]

He's actually growing, the bigger he get the more it looks like aiptasia. It wasn't swimming (do juvenile jellys swim?); its been stuck to the same place in the tank for 24 hours.
Other than that I don't see anything alive. Tomorrow will be day 7. Is that normal?

 

[tanner789]

Whoops. Didn't think the previous post posted.

 

[Cellajean]

I agree I thought it was a jelly also. I had several in the beginning that did not last long.

 

[Glaucus]

Since it's tentacles face the glass and not it's foot which is wrong for an aptaisia.

 

[Reefmack]

My first guess was a juvenile jelly as well, by the way it's attached to the glass. I've only ever seen Aiptasia attach at the base, and this one is attached the opposite way.