Is this an anemone?

[brikeibur]

Heya,
I got a hitchhiker in my tank and I have been told by the LFS to get rid of it, but they don't even know what it looks like, so I wanted to post it here and get your opinions on it. Does anyone know what it is and if its ok to have? When it gets spooked it draws up into one bubble and then opens back up later. Thanks!!

Here is a close-up of it:

Here is a pic of the whole tank. The hitchhiker is at the bottom left, on the upper left side of the smaller rock in front. As you can see, it is not very big and isn't 'spreading like crazy' or anything:

 

[Melanie]

Ohhhhh, I love your rocks! What a gorgeous tank!

 

[sasquatch]

Looks like a mushie to me? Tank is looking GREAT! more PICS please. Steve

 

[blue_eyes53813]

Looks like a mushroom to me, can you get a front picture of it?

 

[lcstorc]

I agree. Looks like a fuzzy brown mushroom. Nice easy coral that doesn't need a lot of light. I have a green one that is easily 6 inches across if not more.

Your rockwork is awesome.

 

[goldenmean]

Brian & Stacey
Great job at aquascaping.
Your tank looks wonderful!

 

[brikeibur]

Thanks for the compliments on my rocks guys. We worked hard on it. Will be glad when we have some color added in there, like more mushrooms and sponges and more corals and such, but just trying our best to take it easy. It is so tempting to go out and buy a bunch of cool stuff right away!
So, you guys think my little hitchhiker is harmless.....whew. I really really didn't want to get rid of him! He is so cute, and I really like him since I have been watching him grow slowly (part of the fam now)! Anyway...I'll try and get a picture of him from another angle and post it for you guys...its kinda hard to get on the side though, but I'll see what I can do.
Thanks for all the comments and input!!

 

[Cassette87]

I agree on the shroom... And man.. that really is some beautiful aqua-scaping! keep up the good work!

 

[caitrina]

ewww, I like...and I think it is a little shroomie too.

 

[brikeibur]

Ok, so here is a shot of it from the side. It is a little drawn up because the lights were out and I had just turned them on to snap the pic. Hope this helps.

 

[Triggerjay]

shroom for sure!

Jason

 

[caitrina]

Don't get rid of it, its a shroom. A nice little shroom at that.

 

[goldenmean]

Very nice mushroom

and your LFS told you to get rid of it.
remember that the next time they give you some advice.

 

[brikeibur]

I KNOW!! :smck:
I will definitely have to keep that in mind from now on.

 

[brikeibur]

Hey since we are discussing this matter....I have located yet another hitchhiker. This little guy was REALLY hard to take a picture of, he is kinda hiding on the side at an odd angle, and he is really small. He looks like a little pink bubble with four 'spikes/polyp' thingies coming out of the top. Each of the 'polyp/spikes' have several 'whiskers' around the top of them. This is the best photo I could get of him (for now). What do you guys think he is?

OH, and at night he is nothing but a pink bubble, all drawn up with no polyps sticking out, guess he pulls them back in at night.

 

[blue_eyes53813]

That is another coral. Looks like star polyps or xenia to me. Kinda hard to tell from the picture... Another good hitchhiker

 

[brikeibur]

Thanks Vicki,
A Xenia would be really nice, especially if it grows up nicely!!
I just got a frogspawn today at the LFS. It is so pretty under the lights....neon green!! I love it!
Stacy and Brian

 

[brikeibur]

OK, so someone commented on my picture of the second hitchhiker in my photo album telling me this was something bad.... Anyone else think so? (not the mushroom, but the bubble thingy)? Perhaps I should post this under the hitchhiker thread as well so that I'll get more responses???

 

[Triggerjay]

looks like star polyps to me....

Jason

 

[brikeibur]

I hope you are right, because I don't wanna remove it. I have grown attached...I even named it Squishy.