What's this anemone, and how can I move him?

**Fishkeeper** · 09-12-2012, 01:11 AM

I recently purchased a nice palythoas frag, and there was apparently a little bitty anemone hiding on it. He's moved himself out from his hiding place, and he's right where I can see him. Now, he's definitely not an aptasia, and I don't think he's a manajo, because he's been there for a month and I don't have any more.
I can't get a pic of him, but he's about an inch across, and almost perfectly clear, with just a tinge of pink. He has a disc about the size of a nickel, with a single row of tentacles around the edge. Now, he's brushing against a couple of palythoas polyp's stems, and they don't seem to mind, so if he has a sting it must be very mild. Any ideas what he is?
I'd like to move him, just in case he can sting my fish, and I was thinking that since he doesn't seem to photosynthesize, I'd like to put him in a jar or something. What's the best way to move a teeny anemone who's on a rock with corals? I have very sensitive skin, so I really shouldn't touch him directly, and my corals wouldn't appreciate being out of the water, plus, they're palythoas, so if I bother them too much they might poison him.

**Cliff** · 09-12-2012, 01:24 AM

Most hitcher anemones are photosynthetic so whe he is settled, he will likely pic a spot out in the open. When he does, givem him a few days to get over the stress of the move. The use a powerhead to put some flow very close to him, but not directly on him. That should change enough of the conditions around him to make him want to move. When starts to move, and has pulled his boot out of the spot it was sitting in, use a pc of plastic (like a credit card) to move his boot off the rock. Be very gentel as it can be easy to hurt/damage their boot

Then you could then safely move him into a bag or container of tank water and rehome him.

This worked pretty good for one RBTA that I had

Can you post a pic of the anemone in question ?

**Fishkeeper** · 09-12-2012, 05:59 PM

Okay, that should work! I can't get a pic of him, all that shows up is the coral. He's almost completely transparent, and he's been sitting in a shady spot for weeks, so I don't think he photosynthesizes.

**Cliff** · 09-12-2012, 06:56 PM

Does what you have in your tank look like any one of the below:

**Fishkeeper** · 09-12-2012, 08:52 PM

Nope, it has a very wide disk for its size, only one row of tentacles around the edge, and a very short stalk. There's about 20 tentacles, and they're pointed and always sort of bent in several places. I've been browsing the Internet, but I haven't found any pictures that match it.

**Fishkeeper** · 09-12-2012, 09:08 PM

Ha! I found it! http://species-identification.org/sp...g_guide&id=277
Uh-oh.... Aptasia species. But I still don't wanna kill it... Guess I'll just pry it loose. If putting it near a powerhead isn't an option, what's another way to detach it?

**Cliff** · 09-12-2012, 09:31 PM

I do not believe there is a safe way to remove aptasia without causing it to release a lot of spores.

Certainly do not try to use the method that I posted above. That will not work with aptasia. The only reason why I made those recommendations is that you stated it was definitely not aptasia in your original post.

These things are a invasive pests that will take over your tank given the correct conditions

**Fishkeeper** · 09-12-2012, 09:43 PM

It sure doesn't look like one...

Welp, better get the lemon juice. Hmm.... Won't disturbing it at all make it release spores?
Edit: Say, what if I slowly moved the rock onto the sand, in the shade, and piled a little bit of sand up around the anemone? Then it would let go and scoot onto the sand to move away, and I could scoop it out with a fast net.