Hitchhiker - Concerning, Not Concerning, Somewhere in between?

[Ryka]

I've attached a few pictures, albeit poor, of some hitchhikers that came in on some new pieces of rock. Probably about 5 of these came in total. I have a suspicion these are not good. You have to look closely. Sorry for the poor quality. Please ignore the Cerith, he didn't hitchhike.

 

[snappyguy]

It looks like it might be an Aiptasia sp. anemone. They spread quickly and often hitch hike in on rock. A peppermint shrimp will eat them. Here's a pic I found on google images for you to compare to.

 

[Ryka]

Yeah. That's what I suspected. Does Aiptasia cause any long term damage? Do I need to be concerned? If I get a peppermint shrimp my hogfish will eat him (possibly).

 

[snappyguy]

Aiptasia spreads like wildfire and can take over a tank, even growing on glass. The hogfish probably would eat any shrimp you put in the tank. I've heard of people injecting each Aiptasia with a concentrated kalkwasser solution and this seems to kill them. You just have to make sure to get all of them and I have no experience with this method. Just something I've come across. Hope this helps.

 

[Ryka]

Thanks. I've seen a # of other threads on how to kill off this stuff. I just wanted to make sure that it is indeed Aipstia. Other than spreading, do these cause any harm to fish or stock?