Ident help

[Tim]

I need help identifying these two guys. I got them on a few pieces of live rock i bought from someone that was breaking thier tank down a few weeks ago and I didnt even know they were there untill they moved around into the light. They like to close up at night but during the day the purple one with the green rim is giant, like 6" across and its moving a little close to my Zenia. I need to know if theres a danger of them stinging my other corals.

 

[chichimom79]

They look like mini carpet anemones. Yes, they will sting the crap out of your corals.

 

[Tim]

Great, just what I didnt want to hear :) I know they will move around because they already have, but now I'm wondering whats the best way to get them off the rock thier on and relocate them to an area with a little more space between them and my other corals.

 

[little_fish]

If they stay where they are now, the xenia in the photo should be fine. Or you could relocate the xenia, i think that would be easier.

 

[Tim]

I think you might be right little fish. Actually I'm a little concerned about handling these things, not knowing anything about them. Last week I was watching my serpent star reaching for food when he layed one of his tentacles across the big purple one, it immediatly clamped up on him, The next day when I saw the serpent, he had 4 1/2 legs instead of 5. It got me to thinking twice about reaching in and grabing ahold of them.

 

[Bifferwine]

As a general rule, you should use gloves whenever working in your tank. Not only to keep your fingers from getting cut or stung, but because oils, soap residue, dirt, etc. on your hands can harm things in your tank.

 

[Tim]

Also in that pic, I had just turned the lights back on, so its closed up pretty good. In the daytime when its expanded its less than 1/4" from the Zenia.

 

[little_fish]

To move the xenia, just peal or cut them off at the base and then sew them down in their new location

 

[chichimom79]

On the plus side, maxi mini anemones are cool and you got them free! :D

 

[Salty B]

Some of my maxis came in contact with other corals ( I had 5 of them in a 10 gallon and space was limited) and the "softie weeds" didn't care that they were touching. I had 1 maxi that propped itself against the stalk of a kenya tree and the tree showed no ill affects. It was there for 4 or 5 months. However corals like my acans, frogspawn, monties, etc would all retract when they were touched by a nem.
I'd be more worried about fish and shrimp than corals. I lost a clown and a harlequin shrimp to a maxi. So if you have fish that perch like gobies, blennies or mandarins they may very well become nem food!

 

[Tim]

Angie, yes they are cool, I've really come to like them, it was just the way I came about getting them I did'nt get a chance to do my homework on'em. Salty, like I said in my previous post, One already injured my serpent star, so I learned about that side of them the hard way. I know it would be easier to move my Zenia's, but I think I'd still like to move the nems to an area of the tank thats a little bare looking, If anyone has any pointers on whats involved in that it would be appreciated.

 

[Salty B]

The chances of putting it where you like it, and it staying there, are minimal. They can and will take off if they feel the need. Out of my 5, 2 never moved, 2 moved every few months and 1 was always on the go. Just keep an eye on it and enjoy. Definately cool critters!