Are Aptasia photosynthetic at all?

[mikem.dvm]

I have an aptasia problem. Luckily I have a filefish and never see any in my display. I have a few in my sump which I spot treat. My overflow is another story. I have tons of them in there. I also get a lot of algae growing in there. Currently its not covered but I'm going to get a cover to take care of the algae problem. Its an in tank overflow so its exposed to LED and T5 with nothing in the overflow to eat everything that grows in there. I'm just curious if covering it will also get rid of the aptasia?

 

[SpyC]

The google says 'Aiptasia contain zooxanthellae, or symbiotic dinoflagellate algae, which produce oxygen and fix carbon by photosynthesis.'

 

[bushdoc]

Aiptasia often contains zooxanthellae and is able to photosynthesize food, but unfortunately can also thrive and multiply without light, so it is often found in sumps, overflows and even pipes.

 

[srobertb]

I have an aptasia problem. Luckily I have a filefish and never see any in my display. I have a few in my sump which I spot treat. My overflow is another story. I have tons of them in there. I also get a lot of algae growing in there. Currently its not covered but I'm going to get a cover to take care of the algae problem. Its an in tank overflow so its exposed to LED and T5 with nothing in the overflow to eat everything that grows in there. I'm just curious if covering it will also get rid of the aptasia?

I’ve had them in darkness. They tend to look different (more translucent) and I found they didn’t get huge or spread as prolifically. I’d say cover plus aiptasia-X will probably work.