Author Topic: You have aiptasia. What will you do? (Read 6624 times)

~reefchik~ · « **on:** December 16, 2009, 16:21:57 »

Egads...turned over a rock doing some tank maintenance about a week ago and you should see the freakin' aips on this rock now!

I know my choices are:

A: "Kill Aiptasia" liquid/syringe (which I have. It's pretty hit or miss IMO)

B: Peppermints (again, not impressed with their activity on larger aiptasia)

C: Butterfly (probably Kleins?) <<this appeals as I'm ready to add a nice fish

D: Kalk mix (tried it before, didn't work well at all)

E: Berghia nudibranchs

F: Burn with lighter (ick, never tried it but found it on a site)

G: none of the above, make suggestion_______________________________________________

What else? I need to get on it soon. These are large and probably reproducing like crazy

slandis3 · « **Reply #1 on:** December 16, 2009, 16:28:26 »

I have tried them all but F. I just added a copperban butterfly we will see how that works.
E this is very expensive as depending on your tank size you may need to add quite a few to start. Or worse a fish could pick at them and kill them. I am building a new stand this spring. At that time (if the copperban doesn't work) I am going to remove all fish and corals. Bleach the tank and rocks and start over fresh.

Secondgen · « **Reply #2 on:** December 16, 2009, 16:29:57 »

I use Aptaisia X from Red Sea, and it works great.

slandis3 · « **Reply #3 on:** December 16, 2009, 16:33:46 »

Yes that does work good. My tank is just too deep to get to the bottom as well as the back side of the rocks.

Secondgen · « **Reply #4 on:** December 16, 2009, 16:35:27 »

Its time for scuba gear then Mike.

~reefchik~ · « **Reply #5 on:** December 16, 2009, 16:36:45 »

slandis, you sound like you've totally BTDT with these things, too.
I'm leaning towards ordering berghia but I would love a nice new fish.

I never mentioned that Landis is my family name, but when I see someone I always like to chat about family. Landis isn't that common a name, and my grandfather and great-grandfather were from the Indiana area.

Secondgen: that stuff sounds very interesting! I hadn't seen that product yet. I will research it more. Thanks.

~reefchik~ · « **Reply #6 on:** December 16, 2009, 16:40:57 »

Quote from: slandis3 on December 16, 2009, 16:33:46

Yes that does work good. My tank is just too deep to get to the bottom as well as the back side of the rocks.

Yeah, mine too, although I have just a 90.

I've got a problem right now which makes "hunting & shooting" them an unappealing solution. I spent a long time scraping coralline 2 weekends ago (maybe 2 hours) and followed it up with shampooing the family room carpets the next day. Result? Tendonitis in right arm. Plus, I got my chemo port removed about 10 days ago (right chest area) and it got infected. I'm a bit nervous at this point about having my hand and arm in the water for an extended time given a few small cuts on the hand, and my immune system not being 100%

Blown76mav · « **Reply #7 on:** December 16, 2009, 16:55:32 »

PBITAWA

Joel · « **Reply #8 on:** December 16, 2009, 17:13:24 »

red sea's aptasia X works really well. YOu don't inject the aptasia with it. This stuff has the consistency of cake batter, you used the included syringe and simply drop a small "glob" of it into the aptasia. The aptasia will ingest it and dissolve in a very short amount of time. Works on manjo anemone as well.

Joel

HUNGER · « **Reply #9 on:** December 16, 2009, 17:36:41 »

i use kalk but i only have had a few and can reach them

xXTheWendigoXx · « **Reply #10 on:** December 16, 2009, 17:46:16 »

I had tremendous luck combining a few peppermint shrimp to tackle the little ones combined with stuff called Joe's Juice (which I'm sure is probably almost identical to Aptaisia X). Whatever you do, I recommend taking a two pronged approach because the pesky things always seem to survive a single approach.

atreis · « **Reply #11 on:** December 16, 2009, 18:09:27 »

Peppermint Shrimp, and use a syringe to inject vinegar into the larger ones (saltwater critters really don't like acid).

hamiltro · « **Reply #12 on:** December 16, 2009, 18:15:45 »

i say just go with a copperband it will do the job plus you get a new fish0

jjw2121 · « **Reply #13 on:** December 16, 2009, 20:50:13 »

I just got 2 copperbands 2 weeks ago (thanks Joel) and 100% of my aptasia is gone. I bet they ate 30 aptasia in 3 days

woltersb · « **Reply #14 on:** December 17, 2009, 10:32:51 »

File fish... Justin ordered me one, ate every last one of those things! Its also a pretty cool fish!

Aquatic Specialists · « **Reply #15 on:** December 17, 2009, 13:35:12 »

When it comes to the peppermint shrimp you have to make sure they are the ones that eat aptasia, there are look-alikes. Generally, 3 or more will have you cleaned up. The Berghia work great but you need a small army to acheive your goal. Copperbands work well also, but they can and probably will eat more desirable life forms also.

~reefchik~ · « **Reply #16 on:** December 17, 2009, 15:10:05 »

Quote from: Blown76mav on December 16, 2009, 16:55:32

PBITAWA

Say what?

?

~reefchik~ · « **Reply #17 on:** December 17, 2009, 15:14:09 »

I just found out about the tassle nosed filefish.

Well, update: I now have 3 Berghia in there, got them overnight. So we'll see how they do. However IMO they are going to need help, since the newly discovered aiptasia are HUGE and the rock is covered. We're talking solid colony. Must have been something about that particular rock, turned around facing the back of the tank and partially submerged that perfectly suited these pests.

I think the Aiptasia X is a good adjunct at this point. Ya'll have me convinced it should work ok on the largest ones and there are plenty of tiny baby aips for the berghia to grow fat on. We hope.....

Thanks a million for your help, as always it's very much appreciated

Blown76mav · « **Reply #18 on:** December 17, 2009, 17:33:09 »

Quote from: ~reefchik~ on December 17, 2009, 15:10:05

Say what??

Google it......

slandis3 · « **Reply #19 on:** December 17, 2009, 17:39:10 »

My method of removal

Pour Bleach in Tank and Walk Away

Rayman · « **Reply #20 on:** December 17, 2009, 21:29:27 »

peppermint shrimp ate all mine the first night in the tank and i put in in at like 7:30 to 8:00.

UD Flyer · « **Reply #21 on:** December 17, 2009, 22:26:57 »

Peppermints have always worked for me. Its been a long time since I had any, but the peppermints I bought all came from Joel, and ate the biggest of big aptasia I had.

I think the Berghia (sp?) is more like a gimmick. They may work, but you need a lot of them, or if they dont find each other to reproduce they will die and you'll still be left with the aptasia. And if they do eat it all, then they'll die unless you keep up on making the aptasia stay in your tank.

File fish on the other hand are extremely hard to keep from what I have read and typically require a very specific diet.

Ultimately, the decision is yours to make.

~reefchik~ · « **Reply #22 on:** December 18, 2009, 12:30:19 »

Quote from: Blown76mav on December 17, 2009, 17:33:09

Google it......

Sure fire fix, grant ya that

~reefchik~ · « **Reply #23 on:** December 18, 2009, 12:32:24 »

Quote from: Rayman on December 17, 2009, 21:29:27

peppermint shrimp ate all mine the first night in the tank and i put in in at like 7:30 to 8:00.

I've had peppermints that did a fabulous job and lived a long time eating aiptasia. Other times, not so much.

Now in this tank, I can't keep peps alive for some reason. I may try some more soon, though. I am going to Gerber's today for a couple rainbowfish for my FW tank and snag a few more small cleaner hermits while I'm there.

HUNGER · « **Reply #24 on:** December 18, 2009, 20:41:52 »

i whould try and get peppermints from a good lfs mite have better luck with them ive seen some nice ones at Aquatic Specialists and Coral Ranch

2024 Ohio Reef Frag Swap

Author Topic: You have aiptasia. What will you do? (Read 6624 times)

slandis3

slandis3

Blown76mav

Blown76mav

slandis3