Aiptasia advice

[ksicard]

I've got a full blown aiptasia infestation on my hands and I'm looking to get rid of them. I'm pretty frustrated with them and need to know the best way possible to get rid of them. I've tried manually removing them with products like aiptasia-x but it doesn't seem to do any good as they just come back in more numbers. I've tried a copperband butterfly but my yellow tang beats them up so I cant have one in the tank.

So what's the best way to get rid of these pests completely? peppermint shrimp, nudibranchs, filefish?

 

[snowmansnow]

In my limited experience multiple peppermints are the only way :/ With a 120g tank I use 10

 

[ksicard]

Do you think 5 will do it for a 75g DT?

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

It's tedious but I've had great success with injecting them with straight vinegar. Given how many you have though, that may not be a great option. I've also had success with making my own aptasia paste from pickling lime found in any grocery. There's another product known as Reef Napalm that is made from commonly found ingredients that proves to be fairly successful. Acroholic has the formula for that.

 

[snowmansnow]

joes juice always worked for me... but i could never reach all of them

 

[jdavid]

SnowManSnow;914202 wrote: In my limited experience multiple peppermints are the only way :/ With a 120g tank I use 10

I have 10 in a 10 gallon tank, I've been taking 1 infested rock out of my 29 biocube at a time and placing it in the 10g tank. So far, they have taken out both colonies on both rocks.

The next part of the experiment will be moving the rocks out into another 10 gallon tank to see if the aiptasia will come back without the peppermint shrimp around. If successful, these rocks will seed the 60 cube. If not, I'll have to let the tank cycle for a long time because I have a 32 brute filled to the brim with rock bleaching.

Ideally, I'd like to keep the peppermint shrimp in the 10g tank because I like them and I want them to be on my bedside table. I've got a little T5 light, might go all out peppermint nano. I might have a couple pieces of rock that won't fit in the 10g, but they are all being bleached already.

 

[iu_gary]

I'm going for Berghia nudribranchs. I have bought lots of shrimp from sea atlanta, tried a file fish and tried the juices. Read the articles out there. Most say nudis are the only way to go.

 

[jdavid]

I think there's some $ to be made by breeding the berghias. It's really easy too, but what i have read about them is that you have to use bleached rock in the breeding tank because even pods kill nudis. Too expensive to disappear overnight, but if they were say.. $5 or even $7 w/o shipping I'd buy

 

[declanisadog]

JDavid;914250 wrote: I think there's some $ to be made by breeding the berghias. It's really easy too, but what i have read about them is that you have to use bleached rock in the breeding tank because even pods kill nudis. Too expensive to disappear overnight, but if they were say.. $5 or even $7 w/o shipping I'd buy

I've been talking to a lady at work who is planning on getting some berghias. I'll talk to her tomorrow if I end up going in (my pregnant wife may pop tonight), and see if she's still planning on getting some. If so, I'll start a thread for a group buy on them.

 

[jennm]

The "cons" with Berghias is that they are easily consumed by your filtration, powerheads etc., and they aren't cheap. Once you get rid of the Aiptasia, you'd better rehome them or they'll starve.

Peppermint shrimp are good because they're more durable, and when they run out of Aiptasia, they will scavenge and even eat prepared foods.

If the chemical products weren't working, you probably didn't use enough - they really have to be coated or they release their gametes and you get a whole new crop. Coating them sufficiently prevents the gametes from going anywhere if they are released, the chemical barrier stops them. You have to turn off all flow for at least 10-15 minutes or the chemical blows off, and either the Aiptasia don't get killed off completely, or the gametes escape.

Most folks seem to have the best success with a combination of natural predators, and if it's a really bad infestation, additional chemical means such as Aiptasia-X or similar.

Jenn

 

[iu_gary]

Let me know if you end up doing a group buy. I talked with these folks when I was at MACNA. http://reeftown.com/">http://reeftown.com/</a>

We can get them under $12 a piece and free shipping if we go over $300. I'm probably in for about 15 or so.

I don't think there are any perfect fixes for aptasia. I've tried fish, shrimp and even the juice. All have pros and cons when they actually work. I've been told many times that the shrimp will eat them and I haven't seen them decrease. Shrimp are $10 a piece so Nudi's aren't that much more. Pumps do scare me. We'll see. If they do eat everything it may be time to rehome some but I'm going to keep a few to keep them back.

 

[mikesmith34]

1 dose of reef napalm and no more ap. I use it to kill anything I want gone. It is a universal killer and has not harmed my tank. I've gotten rid of most all my mushrooms using it. I will make a dose inject wit a syringe right before a water change. By the time I get the suction going the hose will suck the shriveled up shroom right off the rock. And so far nothing has returned...aptasia,mojanos, and a variety of mushrooms and xenia. Give it a whirl. 100ml water to 1 tsp red devil lye ( sodium hydroxide). Pull into syringe and inject with all water flow off. Leave off for about 20-30 minutes. Do ur research on it. IT works

 

[ksicard]

I'm giving the peppermints a shot, added 3 two days ago to see how they do. I'm starting with 3 just to make sure my pencil wrasse doesn't turn them into a expensive meal. I haven't seen them since adding them and my wrasse didn't eat them when I added them. so I'm just going to give them time and wait and see if they go for the aiptasia. If they do I'll add another 2-3 to hopefully take care of my problem.

 

[ringo®]

They'll hide alot when first added. Should see them taking a stroll around shortly after lights out though.

 

[ksicard]

That's re assuring to know because I have not seen them once since I added them. I'll take a peek after lights out tonight to see if I can spot them. How slow/quick to these guys work when it comes to aiptasia. I'm considering tearing down my tank at this point with how many I have in my tank. So I'm really hoping these guys work.

 

[ksicard]

Alrighty I'll give them some time to work and I got a glimpse of two of them last night so I know they are still alive and I don't see my wrasse actively seeking them out so that's a good sign. Last question before I just let nature take its course, for a 75g DT with a large aiptasia infestation how many peppermint shrimp should I have to take care of the aiptasia? I currently have 3 and was thinking about nabbing a few more due to how many aiptasia I have.

 

[ringo®]

I would stick with what you have for the moment and see how much of a dent they make after a few weeks. A tank full of hungry shrimp could be a problem.

 

[bulkrate]

Aiptasia-x user, here. When in doubt fill the hole the pest anemone retreats into... takes minimal amount of the stuff to do it (use a gentle hand w the syringe - a little pressure shoots out a lot of product).

Never had one so treated ever come back. Now as for the "apply to seal the polyp closed" instruction, well I've had a couple repeat appearances, but none to be found for the last couple months.