Aiptasia Mixed in with Zoas

[catgirl29]

I bought some colonies this weekend and they are all absolutely perking up in my tank and looking great. Unfortunately, so is some Aiptasia which were fairly deflated and hiding among some long stem zoas.

I want to try to nuke them with the lye method stickied here, using a syringe and targeted injection, knowing that I may kill a few zoa heads in the process.

The other option is to try a File Fish (which I do love but I need to go slowly with the fish additions).

What would you do? Really like the zoas. I know could just chuck the rock they're on but I hate to do that.

 

[walterp1982]

I pay close attention to the spot the aiptasia is, pull the rock out, and use an ice pick to dig into the aiptasia hole and shred it. Works so far!

 

[catgirl29]

They won't multiply if you shred them?

 

[localpref]

I am battling a large break out of aptiasia they have taKen off to point where I can't keep up with aptiasia x. After switching to frozen food. I heard good things about peppermint shrimp for control. Only certain types that come from certain regions actually eat them. I've ordered some from live aquaria that are supposed to be the right kind. Got 14 to go in a 180. I'll let you know how that works out. The scientific name for them is lystmata wurdemanni.

 

[camellia]

+1 on peppermint shrimp!

This is why you want to be careful on your fish selection. Many fish will eat shrimp as soon as they hit the water, then you can't go this route! This worked like a champ for me. I only had a few but I got 4 peppermint shrimp and it was gone never to be seen again in two days!

Janelle, if you can take the Zoas out of the water and remove the aptasia scraping the area with a sharp blade do it. Then rinse/flush the area with tank water. If it's on a plug, remove the plug (I always remove plugs) or rubble if possible.

 

[dball711]

I would buy several peppermint shrimp, I keep a few in both of my tanks. If its just one or two on a frag you can cut/scrape and rinse away outside the tank.

 

[bulkrate]

I've always used either Aipasia-X on larger/easy to reach anemones or a cuticle clipper (looks like a tiny bone cutter) to cut out a little chip of rock if it's mixed in with zoas or in an otherwise difficult to treat spot.

Don't try to shred them with a pick - you might get all of it if you're lucky/madly-skilled, but each bit left behind could regenerate into a new pest anemone.

I'm on the fence about the peppermint shrimp - true specimens of lystmata wurdemanni can be neat to watch and very effective as an ongoing control if you get more pop-ups down the road... just realize that even if that particular shrimp is fairly good about not snacking on corals they WILL definitely will steal food from less aggressive feeders - think LPS, rock flower anemones, mandarins/pipefish/seahorses.

 

[walterp1982]

I should have mentioned that I use the pick on the little babies, just a few mm in size. I've never had one larger than a centimeter, but I probably never will, because I have since gotten a peppy

 

[jennm]

Peppermint shrimp and Aiptasia-X. Yes you may lose a good polyp or two, more will grow back.

When you use a chemical to burn off an Aiptasia, be sure to coat it completely. If you don't, the stress of death usually causes the Aiptasia to expel its gametes, which can result in a bumper crop of new ones. If you coat it completely, the gametes have nowhere to go.

For this reason, the 'ice pick' method above, isn't recommended. Too much opportunity for them to release the gametes, and any bits of leftover tissue can grow back into more. Leave 4 little 'shreds' and get 4 more Aiptasia to replace the one you thought you killed.

Peppermints will keep them at bay, and have the ability to pluck even the tiniest ones out of cracks and crannies as they grow.

Jenn