HELP - Need to kill Aiptasia

[shaned]

Can anyone suggest a good method to remove Aiptasia from my 75 gal tank .. they are taking over! I've tried hot water, Joe's Juice, Aiptasia-X, etc with little success.

I found an interesting article on eBay for Aiptasia EATING Berghia Nudibranchs but I've never seen them in ANY LFS so I'm not sure if they work. The auction # is 330279170377 if anyone can please take a look and let me know if this is worth a try. Has ANYONE tried these items at ARC?

Thanks,
Shane Draper
ARC Member
[edited by request]


Aiptasia Eating Berghia Nudibranchs (5) Price Reduced!!

Item number: 330279170377

 

[nickskains]

Wow... good info Barbara. I am gonna try this on one thats in the corner of my tank. Its about 1.5" in diameter.

 

[mojo]

nickskains;234145 wrote: Wow... good info Barbara. I am gonna try this on one thats in the corner of my tank. Its about 1.5" in diameter.

That's one heck of an aptasia anenome! More than likely, it's a rock anemone, but the treatment will be the same.

I, too, have had 100% success rate with kalkwasser (pickling lime).

 

[nickskains]

I will try to get a picture of it.

 

[jgoal55]

mojo;234146 wrote: That's one heck of an aptasia anenome! More than likely, it's a rock anemone, but the treatment will be the same.

I, too, have had 100% success rate with kalkwasser (pickling lime).

When you guys say 100% success rate, do you mean that thay dont come back or simply that the ones you inject die?

I've actually had great success with Red Seas Aiptasia X, but eventually these little things come back

 

[dorian965]

peppermint shrimp!!!

 

[jason sartain]

Mine work good on the small ones,but if it's big enough to eat them they just stay away,I use lime water also with a great kill rate but even if you kill all of them there still my be some poylps hidding somewhere and come back later and then you just do it again.Hope this helps.

dorian965;234151 wrote: peppermint shrimp!!!

 

[ralph atl]

I'll have to try that Barbara! Right now I am using Aptsia X, amd it's a very good product. Peppermint shrimp really are hit & miss at best.

Berghia:

 

[glxtrix]

I've done super saturated saltwater and that seemed to work...kalk works too. Or you could bring a few pieces at a time to my place and leave them in my tank for a few days so my copperband can pick them off

 

[jcook54]

I'm going to get some Mrs. Wage's lime this afternoon and give that a go this evening. Joe's Juice and Aiptasia X have both worked for me but I think the Aiptasia X works a little better. Recently I've been using Kalkwasser for majano's with success but it seems like it's never ending. That's what I get for two years of neglect I guess.... How does the pickling lime effect the water quality? In one of my tanks I'm still lowering nitrates so I change the water all the time but I'm wondering about the other that I change water on monthly.

 

[eddie b_]

I got a chevron butterfly form tim at keen reef my aptasia was gone in 2 days . i had 40-50 aptasia in my tank at that time .

 

[tonester_man]

Berghia's will only work on small ones, it will not work on the bigger ones......

 

[george]

I have used pickling lime with excellent results before as well. However, I would recommend getting an actual insulin syringe with the needle intact, if you can. I simply stabbed the anemone and squirted with about 90% first hit success (meaning death). The next day, any that survived got hit again. The needle allows you to inject them even if they've retracted.

Overall, unless you're doing this in a nano, the amount used shouldn't affect your water quality (certainly not in a 75g), but the use of an syringe with the needle will minimize the amount needed.

 

[flyingarmy]

I just use my crack rock syringe...it's already sterile so it makes the job easier!

 

[glxtrix]

anomaly;234200 wrote: Mrs. Wages can/will affect pH

Sure, if you dose the whole bottle.

 

[FutureInterest]

I find that the common insulin needles to dose kalk just get clogged way to easily. So like barb I just remove the needle and dose directly from the syringe. I think kalk works better than juice and other liquid remedies because you cover then entire pest with the stuff. It'll stick to it and burn it to the base. With juice and small needle injections I think small bits may still survive and those bits will grow into new ones. That's my theory on it at least and it seems pretty accurate in practice as most tanks that I see using kalk paste seem to have fewer aptasia.

 

[nickskains]

alt="" />

This is a picture of it. :confused2: I would be greatful if someone could ID this and tell me how to be RID of it!!:yay:

Thanks.

 

[mojo]

Hmm- hard to say without something nearby to give an idea of size, but I'm guessing it's a rock anemone. Use kalkwasser, and use more than you would for a regular aptasia - maybe 1/4 of a 1mL syringe. Turn off all your pumps, apply the kalk, wait ~30 minutes, and then turn your pumps back on.

 

[flyingarmy]

Thats one thing I think most people don't do when treating aiptasia with kalk paste, turn off the pumps, all pumps. The kalk burns that aiptasia and the longer it sits the better. 30 minutes would deifnitely do the trick!

 

[mojo]

Yup! It's amazing how much more effective it is. The key thing to remember is that kalk has a pH of about 12-13 - it's very, very basic and caustic. Essentially, it's burning the organism to death, just like a chemical burn would burn our skin. The more it sits in direct contact, the better job it can do.