Aiptasia Issues

skippyreef · 04/25/2008, 09:58 PM

Well I let this go for months due to time contraints and now I have a full blown infestation going on. I have thought about Bergia Nudi's but the cost and the time they would take to eat all these makes me rethink it.

Other options are a fresh water dip of all my ive rock and siphoning them out of the sand bed and then adding peppermints and some butterflies to keep them at bay. The other option is a massive nuke attack on the rocks with a super concentrated Kalk Mix to kill them dead. Basically dropping the rock in it for a few minutes and then scrubbing it and rinsing it. I know when we feed them kalk it kills them and I guess I am wondering if the high PH in a bucket of Kalk will kill them without them eating it directly.

ConcreteReefer · 04/25/2008, 10:50 PM

probably not- they are very hardy..

I think the best way to deal with them is boiling RO/DI w/ Kalk & then slowly smothering them in the paste- That's the only thing thats ever worked for me.

demonsp · 04/25/2008, 10:55 PM

Do you have much stock?

Sharkbait1 · 04/25/2008, 10:56 PM

I'd like to know if anyone has tried Red Seas Aptasia cure

fohbes · 04/25/2008, 11:07 PM

i had the same problem.... i tried every thing and nothing worked... then i bought 10 berghia off line... i set up a area for them to breed(some plastic cups) now i have tons.. .ive sold over 50 to lfs and made my money back... they eat them pretty quick to.

Melody · 04/25/2008, 11:51 PM

Best thing I did was buy a "group" of peppermint shrimp. They made short work of the aips, large and small. However, after the all the pest were devoured the pep's munched on a couple of my prized lps. Started spot feeding them and they no longer bother corals, YMMV.

skippyreef · 04/26/2008, 04:16 AM

Good ideas and thanks. I am going to get some 18 gauge needles for the larger ones today and start nuking them With Kalk. Does the boiling water also help with killing them?

abulgin · 04/26/2008, 09:36 AM

I have read that the Red Sea stuff works well. I have also read that peppermint shrimp are hit or miss. I bought a Copper Band Butterfly -- and he cleaned my entire 110g in no time. I realize that there are no guarantees with a CBB either, but I wanted the fish anyway and thought I would give it a try. For me it worked. I had some Aiptasia in my fuge and decided to try fresh squeezed lemon juice. I watched the Aiptasia disintegrate before my eyes. Lemon juice, Joe's Juice, and Red Sea are effective (Joe's Juice never really worked for me) only to the extent you can squirt the aiptasia. If the aiptasia are under rocks, hidden, etc., good luck . . . That's why I employed the CBB. I have 0 aiptasia now. Keep in mind that boiling your rocks will work, but you will end up with dead base rock. Just a thought.

soahnk · 04/26/2008, 10:19 PM

We inherited a tank with a huge aiptasia problem and eventually resorted to squirting them all with kalk past throught a large bore needle. I actually injected it right into the trunk of the larger ones. The smaller ones just got smothered under little piles of paste. We didn't boil the kalk, just mixed it into a thin paste. It helps to shake the syringe before injecting/squirting.

Be careful to monitor your PH as you are executing this warefare. Too much kalk all at once can screw it up.

oscarsdad608 · 04/27/2008, 07:21 AM

I saw that Joes juice is just kalk and saltwater. Save yourself some money and get Mrs.Wages pickling lime. It is the same thing for a lot less money. Mix it yourself. The only way to really get rid of it is to get predators for aptesia. I have a copperband for mine but they are a hard fish to keep.

soahnk · 04/27/2008, 08:01 AM

We also got two peppermint shrimp to take care of any new aiptasia as they started to grow before I had a chance to nuke them.

The combination of a ruthless nuking campaign and a couple of peppermint shrimp permanently took care of the problem in just a few weeks.

skippyreef · 04/27/2008, 06:23 PM

Thanks guys for the replies. I am going down now to start some more Nuking!!!

soahnk · 04/27/2008, 08:04 PM

good luck!

smith1571 · 04/27/2008, 09:11 PM

1 peppermint shrimp killed all my Aiptasia in less than a week. He must have been a special guy

skippyreef · 04/27/2008, 09:13 PM

I have taken some ofthe rock out and scrubbed it and then diped it in A bucket of kalk water. Aiptasia are all dead on these rocks. the rocks with things on them (corals) I am taking the syringe to.

soahnk · 04/29/2008, 09:42 PM

I suspect the Kalk dip takes care of this, but scrubbing aiptasia off is usually to be avoided as it will generate many new aiptasia by creating small bits that become full blown evil aiptasia themselves.

skippyreef · 04/30/2008, 06:12 AM

I scrubbed them of outside of the tank and in a bucket of 3 gallons of water to 3 cups of kalk

there was nothing left on the rock when I took it out and then gave it a good rinse off in freshwater. I agree that if you do this in the tank you are asking for trouble because they will proliferate 10:1 for every aptasia you do this too.

I am going to go back over the tank today and hit the stragglers on a few zooanthids I have in there and the few that are on the bottom of the tank and that should take care of it on the large scale. I am adding some peppermints to keep them returning.

04/25/2008, 09:58 PM	#1
skippyreef Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: under the sea Posts: 1,079	Aiptasia Issues Well I let this go for months due to time contraints and now I have a full blown infestation going on. I have thought about Bergia Nudi's but the cost and the time they would take to eat all these makes me rethink it. Other options are a fresh water dip of all my ive rock and siphoning them out of the sand bed and then adding peppermints and some butterflies to keep them at bay. The other option is a massive nuke attack on the rocks with a super concentrated Kalk Mix to kill them dead. Basically dropping the rock in it for a few minutes and then scrubbing it and rinsing it. I know when we feed them kalk it kills them and I guess I am wondering if the high PH in a bucket of Kalk will kill them without them eating it directly. __________________ Anacroporamademepoora Current Tank Info: 270 gallon Reef

04/25/2008, 10:56 PM	#4
Sharkbait1 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Ventura County Posts: 138	I'd like to know if anyone has tried Red Seas Aptasia cure __________________ Don't believe in anything you can't break If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it's in English thank a veteran. Current Tank Info: BC 29 modded with 150MH and 2x32W Atinic. Stock return replaced w/ MJ1200 added Koralia 1 and Nano for more flow. Stock Filter cartrige modded. Chamber 1 LR Ruble Chamber 2 Saphire 29r Skimmer. Chamber 3 Purigen filter sock.

04/25/2008, 11:07 PM	#5
fohbes Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 26	i had the same problem.... i tried every thing and nothing worked... then i bought 10 berghia off line... i set up a area for them to breed(some plastic cups) now i have tons.. .ive sold over 50 to lfs and made my money back... they eat them pretty quick to. __________________ Jon Current Tank Info: 75 gallon bow front, fluval chi planted fw, 55 gallon spotted puffer tank

04/26/2008, 04:16 AM	#7
skippyreef Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: under the sea Posts: 1,079	Good ideas and thanks. I am going to get some 18 gauge needles for the larger ones today and start nuking them With Kalk. Does the boiling water also help with killing them? __________________ Anacroporamademepoora Current Tank Info: 270 gallon Reef

04/27/2008, 07:21 AM	#10
oscarsdad608 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: wi Posts: 243	I saw that Joes juice is just kalk and saltwater. Save yourself some money and get Mrs.Wages pickling lime. It is the same thing for a lot less money. Mix it yourself. The only way to really get rid of it is to get predators for aptesia. I have a copperband for mine but they are a hard fish to keep. __________________ After this the tank will be finished I swear. Current Tank Info: I use everyones left overs

04/25/2008, 10:50 PM	#2
ConcreteReefer Moved On Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: SW FLA Posts: 996	probably not- they are very hardy.. I think the best way to deal with them is boiling RO/DI w/ Kalk & then slowly smothering them in the paste- That's the only thing thats ever worked for me.

04/25/2008, 10:55 PM	#3
demonsp Moved On Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: el paso tx Posts: 7,634	Do you have much stock?

04/25/2008, 11:51 PM	#6
Melody Registered Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Mississippi Posts: 928	Best thing I did was buy a "group" of peppermint shrimp. They made short work of the aips, large and small. However, after the all the pest were devoured the pep's munched on a couple of my prized lps. Started spot feeding them and they no longer bother corals, YMMV.

04/26/2008, 09:36 AM	#8
abulgin Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Baltimore, MD Posts: 2,664	I have read that the Red Sea stuff works well. I have also read that peppermint shrimp are hit or miss. I bought a Copper Band Butterfly -- and he cleaned my entire 110g in no time. I realize that there are no guarantees with a CBB either, but I wanted the fish anyway and thought I would give it a try. For me it worked. I had some Aiptasia in my fuge and decided to try fresh squeezed lemon juice. I watched the Aiptasia disintegrate before my eyes. Lemon juice, Joe's Juice, and Red Sea are effective (Joe's Juice never really worked for me) only to the extent you can squirt the aiptasia. If the aiptasia are under rocks, hidden, etc., good luck . . . That's why I employed the CBB. I have 0 aiptasia now. Keep in mind that boiling your rocks will work, but you will end up with dead base rock. Just a thought.

04/26/2008, 10:19 PM	#9
soahnk Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Near Albany NY Posts: 43	We inherited a tank with a huge aiptasia problem and eventually resorted to squirting them all with kalk past throught a large bore needle. I actually injected it right into the trunk of the larger ones. The smaller ones just got smothered under little piles of paste. We didn't boil the kalk, just mixed it into a thin paste. It helps to shake the syringe before injecting/squirting. Be careful to monitor your PH as you are executing this warefare. Too much kalk all at once can screw it up.

04/27/2008, 08:01 AM	#11
soahnk Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Near Albany NY Posts: 43	We also got two peppermint shrimp to take care of any new aiptasia as they started to grow before I had a chance to nuke them. The combination of a ruthless nuking campaign and a couple of peppermint shrimp permanently took care of the problem in just a few weeks.

04/27/2008, 06:23 PM	#12
skippyreef Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: under the sea Posts: 1,079	Thanks guys for the replies. I am going down now to start some more Nuking!!! __________________ Anacroporamademepoora Current Tank Info: 270 gallon Reef

04/27/2008, 08:04 PM	#13
soahnk Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Near Albany NY Posts: 43	good luck!

04/27/2008, 09:11 PM	#14
smith1571 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 183	1 peppermint shrimp killed all my Aiptasia in less than a week. He must have been a special guy

04/27/2008, 09:13 PM	#15
skippyreef Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: under the sea Posts: 1,079	I have taken some ofthe rock out and scrubbed it and then diped it in A bucket of kalk water. Aiptasia are all dead on these rocks. the rocks with things on them (corals) I am taking the syringe to. __________________ Anacroporamademepoora Current Tank Info: 270 gallon Reef

04/29/2008, 09:42 PM	#16
soahnk Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Near Albany NY Posts: 43	I suspect the Kalk dip takes care of this, but scrubbing aiptasia off is usually to be avoided as it will generate many new aiptasia by creating small bits that become full blown evil aiptasia themselves.

04/30/2008, 06:12 AM	#17
skippyreef Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: under the sea Posts: 1,079	I scrubbed them of outside of the tank and in a bucket of 3 gallons of water to 3 cups of kalk there was nothing left on the rock when I took it out and then gave it a good rinse off in freshwater. I agree that if you do this in the tank you are asking for trouble because they will proliferate 10:1 for every aptasia you do this too. I am going to go back over the tank today and hit the stragglers on a few zooanthids I have in there and the few that are on the bottom of the tank and that should take care of it on the large scale. I am adding some peppermints to keep them returning. __________________ Anacroporamademepoora Current Tank Info: 270 gallon Reef