aptasia question

[aznnutty]

besides pepperment shrimp, is there anything else that eats aptasia or what's the best chemical to use without harming my softies?

[MPeer]

There's a type of nudibranch that eats aiptasia only.

[sentencedme]

don't know about softies but can you try joe's juice, kalk paste....
may alter water for a reef not really sure....

[marioensf]

Copper banded butterflies are good eaters of aiptasia, the problem is getting them to eat those when there's something else to eat, an army of peppermint shrimp would do a better job but on the smaller ones, for those huge anemones a little boiling water injected right to them or some Joe's juice, kalk paste.
I believe there's a new item on the market that makes the aiptasia anemones think it's food so they do not retract, can't remember where I saw it. Nudibranchs (berghia) are expensive and as any nudi, careful not to be sucked into power heads/filters.

I have them but they are "under control" and whenever I see one litle too big, get the Joe's juice syringe and get ride of a few, as many as I can reach, the rest unmolested remain.

good luck and don't try to squish them they spread like weed if you do so.

[Gtstricky]

Joe's Juice is popular.

[abulgin]

I've pretty much tried everything and, honestly, the thing that works best on Aiptasia that are accessible (key word) is plain old freshly squeezed lemon juice. I turn off the pumps to eliminate any flow, and then I squirt a small cloud of juice around the Aiptasia. The thing literally dissolves in front of your eyes and, unlike with Joe's Juice, does not come back. Lemon Juice is cheap too!

I got lucky with my Copper Band Butterfly. Not only does he eat Aiptasia, but he also eats live black worms and frozen Mysis.

Before running out to the store to buy Peppermint Shrimps or a Copper Band Butterfly, understand that they are hit or miss--sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. I have never tried Berghia nudibranchs, because they are so expensive and apparently they die very easily.

[Allanira]

Also you might try the live rock epoxy you can get at lfs. I used that to completely smother mine and it worked great. I couldnt put anything in when I saw them poking hteir ugly heads up. Plus the left over epoxy you can use to glue rocks together for a more stable foundation.

[snorvich]

I have never tried lemon juice but if it works that well, I shall. But, at the moment, I have peppermint shrimp (the real ones) in all my tanks and there are no aiptasia left.

[aznnutty]

the only concern is that there's one rite in the middle of my polyps and another in the middle of my zoos. The coral is all facing away and closed up. Grr

[jwd]

I struggle daily w/ aiptasia.... I guess imma have to try the lemon juice..... I used to have peppermint shrimp that ate it, but the 10 or so that I've had since haven't done a thing....

[IslandCrow]

Lemon juice isn't the best thing in the world for your tank chemically speaking. You're probably better off with vinegar. I'm just paraphrasing what I've heard from our resident chemists (Randy, Boomer, etc.), so I can't give you much more of an explanation than that. Kalk paste works great for me. It doesn't take much if you're worried about getting it on other corals. The titration syringes that come in Salifert test kits are absolutely perfect for zapping those aiptasia that are right in the middle of stuff you don't want to zap. Once I get the majority of the population wiped out, I've had very good luck with peppermint shrimp keeping it that way.