Another Aiptasia Thread - Final Comments (huge outbreak)

[gummi]

So I've been battling aiptasia for a while and recently had a HUGE outbreak. I've used Red Sea Aiptasia X, Joe's Juice, boiling water, lemon juice, vinegar, nudibranch, camel shrimp, copperband....

None have worked. My best results were slow feeding with Aiptasia-X I think but still no clearing.

Anyone have any other suggestions for these little bastards?

[Snakebyt]

try a dozen or so peppermint shrimp

[goldmaniac]

locate a 1.0 mL syringe, pull off the needle, mix up a thick kalk paste, and spot-dose the aptasias right into their mouths using the syringe.

I found a nickel-sized aptasia on a zoa colony that I bought, I hit it with this, and haven't seen any come back in my tank for 4+ months, now.

[herozero]

no camel shrimps, try peppermints and make sure you get the real deal. you might have to get a few to get lucky. kalk paste works great if you want to manual kill em. it will raise your pH so don't go crazy, just a couple every day.

[jerryreefrigger]

Small Raccoon Butterfly will eat them all.

[Sugar Magnolia]

I've always have had luck with peppermint shrimp. I'd toss a dozen or so in there.

[PrangeWay]

65gallon tank you'll need 2 peppis. Once they acclimate and feel comfortable they'll have it clean in 2 or 3 days. They are amazing. (as long as they are real peppi's, ie the ones from Live Aquaria always work for me).

[Frogmanx82]

I pulled the rock out of the water and hit their spots with a lighter. That seemed to do the trick.

[SharkBait_Mtl]

Originally posted by jerryreefrigger
Small Raccoon Butterfly will eat them all.

not reef safe....

i heard pyramid butterflys are reef safe and they eat aptasia as well.

[cakemanPA]

My Copperband has eliminated them from my display and 5 peppermint shrimp are taking care of those in the fuge. I am thankful that my Copperband also likes mysis and krill. So now if a stray aiptasia shows up, it is toast.

[unbreakable]

best bet is getting a cup of water, put it in the microwave for 5min, mix 2 teaspoons of kalk so its a paste, turn off powerheads and apply. some of them are tricky since they will retract deep into the rock, so make sure you have an applicator that can bend and reach inside.. leave powerheads off for 15min.

im battling some myself. you just have to keep on top of them. if you see them back the next day do it again until they just cant regenerate anymore

[doublejesus]

i only get them occasionally in spots and when i see them i have this extra rock (bout the size of a a kid's fist) and i put it on top of it. it'll then move on to the small rock and i pull it out and boil it haha

[jerryreefrigger]

Originally posted by SharkBait_Mtl
not reef safe....

i heard pyramid butterflys are reef safe and they eat aptasia as well.

We all know that Racoon Butterfly's are not reef safe, like most butterflies. But, if you have hundreds of aiptasia, your reef isn't really reef safe in and of itself. The Racoon butterfly provides a solution if you're willing remove your hard corals temporarily. This is what I had to do in my 280, which had at close to a thousand aiptasia and majanos.

This is my suggestion since gummi said he has tried "everything".

I trained him to eat mysis from the net as well. We he was all done, I took him back to the LFS and put the hard corals back in. That was two years ago, haven't seen a pest anemone since.

[tspors]

Iv'e posted this before if you want a safe and sure fire destruction of Aps.

I had an 80g that had some Apstasia that started to take over. Not an issue because I was bringing the tank down to install hardwood floor and replace with a 150g. I tried various options to kill the little buggers with not much success. I know everyone deals with these guys and they are quit normal just not wanted. Anyway, my wife found one the other day. I found a post from 2004 and I am copying it here for opinion. I did it, it worked but I am curious as to everyones opinion.

2004 Post:
OK, here is my sure fire way, 100% success rate, never to return again method.

Use a saturated solution of Sodium Hydroxide (Drain Away, Draino, whatever you like to call it) and water. Using a syringe, squirt about 0.5 mL into the mouth of each aiptasia. This will kill even the stubborn foot tissue.

I initially used kalk paste like pies, by found that the success rate wasn't that great. Sodium Hydroxide is much more soluble than Calcium Hydroxide, and is more alkaline, completely nuking the aiptasia.

Again don't dose too much at one time. It is not harmful to your reef, unless you directly squirt it onto corals. Just a warning that Sodium Hydroxide will cause sever chemical burns if handled, you can tell if you have it on your hands 'cause they will feel "soapy" and slippery. If you feel your hands becoming slippery, wash with a LOT of cold water. Preferably wear gloves when handling.

As dangerous as the chemical sounds, it is really quite safe for your reef.

Draino is surprisingly pure sodium hydroxide, and is really no more dangerous to your tank than calcium hydroxide (kalk). Any tank with a reasonable alkalinity (greater than 2.6) should have no problems adding it. The hydroxide ion reacts relativly quickly with dissolved carbon dioxide producing, there are also other mechanisms for the neutralisation of the free hydroxide. Which reaction is most significant is determined by the pH.

2(OH)- + 2CO2 ---> H20 + 2(CO3)2-

The only difference between this and the kalk method is the spectator ion (Ca2+ as opposed to Na+).
Kalk will do the same thing to your hand as sodium hydroxide, at a much much slower rate.

If anything this method is easier on the fish, I had problems with fish eating, or trying to eat the white kalk paste. I for one wouldn't like a mouth full of kalk. The sodium hydroxide method is much safer in that it is completely soluble, such that any solution which doesn't make it into the aiptasia, is quikly netralised by surrounding water by the above reaction, and no solid remains to be eaten by fish.

[Reef Bass]

I have been successful nuking most aiptasia with Joe's Juice and peppermint shrimps. My problem is that there are some in places where neither myself nor my peps can reach.

I am contemplating berghia nudibranchs as they will get into those small spaces and eat that stuff up. Also, from what I hear, berghia are much more thorough than peps. Berghia will eat the entire aiptasia polyp whereas peps sometimes leave a bit after consuming most and the leftovers quickly regenerate.

[MarineGirl411]

Try Vinegar. Simple white vinegar. I just used it. Didn't heat it up or anything. It's cheap and easy.

[mlivvy]

When you inject them with a syringe, make sure your injecting at the base.

[Anemonebuff]

I battled aips for years and only a peppermint shrimp worked for me. I added one pep to my 125 and after 2-3 months I am aip free.

[gummi]

One more twist in this scenario is that my nitrates are fairly high (about 20PPM)... so will Peppermint shrimp survive?

As for the Draino solution.... I'm a little afraid to go that route...

[supervdl]

Copperband is the way to go. be careful when selecting one in the LFS and make sure it eats already.

[gummi]

Originally posted by supervdl
Copperband is the way to go. be careful when selecting one in the LFS and make sure it eats already.

Tried it with no results. My other fish bullied him and he would only eat blood worms... so he lasted 4 weeks in quarantine and 10 days in the main tank and was toast unfortunately.

That's another prob I have... my other fish are getting aggressive so are not very receptive to new fish. Inverts they would probably be ok with so maybe I should look for a whole bunch of peppermint shrimp...