Aiptasia break out yet again.

[Im Lon 2]

grrrrrr.

I had a outbreak about 4 years, and ended up getting a copper banneded butterfly, that took care of the problem pretty quickly last time. The problem is finding one healthy, and they don't tend to live long.

When I set the tank back up in May I had like 4 or 5 of them. Tried the Kalk and seemed to take care of them..... so I thought.... all of a sudden I have them all over my tank. probably worse than I had them 4 years ago.

As anyone had any luck with the Matted (Aiptasia Eating) Filefish?

I have been reading up on them and they seem to be like everything else hit or miss. Same thing with Corals.

Any thoughts?

 

[keto]

Ive also got a few pooping up, going to try the joes juice here ..

 

[twiggyb]

Buy those berghia nudibranchs on DD then pass them to me when your finished, I'd buy them, but I'm stripped for cash cause of the holidays. Thats all they strictly eat so I'm sure theyll do the job right.

 

[bazineta]

I found that a CBB grazes on them, but doesn't kill them; presumably it's choosing to farm them rather than eradicate them, so it's not ripping out the roots, so to speak.

In contrast, a peppermint shrimp rips them to pieces, burns the bodies, scatters the ashes, and salts the ground.

 

[michealprater]

Peppermint shrimp are your friend.

 

[SushiGirl]

I had a filefish years ago that cleared one of my infested tanks.
Never had a peppermint eat any (tried that first in 2 separate tanks).

 

[twiggyb]

My peps took care of it at first, but they dissappeared and the aiptasia came back. Bought 5 more about a week ago, but haven't seen any results yet.

 

[TWINPEAKS]

pm sent

 

[Numsee]

I have had good luck with my choc chip starfish. Got to keep him separated from colts and xenia. But he will eat aptasia and majanos. It has not harmed the 2 GBAs yet.

 

[psychostieg]

I have had success in my 400 reef several ways..
1... Large adult queen angle..... They actually prefer sponges and jellies in the wild. I have ha mine in my sps/lps reef for years now..... She will nip on clam mantles ... Kinda more as a "how's this taste" than "that looks delicious".... I just removed the clam for the duration and the queen ate every single aptasia that it could reach..... If you use a queen (although they are pricey)... Get one big enough that you are able to catchbit if you don't wanna leave it in your system. I left mine inside my reef.... There are enough corals that she can nip here and there and it doesn't cause any real damage.... She also only exclusively eats spectrum pellets...... won't touch any other food.... Kinda weird!!

2. I have a refugium with a 150MH on it and TONS of chaeto.... More like a 18X16X14 inch brick of it ... Wall to wall. When I have a rock that turns up with aptasia... Bryopsis.... Pretty much anything..... I take it to the refug, and place it under all o the chaeto. The aptasia get frustrated with no light, and all migrate to the top of the chaeto mass.... Then I either just leave em to eat debris in the fugue, or simply scoop them off the top.
3. The last way is I just take aptasia-x for those stragglers that I find whenever I move a rock, or just find a lone wanderer here and there. That more what the stuff is designed for anyway.

Note and warning....when trying to eliminate aptasia by any chemical means.... I have seen them (several times) step up their reproduction almost like a cancer that spreads because it's been assaulted...... You have to be very careful with things like aptasia-x... Joes-juice... Etc... Because I can't tell you how many tanks I've seen where the owner became obsessed with killing those little buggers and ended up with a garden of them..... And when they go into super reproduction mode.... It's not nice.... You'll find yourself with those tiny aptasia that grow in the substrate... Thousands.... And when you try anything on a tank with thousands of ticked off aptasia.... I've seen them release their toxins straight into the water making the fish look like someone used sandpaper on them...... Not to mention the wonderful stinging sensation all over my arms...... Just be careful.... And remember that natural solutions are ALWAYS better. Use nature against nature. It is a great philosophy when approaching just about anything in reefing, and will lead to a very successful reef tank.
Hope this helps .... Good luck... Aptasia is probably one of the toughest battles you'll face on the hobby....... But everyone who is successful in keeping great tanks has had to face them and defeat them and one point.... Sometimes two.... Even 3...... Good luck and please share what works for you so we can all take notes..... There's always something new to learn.