aiptasia--death by drying?

[catdoc]

My fuge is overrun with aiptasia. Unfortunately, kalk and Joe's juice just isn't keeping up. I'm ordering some berghia to address the problem in the display tank. Tonight, I drained my barebottom fuge and scraped the walls once it was drained. Tomorrow, I think I'll douse it with some HOT freshwater to kill off whatever may have survived (leaving the lights on overnight, thinking that'll do some baking for me). Give it a couple more rinses, let it dry for a day or two. Think that'll kill off the buggers in there? I want to be sure they're dead in there before I put it back online.

I have another (above-tank) fuge that I'm keeping intact so my pods should do fine. Death to aiptasia!!

 

[catdoc]

So, does anyone know the answer to this? I've scrubbed the tank, added 2 GALLONS of vinegar to it and let that sit for an hour, then scrubbed some more. I have thrown out all of my chaeto, pulled out the few pieces of LR that were in there (they're in a bucket for now), and now the tank has been wiped down completely dry. I found many dead/wilted aiptasia (including little bitty baby ones), don't see any left now.

So with it completely, bone dry, is there any chance that any residual tissue could still be viable? It seems unlikely but as nasty as the little boogers are, it wouldn't surprise me if they can spew eggs that remain viable after drying, burning, or nuclear attack.

 

[ahullsb]

bump

 

[jmkins]

I had no luck with berghia in my display, guess I have to many aips. If I were you I would put a thin film of kalk paste on the walls for a few minutes, or fill it with a concentrated kalk solution for a couple of hours.

 

[Reefbox]

Berghia will definetely eat the aiptasia but when the berghia cant find anymore aiptasia the berghia will starve and die. if there is any aiptasia that was missed the aip will grow back.

You could buy more berghia later or breed the originals in a small, small tank so they breed constantly and faster.

Aiptasia is hard to kill or is hard work to remove by any other method.
I have an aiptasia only production tank setup now(for berghia production) and i reproduce aiptasia by smearing them around and chopping them all up. They are resilient.


Berghia will do the trick if it is aiptasia you have.

Best of luck.

 

[catdoc]

I've already tried kalk and Joe's Juice. The result of those treatments were annoyed big aiptasia that started spewing baby aips. I don't really want to go with a fish, since that adds to the bioload. I figure I can give the berghia a try, then pass them along to the next guy once they've done their job.

 

[IslandCrow]

Bit of an alternate opinion here, but is aptasia in your fuge necessarily a bad thing? I've actually heard of people running fuges solely with aptasia. I don't know if it'll kill of your macro algaes, but if not, they're a great nutrient sink. Of course, I guess there's always the risk of them making their way into the display tank.

 

[vtrider]

uv sterilizer and copper banded butterfly

 

[chevegan]

omg you are so freaking lucky. Sometimes I wish I had a sump full of Aptasia. Then I could keep a Copper banded butterfly. Such a beautiful fish

 

[marmonduke]

I also have heard of people with aptasia in their sumps intentionally also. I think they are benificial...I personally would get a few peppermint shrimp if you have any in your display and leave the ones in the sump alone.

 

[Im14abeer]

I was thinking more along the lines of the last few posts. If you have the bergihia coming anyway, don't worry about the aiptasia in the sump. Maybe you would have ended up with a few more berghia to pass along.

 

[DJM32189]

I put my large frogspawn over the aiptasia and let the tentacles of each touch each other. My frogspawn won hands down with no damage to it. I never saw another aiptasia since I used this method.

 

[catdoc]

I haven't had good luck with peppermint shrimp in my tank, not sure why but they just don't last long. Maybe that explains the recent aiptasia problem though: I got tired of killing peppermints so quit replacing them.

The aiptasia are also in my display tank: growing between my zoas (and stinging them, causing them to stay closed), on the edges of my montis, on my closed brain...can't just use my frogspawn to kill them since then it'd kill my other corals too. I'd take a pic if I weren't so embarassed about the plague in there!

Aiptasia in my fuge wouldn't bother me if they'd stay there. I think that's where they started actually, but they aren't happy to just live there. No, they have to take over every part of my system with lighting. Not to mention they grow all though my chaeto. It's so frustrating to see people paying for chaeto while I'm throwing it away by the bucketful b/c of the aiptasia.

Trust me, aiptasia in a fuge doesn't STAY in the fuge. I think you'd have to have a microfilter on it to keep the baby aips from moving. I've seen the babies floating through the tank--they're so tiny, not much bigger than an amphipod. They are moving from the fuge, through my 100 gal sump, then moved via a hammerhead pump back to my display. They survive all that! Little buggers...

I do appreciate the suggestions, but I've tried them all (except for the CBB, which I don't want to do b/c he'd probably start snacking on my feather dusters and corals and he'd add to my bioload which I don't need). I'm keeping a close eye on the basement fuge for more aips, the berghia will be here on Friday and most will go into the display and a few into my above-tank fuge. I'll keep you posted.

 

[jennmac415]

I am having a problem with majano in my tank... tried kalk, joes juice... I am going to take the 2 rocks they are mostly on out 1 by 1 and torch them with one of those long lighter things....rocks should only be out of water a few mins at most...

 

[L and L]

I ordered 4 Berghia from Salty Underground and got them shipped yesterday.

I've got them in a container and I'm waiting till they breed and lay eggs. I'm going to continue to breed them and try to get a ton of them in my tank.