Aiptasia escalating

[reefbud]

So, this Aiptasia is out of control in my tank...I tried peppermint shrimp, but was probably be too late. I certainly now wish I kept peppermints in my tank constantly from day 1.

There's too many to chemically inject, it seems. I'd rather just cycle rocks out and back in when they are clean. CAN I RELOCATE A ROCK TO A HOLDING TANK WITH NO LIGHT...I ASSUME WITHOUT LIGHT, AIPTASIA WILL DIE CORRECT?

Rotating rocks would work well for me.

Your thoughts?

Thanks

 

[bravanc]

If it was me, I would take them out and pressure wash them. Let them dry really good for a few days them re cycle them. They will still live in no light conditions. When I had problem with them I would use plain ole vinegar and inject them and they just melt away. Every time you mess with them they expel spores in the water column and just multiply. Depends on how much rock you have maybe a soak in vinegar for a few hours may work faster for you. Then a rinse and soak in RO water

 

[3drockz]

I've heard of cooking/boiling the rocks to completely get rid of them..

Also I personally used a lighter and burnt all of them (I only had a few)

 

[Joel_155]

I've heard of cooking/boiling the rocks to completely get rid of them..

Also I personally used a lighter and burnt all of them (I only had a few)

THIS IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS!!! There are many things inside LR that can be released into the air and poison you. I believe it's called paly toxic poisoning. For aiptasia a file fish worked for me. He eats all the aiptasia as they come up. I think a natural predator is a much better idea as to avoid all aiptasia in general will be difficult.

 

[Teddynola]

I highly recommend a matted filefish. I had an awful infestation, tried Aiptasia X, injecting with lemon juice and boiling water, even bought a 2 watt laser. Nothing worked. I finally got a filefish, and now I'm finally aiptasia free. Peppermint shrimp were not an option, since I have a flame hawkfish. It ate frozen mysis in qt and now in the dt. I was so discouraged with my tank, but thanks to Phillippe, I have a renewed interest. Now, I just have to get the 3-4 ft Eucinid worm out!

 

[tmz]

I would not boil live rock. Too many toxins may vaporize and harm you.

 

[tmz]

I would rotate the rocks and place them in a tank with a reliable predator like a racoon butterfly , filefish or camel back shrimp. The matted filefish is less of a threat to a reef tank generally but not always ;the others shouldn't be used in one. Aiptasia and mahjano anemones suvive very long periods without light. Some may survive even the best predators too.

Alternatively giving the rock a bleach bath apllyinga dechloinator and then allowing it to dry thoughly before reusing it will kill them. Unforunately rotation will expose the cleaned rock to new infestations.

Going froward , once you have them under control keep nuteint levels and small pariculate matter to a minimum. They love little things like baby brine shrimp etc.

 

[Eyesell]

I had one file fish in my tank that once it ate all the nasty Aiptasis it started eating frozen shrimp.

But man he did the job over everything else I tried. Had him for almost a year..:dance:

 

[reefbud]

A lot of good leads here to try. The soaking in vinegar caught my eye...are you saying I could soak in distilled white vinegar (say 50% for 3 days) and that would kill off this weed?

 

[tmz]

That kind of soak in vinegar would kill a lot of things and leave decaying organic matter.

 

[Crusinjimbo]

I had loads as well and I can tell that light denial doesn't work. I evacuated some Aptasia loaded pieces of live rock to a QT tank in the garage last December. No heat or light other than a small CFL hanging high over the tank. There are still a few alive today even through 3 month of no food or light to speak of and temps in the 50-60 degree range. They are like cockroaches! I did manage to stem the invasion in the display tank with a Berghia force of six but it has taken over 4 months. Should have tried a file fish first.

 

[Sethjamto]

I have 2 peppermints that seem to be doing a fairly good job in my tank (finally). I used to have to go in manually and inject them weekly as it was out of control, but with the 2 peppermints in there now I don't see any new ones popping up and there's only a handful around. It's obvious they are chowing them down at night over time!

 

[johnike]

Mine are finally getting under control as well. I got me a pair of Files, and 25 small Pepps from Reeftoptia for a nice price as well as manually exterminating them with Mrs.Wages sludge and a carpet syringe. Death to them!

 

[faithenfire]

depriving them of light does not kill them. and camelbacks are not aptasia killers.
take a section and inject them when you do water changes. next week kill another section.
the peppermints often like to eat smaller less established ones. and not all peppermints will eat them either

 

[slowjazz]

THIS IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS!!! There are many things inside LR that can be released into the air and poison you. I believe it's called paly toxic poisoning. For aiptasia a file fish worked for me. He eats all the aiptasia as they come up. I think a natural predator is a much better idea as to avoid all aiptasia in general will be difficult.

+1000000000000000

If your going to do something like that your better off leaving it out in the sun to dry out and die. Or better yet - chuck the rock out and buy a dead rock.
to be honest - it still will not get rid of your problem. 9 times out of 10 there are seeds all over your tank that will just grow over time.

problem with natural solutions - its a crap shoot. hit or miss. pep shrimp did nothing in my tank. (as with most people) A matted fish and/or file fish would/should be a little better, the only problem is most will also go after your coral also.

 

[Joel_155]

Mine stays away from my coral but I don't keep zoas. I imagine if 8 did he would eat them. He doesn't touch sps or lps

 

[shermanator]

I'd recommend Berghia nudibranches. They are a bit expensive, but they seem to be the only almost guaranteed way to get rid of aiptasia. I've had mine for a little over a week and they've been doing a great job cleaning up my rock. I read peppermint shrimp usually won't eat it if there is anything else at all to eat.

 

[slowjazz]

I'd recommend Berghia nudibranches. They are a bit expensive, but they seem to be the only almost guaranteed way to get rid of aiptasia. I've had mine for a little over a week and they've been doing a great job cleaning up my rock. I read peppermint shrimp usually won't eat it if there is anything else at all to eat.

I don't think they are worth it. (my 2 cents) Yes, they are prob. the best solution to get rid of them, but they will die when all aiptasia are gone. BUT.. usually there are seads still out there and the aiptasia will just come back. (or if you buy/swap corals from somewhere and have junk on them)

Nature is funny sometimes. Why have something that only eats one thing? Another example is the Harlequin Shrimp. Very cool looking shrimp. Only problem is it only eats starfish. no starfish = no shrimp

 

[lespaul339]

How many peppermint shrimp did you try? I had a bad aiptasia problem in my tank. Bought 5 peppermint shrimp and within a month they wiped it all out of my tank. It takes a little time. Don't expect to see results over night.

 

[lespaul339]

Also, make sure you don't feed the peppermint shrimp. If you feed them they probably aren't going to touch the aiptasia. But if you keep them hungry they will start eating it.