Aiptasia on zoa frags

[evoracer]

In my frag tank I have two mini-colonies with aiptasia, one has one large aip the other has two smaller aips. I am worried about the treatment methods because I know the are mostly harsh chemical means, and I don't want to melt my frags. The best solution I can think of would be to QT the two frags with a few peppermint shrimp and hope they eat the aips and not the polyps. Any other zoa-safe solutions out there?

 

[leshnign]

Yea, I would try the peppermint shrimp too. I've had luck with them in the past. Aiptasia are a pain in the rear end.

 

[zoadude]

get a syringe (best is what diabetics use as you can shape the needle easily) and draw up some liquid calcium like Kent's brand and inject the aptasia with it. It will kill the aptasia but not change the water parameters. I have an aptasia problem, rather did have one, and tried this in fear of using kalk and nuking the tank or anything else and harming close-by zoanthids. I had many, many aptasia and now I think there are 3-4 left that I cannot get too but they will eventually run their course and die out with proper tank maintenance. in the meantime all my zoas are spared their sting.
Works great.

 

[evoracer]

Cool, now where can I get a syringe?

 

[zoadude]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15654961#post15654961 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by evoracer
Cool, now where can I get a syringe?

You can get regular ones from feed stores for dog/horse injections. Some states you can buy diabetic ones from pharmacy. I like to bend mine to be able to get into the aptasia easier. I have never tried it but you could probably bend the smallest for dogs, rabies vac., I am sure. Just makes it easier as most aptasias are at a 90 degree or more from your line of sight.

 

[evoracer]

No worries there this time, they are on frags on plugs!

 

[mfinn]

I have a butt load of aptasias on a few zoanthid colonies I have. I decided to try a different approach. I set a 14 gallon bio-cube and I'm getting 10 berghia nudibranchs this Friday.
See how that works out.

 

[zoagirl]

i had the same problem with some of my zoas,
ok you have to get the syringe and draw up some vinager and inject the aptasia directly to the mouth of it. that worked out for me i hope it works out for u too

 

[sedor]

Isn't vinegar similar to vodka dosing? If so i'd fear that adding to much to the DT might cause harmful results. Anyone care to clarify this? I'd also like to hear from anyone else using the calcium method, this one could be good.

 

[zoagirl]

i've been using vinager since i know this method works.,
of course you wont use vinager every week , like if you were dosing it, just enough to kill the aptasia.
i just use this method once in a while when i saw an aptasia coming out from the rock and works perfect for me.

 

[sedor]

Only reason I ask is because I also dose vodka and would hate to overdose on a carbon source.

 

[alovely]

I would use product called Aiptasia x it worked for me really well the aiptasia dies really quickly and didn't harm any of my corals and they never came back.

 

[sedor]

Aiptasia X is a good product. Only downside is the cost. For instance my LFS sells a tiny bottle of Aiptasia X for around $20 and I have gone through an entire bottle and still haven't rid my system of the little pests. Can anyone else agree with the liquid calcium comment made earlier? Maybe i'll just have to try it out.

 

[MYDRAAL]

Kalk (calcium) will work as well but just like vinegar you'll have to do it in increments or it will effect your water chemistry. Aiptasia-x doesn't have that drawback. It's also cheaper (shipping included) to order online from ebay for instance than to buy at at the lfs.

 

[MYDRAAL]

Tap the zoas around it/them so they close up and feed as directed to the aiptasia. Even if you get some on the stems of your zoas it won't hurt them. Berghia work best to get them under control but unfortunately die afterwards from lack of a food source. They're also pricey because of overnight shipping. However, if you get to the breaking point (hundreds of aiptasia all over your tank), you may want to consider that as an option.

 

[alovely]

wow really I only used a little of the product and it cleared it out real quick but I only had like 4 in the nano and 8 or so in the main

 

[dragonland08]

dang lag

 

[dragonland08]

double post

 

[NANOYED]

I had an aiptasia problem and bought a $2 peppermint to eat them, I lost about $150 of polyps in about 2 days and still had the aiptasia problem! The Aiptasia-x took care of my problem after all that. It's worth the money!!

 

[Shearos]

I had Aiptasia on rock I had bought from a tank setup. (no light) I have been watching them for two months. Bought Peppermint shrimp. They didn't do anything, bought another three and they got some of the Aiptasia, then they grew back where they were, triple in number.
Bought the Aiptasia X last night. Boom....Gone. :celeb3: Missed one baby. That will be gone tomorrow. Easy, didn't affect water, didn't affect all ten colonies of zoas on the floor of the tank. Couldn't be happier. Was really neat watching them implode as the bottle says. 6 shrimp $20.... one bottle Aiptasia x $14.99.

My experience.