aiptasia solution

[1stMarDiv]

what is the best solution to get rid of 20 or so aiptasia? I am reading conflicting approaches to the solution and don't know which is best. Most say any injection does not kill all and leaves behind remnants?

 

[Davo]

I think maybe a peppermint shrimp?

 

[seapug]

the kalk paste/injection method works well but will sometimes leave behind remnants so it might take repeat applications. I still think that's better than a peppermint shrimp that may or may not eat the Aptasia or may just prefer munching on corals.

 

[mile sq. reefer]

Berghia nudis wiped them out of my tank. Best money ever spent. When they are done, siphon them out and send them to another reefer in need. Before that I used JJ with mixed results.

 

[justsomeguy]

My local fish store recommended Peppermint shrimp, so I got two. I haven't seen either of them eat any of my aptasia. But, the good news is they haven't bothered any coral YET. If they do they are gone! I have heard someone say injecting them with boiling water. I might try that, but I'm waiting to see what the shrimp do first.

 

[Playa-1]

I inject Kalk with a syringe. So far so good. Sometimes it takes multiple injections to take one out but it's no big deal. I would suggest you get rid of them before they spread any further. I've never had a huge outbreak but it's ez to see that they could be a huge problem if left unchecked.

 

[Tate]

I usually just squirt them with concentrated kalk with a turkey baster. Sometimes they come back but most of the time this works.

 

[EllieSuz]

I had one piggy back on a new frag. I put a couple of mls of white vinegar in a medical syringe and injected it into the middle of the Aiptasia, as far down into the rock as the needle would go. It was gone overnight and still no sign of it after two weeks. Worth a try before you purchase shrimp or Kalk. One injection did the trick.

 

[HarleyDude]

A more controversial solution that I have seen work is to inject iodine in the base of the Aiptasia using a syringe. However, you don't want to get too much iodine in the system. Some agree, some disagree with iodine dosing. Personally, we dose with iodine, so a little in the system is not a big deal to me.

 

[nevolved]

I had maybe 20 aiptasia. I purchased a single peppermint. He demolished 98% of the aiptasia during the first night. I have never seen another aiptasia since he was introduced.

Nathan

 

[fatboyjoe]

I had thousands of small aptasia. two weeks ago I bought a copperband butterfly. today it took me about 5 min. to find one small aptasia hidding in a crack.

 

[diverdick]

Seems there is more than one answer for them.

Hands off = pep shrimp

Hands on = Kalk paste / joes juice - Lemon juice = didn't work for me

I have has nice results with shrimp. I believe the answer to them eating them or not might be in how hungry they are. I have found that low / no feeding for a week can bring then to the dinner plate.

 

[jdieck]

If you have that many, no chemical control will be effective, I tried every chemical method there is and they just kept on coming back, were I killed one 5 more poped up.
The final solution for me was two fold:
Pepper mints in the refugium and frag tank and a large copperband in the main tank.

IMO biological control is the only permanent solution, you have a choice between peppermints, copperband and berghia nudis.
Berghias are relatively delicate and copperbands are a difficult fish to feed and may bother clams and other stuff but peppermints are IMO the way to go unless you have a fish that will eat them.

 

[drstupid]

CBB's are great but they die. and then you realize they've been munching on aiptasia and *ing them out all over your tank and all of a sudden wham you've got aips coming out your ears because there's no more copperband eating them.

i've poured peppermint shrimp in my system, everytime i think they're all dead i'll stumble on a horde of them in the middle of the night. they'll be flitting around doing amazing things, not one of which involves eating aiptasia.

a lot of peppermint shrimp aren't the kind that eat aiptasia, just look like them, so maybe the right answer is to buy small groups of what are claimed to be peppermint shrimp from many different sources.

 

[CookieJar]

you can't go wrong with peppermints- cheap and a hands off approach. If when you change water some aptasia are in the air, it's an easy kill to inject boiling water on them.