any new methods for getting rid of aptasia???

In Europe Acreichthys tomentosus is getting very popular as a biological solution against aiptasia the are more effective then the Chelmon's They are reefsafe with SPS but not with LPS and softies when there are no aiptasia's left!

435.jpg



http://www.meerwasser-lexikon.de/de/10/435/Acreichthys/tomentosus.htm
 
A dip in ice water (5 min) will usually cause them to fall off, or in severe cases a night in the freezer will rid the rock of Aiptasia spp. for good, while still preserving some of the nitryfying bacteria.

But as mentioned above conventional methods: peppermints, C. rostratus, and a good ol' syringe with vinegar or kalk (or Tabasco if you really want them to suffer) work well too!
 
personally i used vinegar in a syringe, and it works great. Shoot em up, suck em out. (at least on a large one, the small ones just dissolve)
 
Along with everyone else I have tried it all to no avail. :uzi: Joes Juice seemed to act like fertilizer!! You inject it and think its gone then more pop up. Like mentioned above my CBB was a miss as well as several of my Peppermint's. Tried the hot water, they shrink up and then they are impossible to siphon out. I know if any part of the aptasia is left you will end up with more sooner or later! I think its time for a tank tear-down and re-start!!! :furious:
 
I dont think it is such a serious problem that requires to tear down the tank. Tearing down the tank is not a solution. Many have done that and have had aptaisia come back for one reason or the other.
 
i have some aptasia myself. just dropped ( er acclimated a peppermint ) and he has yet to touch the stuff. he looked at it for a moment or two than moved on.. hope that shrimp its it or back to the LFS for a diffrent one!
 
where do you guys get your syringes and needles? I am going to have to talk to my local heroin dealer.:smokin:

Just kidding.:D
 
If you don't get rid of these, will they harm the corals? I have about a dozen in my tank and never bothered to get rid of them.
 
I feel it is better to try to deal with them when you only have 12. At some point those 12 will turn into 100 over night. It has happened to me before. The only way I have been able to keep them at bay is with a CBB. My first time it got out of hand I put a CBB in and they were gone then I sold the CBB and a year later I was infested again. Soo got another CBB and he took care of the problem in about a month. So as long as he keeps feeding on prepared food I will just keep him this time.
 
I have tried my luck w/ two CBB's and none survived. They wouldn't eat anything except live worms. So forget CBBs. I might try the joe's juice option some day and kill those suckers. They don't look that ugly in the tank. I'm just not sure if they harm corals or not.
 
If you get one from the LFS who's already eating frozen, you should have no problem. The last couple we had happily chowed down on mysis mixed with Zoechem, Formula One, and Prime Reef.

As another option, has anyone tried a green scat? I currently have one in full salinity, but no suitable tanks to test him in - he eats everything I put in there, from macroalgae to frozen shrimp, and he makes great friends with the foxfaces who are usually his tankmates. But will he nip at corals while taking out the aiptasia? Hopefully I can test it soon.
 
My luck has been less the par w/ nudis, peppermint shrimp, kalk paste, & joes juice. I have began recently using Lemon Juice and have seen great results although it can only be used in small amounts (every couple of days) and usually takes 2 sessions of application.

I THINK MY GOAL IN LIFE IS TO FIND A EASY 1 STEP PROCESS TO ELIMINATE THESE LITTLE PESTS AND DONATE ALL PROCEEDS TO ENDING CAGED MONKEYS IN RUSSIA. : )
 
Try Agua Oxigenada (Hydrogen Peroxide). Works well for me, haven't seen any aiptasia in my tank. (LRs here are oh so infested with aiptasia). Corals are not affected, unless you're dumb enough to inject h2o2 to it.

Kalk is effective but is risky especially when you have plenty of corals nearby.
 
OK, now I'm ****ed, because yesterday I bought 4 peppermint shrimps and they haven't gone anywhere close to the aptasia to eat it. This is the second time I'm trying this and no luck.
 
i guess peppermint shrimps don't read their profile and surf the net. :p peppermints not eating aiptasia are common, especially when the shrimps get used to eating other food. gets mighty expensive too. :(

lemon juice/vinegar, tried that too. no good results, even after i siphoned out the limp aiptasias.

i'd still stick to kalk or h202.
 
I guess it's up to me to test the green scat. I'll see about moving him to a system without copper tomorrow and throw some aiptasia and maybe a few stray polyps in there - see what Mr. Scat takes a taste to.
 
I tried using 5 nudi's in a 40g that was infested and it didn't work. The people who sold them to me claimed my tank was taken over too much and 5 nudis wouldn't be enough. To get rid of the problem according to what they claimed would have cost me like $200.

6 months later and 4 peps and I have been eliminating the problem. Nudi's may work in if you can put your rock, piece by piece, into a separate system and wait for weeks at a time, otherwise these things are way to fragile and slow for the claims that they make. Of course the people selling them will not tell you that until after you've bought them and continue to have problems. At least that has been my experience
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9297110#post9297110 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by FSOL
OK, now I'm ****ed, because yesterday I bought 4 peppermint shrimps and they haven't gone anywhere close to the aptasia to eat it. This is the second time I'm trying this and no luck.
Click to expand...

try giving them more than a day man.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

kcy
What is this growing in my reef tank
Replies
7
Views
819
Vinny Kreyling
Vinny Kreyling
K
Looking to Buy Berghia Nudibranchs
Replies
2
Views
958
Kgrover
K
W
ISO Reefkeeper ALC
Replies
1
Views
336
griss
griss
K
Mandarin QT methods
Replies
2
Views
840
Dr. Reef
Dr. Reef
J
WTB: 100-200g tank (ideally starfire glass)
Replies
1
Views
1K
yoyoyoo123
yoyoyoo123
Back
Top