Aptasia in Refugium?

[Pawky]

My display tank is aptasia free but I noticed some aptasia growing on some live rock in my refugium.

1. Is the aptasia in the fuge going to hurt anything? Will it eat copepods?
2. Will the aptasia spread to my display tank?

 

[selektone]

1. I don't think they will hurt anything, however, I'm pretty sure they will eat whatever stray into their tentacles/mouth area.
2. Most likely they will eventually find their way into your display tank. I have the same issue and I eventually noticed a few showing up in my display tank. Luckily my peppermint shrimp are pretty good at cleaning them up and any that my shrimp don't take care of I zap with Joe's Juice.

They are not really a problem until you have a large amount of them and without natural predators they can spread to large numbers.

 

[Don-Coraleone]

yeah there ia a possibility it could spread into the main setup. i would throw a couple peppermint shrimp in the fuge and that should take care of them.

 

[chimmike]

looks like I'll have to do the same thing. little tiny aiptaisia on the glass in my fuge. I've got a pep shrimp in the display and the display is aip-free, has been for a long while.

 

[will16]

They will spread. I have even found aiptasia inside of my phosban reactor!

 

[Alaskan Reefer]

They will find their way into the main tank, and will eat anything they can grab -- plus they spread like wildfire once they get established in the main tank. Hit them with some vinegar, kalk paste, or peppermint shrimp -- or all three, and eradicate them as best you can. The peppermints are ideal for long term control.