Aptasia killing me

[GreatPollardo]

here is a link to what I felt was a VERY informitive post about aip irradication. He seems to know a thing or two, so I thought I might run it past you guys and you can let me know what you think.

http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/6279/LettersAiptasia.html

I posted tonight on another post on this site, that Berghia are probably going to be best for my situation. I'll let you all know how it goes!

 

[o0jmadr0x0o]

i tried everything for 2 yrs, copperband worked for me, only problem is aptasia is all he eats, i cant get him to take frozen food. i have been pulling rocks out of my fuge with aptasia on it and putting it in my display to feed him but im running out

 

[sunnyday]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15532576#post15532576 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by o0jmadr0x0o
i tried everything for 2 yrs, copperband worked for me, only problem is aptasia is all he eats, i cant get him to take frozen food. i have been pulling rocks out of my fuge with aptasia on it and putting it in my display to feed him but im running out

Check with your local clubs or LFS sometimes they can be helpful in free (or at least very cheap) LR infested with aiptasia. They don't want them in their tanks either.

 

[ERICinFL]

Peppermint Shrimp worked for me as well. I haven't seen a single Aptasia in five years.

 

[Popeye]

I tried Kalc past, Joe's juice, everything I could think of including gluing them into their holes, but they kept coming back. They're really hard to get with a syringe, I think. Got some peppermint shrimp, they devoured them all without a trace left. Eventually the shrimp died (old age) but I never had Aptasia again.

 

[merek123]

I cured mine with a combination of aiptasia X and a few peppermint shrimp but after reading GreatP's link I'd have to go the route of the Berghia Nudibranches.

 

[Squidhead9]

I get some hot water (just shy of boiling) and with a turkey baster slowly squirt it onto the little devils. They pull in adn then you can slowly squirt the hot water right into their crevice. Sometimes one will come back but I've never had to do one more than twice. If you do it slowly the water cools before it gets to anything else and that way you aren't putting chemicals in the water.

 

[danreefman]

the boiling water trick works very well

 

[bjmycroft]

>>squirt the hot water right into their crevice

that brought tears to my eyes right there...

My 400g tank is just overrun with Aptasia - ive 10 peppermint shrimp on order - Ive tried kalk paste, boiling wayet , Joes Juice and they all do the same thing; Single Aptasia dies, more pop up elsewhere - I lost the battle on my tank so ive got big hopes for the peppermints....

I think I might do some full tank shots plus then do a thread showing progress of specific rocks over time to see if theres any improvement in another thread if people are interested?

It might be a long slow thread though.
-B

 

[dalee26]

Boiled Them

Boiled Them

I tried Peppermint shrimp but I don't think they were the right ones. My tank was infested with hundreds of them in a 36 gallon corner tank. I got Berghia nudie branches (4 for $60) and my heater went faulty and I never noticed, so it killed everything but a few snails, hermit crabs, and of course the Aptasia survived. I just gave up and decided to take the tank down and boil the rock so that it would be free of everything and I will add it to my 120 gallon tank. I fought the battle for over a year and they just beat me with their numbers and basically just formed an army. The boiling for 10 minutes per rock in SUPER salty water should kill them off, right? God, I hope so because it took a while to do.

 

[Canarygirl]

I did the berghia thing but they haven't worked for me AT ALL. I put several in each of two tanks back in early May and neither tank has had a reduction in aptaisia.

 

[kevantheman35]

aptasia x absolutely does not work. They always come back and multiply within 4-5 days

 

[SirVilhelm]

I keep saying this, Peppermint shrimp. They work, I've seen it over and over and over again.

For those who said the peppermint shrimp didn't work for them. Are you sure you had a peppermint? I have seen several LFS sell camelbacks as peppermints, but camelbacks will not eat aptasia.


http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/shrimpcare/p/prpeppermintshr.htm

 

[cagri]

First of all you want to make sure it is aptasia, there are many similar looking small rock anemones that can easily be mistaken for aptasia. Pepermint shrimp will only eat true aptasia and will not touch mojano and other small aptasia looking rock anemones. If you post pictures we can verify.

 

[SirVilhelm]

Good call on the mojano, never would have though of that

 

[HornetMech242]

I did an attack from the front with some joes juice and then suprised them with a flankattack with the butterfly. have not seen one in a month now.

 

[austinh]

i got rid of mine with aptasia-x, followed by peps

 

[massman]

Kleinii butterflies are also a good option. (if the tank is suitably sized)

 

[Eric45]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15474174#post15474174 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by xvinnyax74
I Use Aiptasia X, and have heard of people using Joe's Juice.

Aiptasia X is reef safe and easy to use. Give it a shot.. It eats the stuff and it just dies and dissapears. I no longer have Aiptasia at all...

So that was about a month ago. Have any aiptasia returned. I've been using aiptasia-x now for a few months and they disappear, but it seems like many more come back a few weeks later. I'm not sure it really works at all.

 

[Canarygirl]

I think the trick may be to supplement Aptaisia X with peppermint shrimps, as they tend to prefer eating young/small aptaisia in my experience.