how to get rid of aptasia

[shyland83]

i'm having a minor breakout of aptasia and wanted some advice on how to get rid of it. I have heard people mention injecting it with kalk, i have a syringe and kalk but dont understand the specifics. I have also heard a peppermint shrimp may take care of it. any advice is appreciated.

 

[eboonaman]

take a small amount of kalc mix it with ro water until it's a watery paste( a little on the thick side) suck it into the syringe and then eject a little into the mouth area of the aptasia. oh yeah I forgot to mention it's better if you turn off all the flow in the tank while you do this so it doesn't blow away. and make sure you dont get any on zoa's of palys if you have some. if you do blow it off them with some water current.
HTH
chuck

 

[LCGoldman]

Joe's Juice

 

[onegreenray]

lime juice in the syringe will also do it as well. use the method chuck stated.

 

[Spracklcat]

Kalk paste works well, though it will kill any coralline algae it touches too if it's strong enough. I had an aiptasia problem a bit back and I tried the kalk, which worked on individual anemones, but there were plenty of "babies" that were too small to see and treat which started popping up. The I tired the peppermint shrimp and the anemones were gone in 2 days.

I know pep. shrimp work for some people and not others--maybe it has to do with getting just the right species? Also--once your aips are gone, these guys might go after small anemones of other species if they're hungry.

Might be worth a try--they're entertaining little guys too.

Christine

 

[shyland83]

thanks for all the help. I think i'm gonna try both. i'll kill the big ones with the kalk then get a peppermint shrimp to do the rest. i just hope he doesn't have a problem with my blood red shrimp. when i get a minute i'll take care of it, thanks again for the help.

 

[eboonaman]

I had them both and they got along fine, each finds a spot in the tank which they hang out.
good luck..