is the best way to rid aiptasia a natural way?

[palmer373]

ive tried to rid my 75 of aiptasia for 6+ months. i started one with awesome bugger but now, after 'killing it' 3 times, it has released over 200 babies. i cant kalk them or anything and ive tried peppermint shrimp (what would you know, they are a waste of money!) and they are still here. im going to redo my tank in the next month or so (im taking out the fish and reaquascaping then restocking with new fish) and was thinking of a CBB or bristletail filefish or 2. ive read that the CCBs are hard to keep (finicky) and are hit or miss with aiptasia but do good work and bristletail filefish almost always work and arent too finicky but arent too eye appealing. im curious if these are my only options that would work to rid a few hundred aiptasia in my 75. i dont want to try any kalk paste or lemon juice, too many and too small.

 

[Pieface]

Peppermint shrimp will work if they are wild and not tank raised.

 

[psyrob]

Just to tell you my experience, I was fighting a losing battle with aiptaisa for a long time in my 65 gallon tank. Kalk and peppermints did nothing. Then I plumbed a 10 gallon tank for frags to the same sump, and over the next few months, all the aiptasia have disappeared from the main tank and are all in the 10 gallon. A Pyrrhic victory to be sure, but my display tank is free of them, as far as I can see...

 

[snorvich]

Just to tell you my experience, I was fighting a losing battle with aiptaisa for a long time in my 65 gallon tank. Kalk and peppermints did nothing. Then I plumbed a 10 gallon tank for frags to the same sump, and over the next few months, all the aiptasia have disappeared from the main tank and are all in the 10 gallon. A Pyrrhic victory to be sure, but my display tank is free of them, as far as I can see...

A victory never the less. :bounce3: Why do you think this happened?

 

[psyrob]

Not to hijack the thread, but I really don't know :crazy1:. They must have liked something about the frag tank better (the flow is lower in the frag tank than the main tank and there are no fish in there either)

 

[IFbettas]

At one point my 55 gallon quarantine set up had a lot of aiptasia in it. I added 4 peppermint shrimp, and within a few days there wasn't a single aiptasia left. Not all peppermints will eat aiptasia, so you need to get a good sized group of them. Are you positive you didn't accidentally end up with camel shrimp instead of peppermints?

Your tank is too small for a copperband. I have one in my 180, and it is constantly moving around. I couldn't imagine having it in a smaller tank. Although my coppperband ate all the small aiptasia out of my display, it will not touch any of the larger ones.

 

[iamwrasseman]

natural is the best way to go IMO . CBB or file fish are the best .

 

[Wolverine]

IME, peppermint shrimp won't help with a huge infestation, and they usually ignore large aiptasia. I do think they're helpful with keeping things under control once you have things more reasonable.

Kalk works pretty well if you do it right. I've found most people pile kalk paste on top of the anemone, which doesn't seem too effective, at least in my hands. What I like to do is give the aiptasia a piece of food, then inject at the base. By feeding it first, it can't retract into the rock, because it will hold onto the food at all costs.

 

[TripleT]

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[TripleT]

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[palmer373]

pieface- ive never heard about that or how to tell the difference.

psyrob- interesting but i cant plumb a 10g into my system.

snorvich- ditto

IFbettas- my ya i bought 3 from a LFS near me to try and they disappeared (i think they were peppermints) but i bought 3 or 4 from a LFS that i know has peps cause he posted a youtube video of them demolishing aiptasia before the rock touches the bottom. so then you recommend a filifish over a CBB for me? what if i get it tiny and then when its too large IMO i can give it to a friend who has a bigger tank?

iamwrasseman- do you recommend the CBB or filefish?

wolverine- i normally pile the kalk on the aiptasia but some i couldnt cuase the base was inverted.

TripleT- did they return?

 

[snorvich]

pieface- ive never heard about that or how to tell the difference.

psyrob- interesting but i cant plumb a 10g into my system.

snorvich- ditto

IFbettas- my ya i bought 3 from a LFS near me to try and they disappeared (i think they were peppermints) but i bought 3 or 4 from a LFS that i know has peps cause he posted a youtube video of them demolishing aiptasia before the rock touches the bottom. so then you recommend a filifish over a CBB for me? what if i get it tiny and then when its too large IMO i can give it to a friend who has a bigger tank?

iamwrasseman- do you recommend the CBB or filefish?

wolverine- i normally pile the kalk on the aiptasia but some i couldnt cuase the base was inverted.

TripleT- did they return?

Actually, I electrocute them and turn them into snot. I have tried all of the above described methods as well as Berghia nudibranchs. Electrocution is the way to go. Also, it tickles some sadistic thoughts from previous aiptasia battles.

See: http://s258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/?action=view&current=MVI_0488.flv

 

[TripleT]

TripleT- did they return?

Those aren't my videos.

But I did nuke 3 majanos in my tank with Joe's Juice a couple of weeks ago and haven't seen any more yet.

It's so quick and easy, it'll have your tank looking better in just a few minutes.

And smaller ones you miss might be more easily tackled by your peppermints.

I'm not sure how much you can use at once, so check the instructions.

 

[klepto]

IME, peppermint shrimp won't help with a huge infestation, and they usually ignore large aiptasia. I do think they're helpful with keeping things under control once you have things more reasonable.

My experiences suggest otherwise. I had a tank full of aiptasia- probably 300-400 strong. All different sizes- some with 'stalks' the diameter of a penny. I 'trained' two of ORA's peppermints onto the aiptasia by feeding a large piece of silverside to an aptasia. The pepp's love stealing food from corals.. and they had no trouble tearing the food out of even a large aiptasia. After that, they learned that the aiptasia were a plentiful food source..I simply reduced feedings and over the period of a few weeks my tank was completely cleaned of aiptasia.
I doubt all peppermints will display this behavior, but I think it is highly duplicatable.

Peppermint shrimp will work if they are wild and not tank raised.

nonsense! :hammer:

 

[ocdreefer]

I concur peppermint shrimp

 

[Wolverine]

My experiences suggest otherwise. I had a tank full of aiptasia- probably 300-400 strong. All different sizes- some with 'stalks' the diameter of a penny. I 'trained' two of ORA's peppermints onto the aiptasia by feeding a large piece of silverside to an aptasia. The pepp's love stealing food from corals.. and they had no trouble tearing the food out of even a large aiptasia. After that, they learned that the aiptasia were a plentiful food source..I simply reduced feedings and over the period of a few weeks my tank was completely cleaned of aiptasia.

Nice idea.
I guess I'll restrict my comments to untrained peppermints.

 

[John&Steph]

I have had two outbreaks and CBB worked both times just did not live after he ate it all.

 

[biger]

I had my peppermints trained so well that after all the aptasias were gone they started eating my mushrooms. Before I got the shrimp, aptasia x worked well.

 

[palmer373]

all of my peppermint shrimp disappear after 3 days tho....

 

[TripleT]

all of my peppermint shrimp disappear after 3 days tho....

Dead, or hiding?

Mine would only come out at night for the first 6 months or so.

Now they will venture out an inch or two from their hiding spaces during the day.

If they are hiding, moonlights or a red flashlight are your best bets at seeing them.

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