killing aptasia

S

snookfish

New member
o.k. let me hear all of the sure fire ways to get rid of the little buggers. OR if anyone has or knows where I could get Berghia nudibranches for trade/cheap.(I mean REAL cheap).

BTW I already have a "peppermint" shrimp, but from my little bit of research online, I think it's more of the camelback variety.
 
Get a plastic syringe from a Salifert test kit or any where else you can find a syringe...
Mix up some Kalk into a runny paste. Fill the syringe and stab it into the Aptasias mouth - inject a drop of Kalk and watch it desintegrate. Be careful not to let the kalk land on your polyp/zoas or mushrooms.

It doesnt take long and they will be gone for good. Happy Aptasia hunting...
 
Does the syringe option work with out a needle? I always used a diabetic syringe with needle and actually try to inject the kalk paste into the aptesia. Does it work fine only using a syringe?
 
Needle is best. Some Salifert tests have a syrynge with a plastic needle type extension.

You can glob it on top but it might grow back. Best sure shot method is to inject the kalk right inside the Aptasia.
 
make it easy and cheap and fill it up with boiled water. instant results and wont hurt anything other then whats you directly squirt it on. put it right on the aptasia
 
Oceana,

Thanks. I will have to try the boiled water. That way I can re-use my needles. I always feel strange buying needles at the drug store.
(-:

Thanks,
Chris
 
Another option is Joes Juice. Its pretty in-expensive and seems to be effective. I have tried almost everything and this seems to be one of the best options.......

Good Luck. I fought the battle for a while before I could control it.....
 
If you can inject an aiptasia before it disappears in the rock you should be doing surgery while flying a fighter jet. Aiptasia is faster than our reflexes and I doublt anyone can actually "inject" anything into an aiptasia. ;)

When I tried boiling water it was tepid and worthless after the first attempt at killing them. If you only have one aiptasia I guess that's not a problem.

Joes Juice is kalk with another ingredient so it could be patented. Check the patent records and you'll find the formula.

I use a kalk slurry and a syringe without a needle. You can get the syringes free from a CVS pharmacy, they give them away for giving meds to children. Suck up the kalk in the syring and release it just above the aiptasia so it settles on the aiptasia before it retracts. Don't shoot it hard, a slow release works best to have it engulf the aiptasia. Once the aiptasia is covered disperse the kalk with a wave of the hand to dissolve the kalk in the water. It takes practice but the kill rate is over 90% with this approach.
 
Sorry to say that true peppermints worked for me! Btw I dont know how cheap they are but Finz in Tampa has Berghia Nudis.
 
Agu,

What type of Aptasia do you have? WOOOW! I have successfull injected every stalk I ever tried to get. My kill rate is 100%.

They feel the needle and think its food so they try to open up and grasp it. Perfecting the target for injection... Stab!!!

The talented part comes in a fast but limited tap of the plunger to inject a drop and not a stream that covers every thing. A heavy plunger action can cause an eruption as it bursts the stalk open.

Sorry for defying your experience Agu. I never had any problem stabbing an Aptasia, especially since they react by opening up at first. If you pour on a glob of Kalk, you risk it drifting and dripping onto other coral. Plus you get a big white pile of kalk on your rocks that takes weeks to dissolve. The reason you feel a 90% kill rate is probably because there are times that pouring a glob burns off their tentacles but doesnt kill the stalk. A week later the stalk reappears. This is especially true if the base of the stalk is underneath an unaccessable area of rock. Injection takes it to the base and finishes the job in one shot.

I have injected Aptasia that was smack in the middle of a large patch of your green zoas. The surrounding zoas closed up at first and I thought I wiped them out. Within a week the zoas reopened and the cluster began returing to normal. Precision targeting and a light plunger action!
 
Just a thought, Agu, on our differing experiences.

Maybe its the plastic needle I use that they dont detect. They might react to the metalic needle by retracting. I never tried a metal needle because I didnt know how to get one.

Saliferts KH/Alk test has a syrynge with a plastic needle like extension. Thats my preferred weapon.
 
Well I tried the boiling water as I have yet to get ahold of any needles plactic or metal. The boiling water worked on the biggest one (approx. 1 1/2 inches across) and a group of small ones. I still have 3 more left to kill. It appears that after 2 weeks now, that the boiling water worked on MOST of the aptasia. But one smaller one seems to still be around. I did that one last so the water wasn't as hot.( I made 3 trips to the stove). I will undoubtedly be making more trips to the drug store so next time I will get a needle and let you know what happens.
 
Just came here to read and get ideas. I didn't have any kalk but I used Purple Up instead with a salifert "needle." Worked great, the little bastard dissolved on contact. :)
 
I just used the last of my Joes juice last week and they are back only missing a few tenticles.ARRRRG

Next I"m going to mix up some kalk and water into a thick paste, take a pea size ball and shove it on/in the hole they live in smoth it over, it will form a crust that will last for a few days and they are gone. It has worked for me in the past.
 
I had some in one of my tanks (Actually A LOT) I put my peppermint shrimp in and by next morning they where all gone. I have not seen one yet.

Mike
 
I had a pretty bad case of aptasia in a 20 gal reef(they were everywhere). After trying everything else I bought 6 true peppermint shrimp and they did the job very well and I haven't seen a single aptasia since (over 4 years).
 
Just started seeing aiptasia in one of my tanks, several of which were in close proximity to corals. Couldn't kalk them without damaging the corals. A single peppermint wiped out all visible aiptasia in three days.


fwiw,
 
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