Leave it or deal with it now??

L

LuciDog

New member
I started cycling my tank only 2 days ago. Things are moving along just fine from what I see, but... Pretty sure I have aptasia growing out of some LR I just bought.

I don't want to mess with the cycle, but I don't want this getting out of hand.
What would you recommend?
 
I personally would take care of it now. what is the worst that can happen your cycle gets extended a little bit. If your rock is stacked then I would remove the rock and use a bic lighter on the little suckers.

There a many remedies from boiling water, kalk paste, lemon juice, epoxy or superglue over it and many commercially available pastes.
 
If that's the only aiptasia you have, sure, take the rock out and hit it with hot water, but if not the only, don't sweat it. If aiptasia gets out of hand, a small crew of peppermint shrimp will deal with it.
 
I've found quite a few hitch hikers so far. Brittle stars, muscles, a couple (what I think) mushrooms, some hermit crabs. It's pretty cool.

This is the suspect...
 
Oh and it moves. I took that pic last night. It's about 2-3" today from where it was last night.

It's not the only patch. There is another patch inside my largest piece of rock. I would really prefer not to remove the rock.
 
The anemone will probably die as ammonia and nitrite levels spike as a result of your tank cycling. However, the cool, living polyp, stars, hermits and other hitch hikers will probably succumb to the same outcome.
 
Get it while you can. They like to live with zoas and will make them close up leaving you with an ugly aptasia.
Im dealing with aptasia now and its a pain.
 
Kill it. With fire, lasers, boiling water, acid, whatever.
I had one come in and then for a month or so little guys popped up here and there. They are easy to get by just plopping a glob of kalk paste on top. Eventually it quit and all is well. I like controlling what little I can in the tank, I'd rather keep them out personally.
 
Boiling water works well and doesn't cost $$. You'll have to hit the big ones 2 or 3 times with a 50cc syringe and rigid airline tubing. Then you can suck up the corpse. They even grow from a single cell if you leave it in the aquarium so don't scrape them off with a sharp object; they'll just spread faster.
 
I think it's dying on its own from being subjected to the cycle. It does not look pleased. I'm going to wait a few days and see what happens.
 
Yuck!

Like they say, if you see one, you have more.

I'd see what it did during the cycle. Toss in some peps or berghia nudibranch if you really need it gone.
 
Medical syringe, hot water, sodium hydroxide.
50/50 solution inject .5 ml very safe and they will never return.
 
2004 Post:
OK, here is my sure fire way, 100% success rate, never to return again method.

Use a saturated solution of Sodium Hydroxide (Drain Away, Draino, whatever you like to call it) and water. Using a syringe, squirt about 0.5 mL into the mouth of each aiptasia. This will kill even the stubborn foot tissue.

I initially used kalk paste like pies, by found that the success rate wasn't that great. Sodium Hydroxide is much more soluble than Calcium Hydroxide, and is more alkaline, completely nuking the aiptasia.

Again don't dose too much at one time. It is not harmful to your reef, unless you directly squirt it onto corals. Just a warning that Sodium Hydroxide will cause sever chemical burns if handled, you can tell if you have it on your hands 'cause they will feel "soapy" and slippery. If you feel your hands becoming slippery, wash with a LOT of cold water. Preferably wear gloves when handling.

As dangerous as the chemical sounds, it is really quite safe for your reef.

Draino is surprisingly pure sodium hydroxide, Red Devil Lye is best and is really no more dangerous to your tank than calcium hydroxide (kalk). Any tank with a reasonable alkalinity (greater than 2.6) should have no problems adding it. The hydroxide ion reacts relativly quickly with dissolved carbon dioxide producing, there are also other mechanisms for the neutralisation of the free hydroxide. Which reaction is most significant is determined by the pH.

2(OH)- + 2CO2 ---> H20 + 2(CO3)2-

The only difference between this and the kalk method is the spectator ion (Ca2+ as opposed to Na+).
Kalk will do the same thing to your hand as sodium hydroxide, at a much much slower rate.

If anything this method is easier on the fish, I had problems with fish eating, or trying to eat the white kalk paste. I for one wouldn't like a mouth full of kalk. The sodium hydroxide method is much safer in that it is completely soluble, such that any solution which doesn't make it into the aiptasia, is quikly netralised by surrounding water by the above reaction, and no solid remains to be eaten by fish.
 
When the tank cycled toss in two peppermint shrimp .. Just do NOT GET Yellow polyps Coral.. once aptasia is gone they will become fair game food..
 
Tspors58 said:
2004 Post:
OK, here is my sure fire way, 100% success rate, never to return again method.

Use a saturated solution of Sodium Hydroxide (Drain Away, Draino, whatever you like to call it) and water. Using a syringe, squirt about 0.5 mL into the mouth of each aiptasia. This will kill even the stubborn foot tissue.

I initially used kalk paste like pies, by found that the success rate wasn't that great. Sodium Hydroxide is much more soluble than Calcium Hydroxide, and is more alkaline, completely nuking the aiptasia.

Again don't dose too much at one time. It is not harmful to your reef, unless you directly squirt it onto corals. Just a warning that Sodium Hydroxide will cause sever chemical burns if handled, you can tell if you have it on your hands 'cause they will feel "soapy" and slippery. If you feel your hands becoming slippery, wash with a LOT of cold water. Preferably wear gloves when handling.

As dangerous as the chemical sounds, it is really quite safe for your reef.

Draino is surprisingly pure sodium hydroxide, Red Devil Lye is best and is really no more dangerous to your tank than calcium hydroxide (kalk). Any tank with a reasonable alkalinity (greater than 2.6) should have no problems adding it. The hydroxide ion reacts relativly quickly with dissolved carbon dioxide producing, there are also other mechanisms for the neutralisation of the free hydroxide. Which reaction is most significant is determined by the pH.

2(OH)- + 2CO2 ---> H20 + 2(CO3)2-

The only difference between this and the kalk method is the spectator ion (Ca2+ as opposed to Na+).
Kalk will do the same thing to your hand as sodium hydroxide, at a much much slower rate.

If anything this method is easier on the fish, I had problems with fish eating, or trying to eat the white kalk paste. I for one wouldn't like a mouth full of kalk. The sodium hydroxide method is much safer in that it is completely soluble, such that any solution which doesn't make it into the aiptasia, is quikly netralised by surrounding water by the above reaction, and no solid remains to be eaten by fish.
Click to expand...

we call this Reef napalm....aptasia killer...!
 
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