Possible Aiptasia in my Zoanthids

[huapayoff]

hey guys,

I just bought zoanthid colony and introduced it to my tank yesterday which i was thrilled about. but as i continued to observe my new addition, I started to see long tentacles waving around. then i noticed there where about 5-6 on the rock. at first i thought it was either feather dusters or pom pom xenias that where also on the rock. but as i continued to look, i started to wonder if they where aiptasias. i tried to take pictures of them to show my lfs but the tenticles were to small to get a good picture and i dont really know how to post pictures on this forum. the lfs that i got it from, i think he get half his corals from the wild.

so my question is if i had a zoanthid colony on a piece of rock, is it likely for aiptasia to grow right in the middle of all the zoanthids? if anyone is able to help, i would greatly appreciate it. thank you.

 

[KafudaFish]

Been there done that.

Some will recommend Joe's Juice.
Others hot water and/or kalk solution in a syringe.

I have used Mrs. Wage's pickling lime with good results.

You can get some at walmart or grocery store for a few dollars.

Grab a bamboo skewer like for the grill.
Put some dry lime in your hand, wet the skewer and roll the tip in the powder like you are making a poisoned arrow.

Figure out where the aiptasia's base is, irritate your zoas with a finger so they will close up then simply insert the tip where it was and rotate a few times. The aiptasia will slime up and you will be able to pull it out and it will stick to the skewer.

Then swish the rock in your tank water in case any lime got on your zoas and repeat if necessary.

If the tank is small do one or two per day until they are all gone so you don't spike your parameters.

 

[huapayoff]

i see so it probably is then. Im assuming the mrs. pickling lime is powder. what's the dried lime for? thanks for the verification and ill give it a try.

 

[KafudaFish]

sorry.

Yes Mrs. Wige's is pickling lime that comes in a powder that people use to pickle food like pickles.

Man I need a sandwitch now.

People also use it in place of Kalk powder because it is much cheaper like $1/lb vs. reef prices.

Again there are many products and ways of addressing the issue.

Another is superglue gel like we use for fragging.

 

[huapayoff]

i see. im thinking of using a needle considering thats how small these guys are. do you recommend if i just pull it with a tweezer and then scraping it with a sharp object along the live rock where the aiptasia is?

 

[yvonne r]

You could make many more aiptasia if you do that while in the tank . My suggestion would be is to remove all traces outside of the tank or better yet use a curved tip syringe , it has no needle just a very small plastic opening that works great. You can get them at a Veterinarians clinic.