Scourge...aiptasia

[phenom5]

Hey guys,

So my tank is doing okay, SPS coloring up and growing just fine TBH. But I let some aiptasia get a foothold in my tank, and now I am paying the price. I was a little too laid back when they first showed up. I had aiptasia in a previous tank, and some peppermints and some Joe's Juice took care of them in short order.

Now I have a bit of a plague. I have tired:

Peppermints - no luck and they slowly disappeared.
Aiptasia X - Just seems to have ****ed them off, and made them spread.
Majano Wand - see above.
Kalk paste - see above.
Berghia Nudis - they went in on 3/15, and I have seen no sign of them since, and no sign of the aiptasia numbers going down.


I am open to any and all suggestions. The tank has been up for 3.5 years, so I have a fair bit of growth on my corals, and I would hate to have to break it down, but damn...these little bastards are ****ing me off.

Considering a new set of peppermints or maybe a matted file fish. I am a little hesitant on the file fish b/c I have heard/ read they will go after corals too.

Any and all suggestions are welcome. I have entertained breaking the tank down, and have talked to some local guys about selling it off. I don't not want to have a tank, but I am just frustrated with these little devil anemones.

 

[Crooked Reef]

Filefish supposedly work great. I added one and I didn’t survive very long. It was a small one and I found it sucked to the side of an mp40. I did see it eat one aiptasia when I first put it in though. The good thing about them is that they are easy to catch if they start after your corals. Berghia could take 6-8 weeks before you notice anything and a few months to work completely. They really start to work after they have bred a few generations. When there are a hundred small ones in your tank the aiptasia will start to disappear. The issue with Berghia is that they are nocturnal. You won’t see them until the aiptasia are mostly gone. Also they will be eaten by wrasses and also peppermint shrimp. If you still had any peppermint shrimp in the tank they may have eaten the nudibranchs. I had no luck with aiptasia x. I finally have them mostly under control by adding four new peppermint shrimp. I went from about 100 aiptasia to one rock that has a few big ones left on it in two weeks.

 

[fe342185]

I added 20 peppermint shrimps and it took care of my at least 5 dozen aptasias. They hid all day but saw them eating the aptasia at night using a red flashlight. Have not seen the shrimps but no aptasia either.

I now have to worry about a dozen mojanos.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mndfreeze]

Get a laser. Check youtube for aiptasia laser and look for the reefyTewreefy guy (I think thats where hes from) who recently posted a video with a newer high powerered one. He only paid like 70 bucks for it or something and it fries em.

Generally if you are cooking them correctly with the wands/lasers it should be boiling their cells and spores as well so that shouldn't be an issue. You are probably just seeing them spreading like they would even if you weren't touching them.

Cut your nutrients down also.

 

[OrionN]

Add a Copper-banded butterfly. Beautiful fish and keep your DT free of Aptasia. At least several of mine did.

 

[rfgonzo]

Filefish has alway been my go to. They have worked for me many times. I never seen filefish going after any of my coral. They also love eating Mysis shrimp.

 

[phenom5]

Filefish supposedly work great. I added one and I didn't survive very long. It was a small one and I found it sucked to the side of an mp40. I did see it eat one aiptasia when I first put it in though. The good thing about them is that they are easy to catch if they start after your corals. Berghia could take 6-8 weeks before you notice anything and a few months to work completely. They really start to work after they have bred a few generations. When there are a hundred small ones in your tank the aiptasia will start to disappear. The issue with Berghia is that they are nocturnal. You won't see them until the aiptasia are mostly gone. Also they will be eaten by wrasses and also peppermint shrimp. If you still had any peppermint shrimp in the tank they may have eaten the nudibranchs. I had no luck with aiptasia x. I finally have them mostly under control by adding four new peppermint shrimp. I went from about 100 aiptasia to one rock that has a few big ones left on it in two weeks.

I am definitely going to give the berghia more time before I try something else. I am fairly certain that there are no peppermints left in the tank. No Wrasses currently.

I added 20 peppermint shrimps and it took care of my at least 5 dozen aptasias. They hid all day but saw them eating the aptasia at night using a red flashlight. Have not seen the shrimps but no aptasia either.

I now have to worry about a dozen mojanos.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Where are the peppermints from? Local, or online?

Get a laser. Check youtube for aiptasia laser and look for the reefyTewreefy guy (I think thats where hes from) who recently posted a video with a newer high powerered one. He only paid like 70 bucks for it or something and it fries em.

Generally if you are cooking them correctly with the wands/lasers it should be boiling their cells and spores as well so that shouldn't be an issue. You are probably just seeing them spreading like they would even if you weren't touching them.

Cut your nutrients down also.

I've seen the lasers. Honestly, I haven't tried it because I don't want to inadvertently blind one of my dogs or my wife...probably not too much danger of that, but...

Risk of bouncing the laser off of the glass? Highly unlikely? Likely? High likely?

Add a Copper-banded butterfly. Beautiful fish and keep your DT free of Aptasia. At least several of mine did.

Considered a CBB before I purchased the berghia.

Filefish has alway been my go to. They have worked for me many times. I never seen filefish going after any of my coral. They also love eating Mysis shrimp.

Thanks for the input. Definitely considering one.

 

[devimik]

I tried peppermint shrimp, berghias, aiptasia X, majano wand. Aiptasia X and the Majano wand are good for a few aiptasia, but when you let it get out of control, like I did, the filefish was the best solution. I still have the filefish, but no more aiptasia. So far, he hasn't touched my corals. I don't have any SPS, just soft corals though.

 

[kmbyrnes]

I tried Berghia will no luck.
Had a CBB work in one tank. Beautiful but can be finicky.
Filefish worked well.
Then I had an explosion in new tank and what finally work for me was kalk and persistence. Every few days, over months. I saw none for years.
Then I got sick and was unable to maintain my tank for 2 months. I now see a few aiptasia. Kalk time again.

 

[jd371]

I've got a plague in my tank too. In my case I think it was the Aptasia-X that caused them to spread. It worked fine on the big ones that were out in the open and was able to get the whole thing, but the smaller ones in the holes and crevices not so much and they spread, now I have a plague of them in my tank... there everywhere!
I did try peppermint but they were eaten by my Wrasse. I believe my Copper Band might have eaten some at first but has stopped now. I added some Berghia a couple of weeks ago and I'm crossing my fingers. I'm not worried about the Wrasse eating them because my Melanurus is buried in the sand long before the lights go out and the Berghia come out to feed. I only added 10 for my 75g as instructed by the vendor, but I'm thinking of adding more in a couple of weeks. If I don't see any changes by this summer, I'll consider getting a Filefish and trying that.

 

[ca1ore]

The various point remedies really only work if you have a few aiptasia/majanos. Once they proliferate, a biological solution is required. I find large angels to be the most foolproof, though they come with attendant disadvantages. I have used regal, asfur and emperor to great success, though they will eat most fleshly LPs and zooanthids. Wrasses make peppermint shrimp and nudies a non-starter for me, and the CBB is just too delicate and will not thrive in my system. Have never tried a filefish.

 

[rhiggsbear]

I had/have a few (6 to 8) and have been zapping them with a laser. I cooked one today and just when I finished, my red brittle star when in and ate what was left.

Yummmmm, cooked aiptasia

 

[mndfreeze]

I am definitely going to give the berghia more time before I try something else. I am fairly certain that there are no peppermints left in the tank. No Wrasses currently.



Where are the peppermints from? Local, or online?



I've seen the lasers. Honestly, I haven't tried it because I don't want to inadvertently blind one of my dogs or my wife...probably not too much danger of that, but...

Risk of bouncing the laser off of the glass? Highly unlikely? Likely? High likely?



Considered a CBB before I purchased the berghia.



Thanks for the input. Definitely considering one.

The chance of reflection blinding someone else is pretty much zero unless you're actively TRYING to do it, and even then it would be insanely hard lol.

They do come with safety glasses for you to wear while doing it and you could always buy others if you wanted. Reflections also lose a lot of power. It's not really an issue tbh any more then any other tool in your garage is and has risks.