Aiptasia

[mltnguyen]

Yesterday I bought some LR. This moring I found some new creatures on it so I started researching and found out it is aiptasia (scary). I have never had to deal with this so I am turning to you all. How would I get rid of it?

 

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Mike

[Smann]

Don't panic, pick up some Aipasia-X at the LFS and maintain it with that it works just fine.

[andy]

I haven't had much success with Aiptasia-X, or Joe's Juice, or kalk paste, or fire. Now, I remove the rock and drill/scrape the aiptasia off then rinse the rock in a bucket of salt water.

[lancecobb1]

I like to burn it off with a torch!(flame) But I like to play with fire any chance I Get!(whistle)

[jab502]

aiptasia X works to kill them very well but I have found that if they are in a tough to reach spot and you don't cover the entire portion of the aiptasia that they can release larvae which create new ones. If they are easy to reach in your tank aiptasia X works great and if not peppermint shrimp will eat them in my experience.

[impur]

I have used an entire bottle of aiptasia-X. It kills them, but if you don't cover the oral disc perfectly they will release tenticles that become new anemones. I finally bit the bullet and bought 2 peppermint shrimp. Haven't seen an aiptasia in a month now.

[Smann]

I'm not sure why joe's jiuce or aiptasia-x would "not work" that's what the product is for. I used joes jiuce for many years, Ap-x is just a newer product that doesnt harden or clog like JJ and when applied correctly will kill aiptasia upon contact. it is not intended to rid your tank of aiptasia just kill the ones you have access to as a regular maintanence item.

IMO removing and replacing rock would be stressful on a tank and as a tank matures and corals begin to grow that would not be an option anyway

[downhill_biker]

i had been battling for a while. as impur said you have to cover them perfectly. i bit the bullet, as impur did, but i bought 20 peppermint shrimp, and lets say i haven't seen them in a while. that gets kinda spendy though.

[impur]

20?????? why 20?????

[andy]

I'm not sure why joe's jiuce or aiptasia-x would "not work" that's what the product is for.

 

For me, it doesn't work because it doesn't work. Lot's of products make claims about what they can do. I've tried Aiptasia-X and Joe's Juice many times when cleaning aiptasia out of my son's tank. It certainly ticked them off, making them recede for weeks but they always came back... with friends. And yes, I followed all the instructions: turned off flow, fully covered the oral disk, etc. etc.

 

If the stuff worked for you, that's excellent -- but there are a lot of people out there who haven't had such great results. C'est la vie, I guess.

[RoseCityAquarium]

Peppermint shrimp are my first choice. We have had good luck with a blue life product called aiptasia control. Much better, in my opinion, then joe's juice. Sometimes you need to zap them a few times before they are gone though.

[wanareef]

I use to use Kalk and Vinagar, making a paste and injecting them with a hypo/needle and just watch them melt - just like the Wicked With and water I'm melting, I'm melting. You have to inject them in the mouth very slowly so they don't close up and I also inject them in the tube as well. Double dose. (threaten)

[Beckie]

I used the the product from Rose city and killed each one off the first time. Hubby looks like a boy with salt on slugs with that stuff. I do have a peppermint shrimp as well & a copperband butterfly. Neither ever touched them.

[CA2OR]

I use some stuff called aptasia control, works great, one dose is all that's needed. For me anyway. I had no luck with peppermint's, except having them in my tank.

[badguitarist]

I've recently had favorable results with a very underated fish in the marine hobby, scats. I have kept this fish many times but never in a fully marine tank. I had some live rock with aptasia and valonia on it sitting in a rubbermaid tub. I added 3 silver scats - one died within 24 hrs. probably due to transferring them from fully fresh to full salt water in about 4 hrs - and virtually all of the aptasia is gone and even some of the valonia is being eaten (this tub is in my dads orchid greenhouse so it is getting full sunlight). I found them to be a very good option as you can easily find them for under 20 bucks a pop. I was worried at first about them eating corals but since the aptasia disapeared i have added sps, brain corals, euphylia, a couple tridacnids and a few colt corals. none of them have been touched by the scats.

I also agree that joes juice and aptasia x do not work, I have just never had good results with them.

I will post some pics of my corals in the greenhouse soon I have them on my computer, im just not that good with computers so i havent figured out how to put them on the internet.

Kyle

[markdadof2]

+1 on aiptasia X. Has worked great for me as long as you get the center of the aiptasia.

[steelhead77]

+1 on the Peppermint Shrimp. I had a few pop up on some new LR. Dropped 2 (not 20) shrimp in the tank and within a couple days all of the Aiptasia was gone. The Peppermint Shrimp are still fat and happy and co-existing with my 2 Cleaner Shrimp as well. IMHO, better than chemicals. At least try them 1st.