First Aiptasia

[Cap'n]

I have an aiptasia anenome poking out of a small frag of zoos. What should I do? Joe's Juice?

[DOO-E]

joe's juice inject it with boiling water, or but a heniochus, even a CBB, or peppermint shrimp

[Quinn]

Captain are you sure it's aiptasia?

[Cap'n]

Yep.

It appears to be killing the zoo polyps immediatly surrounding it. Worried about what would happen to them with treatment.

[EmilyB]

Zoo's aren't harmed by treatment. Just feed the aiptasia directly. :biggrin:

[AJ_77]

What Deb said, plus you might have better results with ALL pumps off (at least I did)... easier to get a direct hit, and you lose less.

[bear27]

I hear a super concentrated blast of kalkwasser works as well just inject the aptasia and plewy its gone

[Bob I]

As a bit of a zookeeper, I would frag the zoos. Even a few polyps will grow into a colony in a few months. I would then discard the rock. :eek:

[Cap'n]

The zoo colony is only a frag to begin with so it may be difficult to seperate the polyps.

What type of treatment have people had experience with that has worked?

[AJ_77]

What type of treatment have people had experience with that has worked?
What, have you got me and Deb on "ignore" or something?

:confused: :biggrin:

[Bob I]

Another non chemical method that works is a Peppermint Shrimp. I have stood in awe watching a Peppermint destroy Aiptasia in a matter of seconds. This happened at Ocean Aquarium. The Peppermints might have been real hungry. :rolleyes:

[Cap'n]

What, have you got me and Deb on "ignore" or something?

Not at all AJ, it's just that you both said "direct hit" or "will not harm zoos" but didn't advise exacltly what to use. I don't use Kalk, will a strong dose of disolved calcium in a syringe work? Wouldn't boiling water be hard to inject with a plastic syringe?

I used to have peppermints but not aptasia. Won't they keep on picking at other corals, etc. once the aptasia is gone? Is it worth it for one nusiance?

Last option, anyone want to trade a coral banded butterfly for a scribbled rabbitfish? :biggrin:

[Quinn]

That's copperband butterfly, not coral banded, which is actually a shrimp. :razz:

I think most people here would discourage you from purchasing a difficult fish like a copperband just for aiptasia. Try what Alan, Deb, or Bob said, or see if you can get Berghia Verrucicornis, a nudibranch reported to eat Aiptasia spp. anemones.

[monza]

I like Bobs advice. I'd scrape the Zoo's off and toss the rock like yesterday.

Dave

[Cap'n]

That's copperband butterfly, not coral banded, which is actually a shrimp.


Ha! Evidence that re-reading a post before submitting is less effective dependant on how many beer you have! :redface:

Love the CBB (that's safer) but have never tried because of the difficulty, never a serious option for me.

I tried the calcium dose last night with no effect. I'm going for the popular vote, scrape and toss.

Thanks folks,
Cpt Coppercoralbandedbutterflyshrimp

[Cap'n]

So I picked all the poor zoos off the rock and left the aiptasia behind. I used a sculpting tool, much like you would find at a dentist's office. Got a couple strands of 6 or so zoos and a few more of 2 or 3. I have attached them to various shells and shards with elastics. Worried about how many I may have harmed, saw a lot of slimy, brown ooze that I don't think should be on the outside of the zoos. How tough are these guys? If all goes well I may have some frags to trade in a few months.

Zookeeper Bob, what do you think of my methods? Heard you have a few kinds of zoos available. I would love to get some and check out what a few mature colonies look like, maybe get some tips as well.

Thanks for the advice from everyone. I am starting to see why there is so much interest in corals.

[Bob I]

So I picked all the poor zoos off the rock and left the aiptasia behind. I used a sculpting tool, much like you would find at a dentist's office. Got a couple strands of 6 or so zoos and a few more of 2 or 3. I have attached them to various shells and shards with elastics. Worried about how many I may have harmed, saw a lot of slimy, brown ooze that I don't think should be on the outside of the zoos. How tough are these guys? If all goes well I may have some frags to trade in a few months.

Zookeeper Bob, what do you think of my methods? Heard you have a few kinds of zoos available. I would love to get some and check out what a few mature colonies look like, maybe get some tips as well.

Thanks for the advice from everyone. I am starting to see why there is so much interest in corals.

It sounds like what you did is fine. Zoos are quite tough. The only thing different I usually do is to use Loctite Gel to attach them, but that is only because I do quite a few at a time. I have done lots, but still find it a stressful experience.

I do have some zoos available. You would just have to coordinate with me as to when to come by. :mrgreen:

[danny zubot]

You asked for a successful method for clearing aptasia so here it is. Get yourself a turkey baster and boil some water. Fill the baster with the boiling water (careful as this can be somewhat painful for you.) Get as close to the aptasia as you can and spray it at a slow and steady pace. Each time you empty the baster suck up the remains of the anemone with it. you should notice the aptasia break down after 2 or 3 squirts.

It worked for me so try it and see what happens.

[AJ_77]

I have to second the boiling water approach. The ones I "Juiced" are growing back, and they each ate a good amount of the stuff... :confused:

If you have a smaller syringe than a turkey baster, you'll put less scalding water into your system, and with less risk to surrounding corals. None of the boil-injected aiptasia have come back on me. But yeah, 2 or 3 squirts and they're done.

I like the turkey-baster removal part, though. :biggrin:

[JohnM99]

I have had 3 small outbreaks, and each time got rid of them using a rapid change in pH rather than temperature - much easier, I think. I used pure vinegar in a 10 cc syringe, and injected it right into the little critters. You have to move fast, as they retract quickly - basically start emptying the syringe just before you puncture the little beasts. Then, I followed them down their hole in the rock and emptied the syringe. I also tried it once with lemon juice - but had to do it 3x before it worked. But the vinegar has a very low pH which, if injected right into them, kills them in seconds. Cheap, too. Just be careful how you dispose of the needle. I used a regular 22gauge spinal needle about 9 cm long. Any small sharp needle would do.

[Cap'n]

Thanks for all the advice. I hope that now that the "beastie" is gone I won't have any more problems. What would happen if I decided to just let the aiptasia multiply?

Today the largest group of zoos I scraped off the rock looks really good, only a few tentacles open on the smaller colonies and the smallest 2 groups are totally closed up.

[danny zubot]

To the best of my knowledge aptasia are like weeds, that spread and use up valuable territory, they will multiple until they choke the life out of your tank much like the common thistle. And they look bad.

Die aptasia Die!