Aiptasia (sp) removal ?

[GTP Guy]

Anyone had nay luck with the lemon juice solution ? I went and bought the needle today at a whopping $0.25 and think I might give it a try.

here's the link : http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/msubpestaiptasia/a/aa061903.htm

Comments ? war stories ? anything on ridding myself of these things will be read and considered. thanks guys

[Keri]

I've used hot water (50% success)
vinegar (50% success)
peppermint shrimp (nearly 100% success, bought 2 of 'em)

But I didn't have very many to begin with.


and I am pretty sure I'm spelling "success" wrong. :biggrin:

[Electric eel]

what do the shrimp eat after the Aiptasia is gone?

[awa1979]

what do the shrimp eat after the Aiptasia is gone?

My peppermint shrimp will eat krill, plankton, brine shrimp, and mysis shrimp. When I feed they come out and collect their food.

I have 2 in my 40 and in less then 3 weeks have eradicated all the aiptasia I had and I had a fair amount. Far more success then anything else I tried and a lot less work on my part.

[GTP Guy]

I've used hot water (50% success)
vinegar (50% success)
peppermint shrimp (nearly 100% success, bought 2 of 'em)

But I didn't have very many to begin with.


and I am pretty sure I'm spelling "success" wrong. :biggrin:

I was thinking the peppermint route ... but I have a Niger trigger ... so I think they might become food ... but I'm not sure ... he seems to leave my snails alone .. although he does pick up and move my scarlet hermit every once in a while

[RuGlu6]

http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/tz-z010474/Tunze+Coral+Fix+Epoxy+-+4+oz..html

I use two part reef epoxy to plug them in to the live rock with 100% success providing i plug in the the right spot. Sometimes they pop out beside the plug, so i apply a little more.

[bignose]

I did the lemon juice method with 100% success. Mind you I didn't have many in my tank. No trace the next morning.

[reef bound]

We have a 180g with a niger trigger in it and as long as there are places for the shrimp to hide, he should be OK. We only have one peppermint shrimp as we moved him from our RSM and we never see him in the big tank during the day- we have seen his molts, but not him. We recently bought a red LED flashlight and have now seen him running around at night so we know he's still alive. Aiptasia is totally under control. (someone mentioned that if you add your new livestock AFTER you feed your trigger they shouldn't really be bothered---but I have yet to try it. We're a little cautious about that one still.)

[GTP Guy]

excellent .. I have many in my tank .. at first like all newbies it was ... OH MY GOD ANEMONE ! now it's ... argh another one :(

[Keri]

I would add the p'shrimps at night, in the dark, some ppl have said they will eat zoos but I've never had any troubles.

[reeferious]

equipments needed 9 to 18 volt battery(portable power tool battery), 18 gauge 2 strand wire, 2 alligator clips to connect wire to battery terminals, toggle switch, wooden dowel or plastic tube. expose wire ends and apart one eighth inch. jab into pests and switch current on for 2 to 3 seconds. SIZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZLE
took up this method from reefcentral and i electrocuted every single bleeping
pests in my tank well except for a green mojano and a brown and purple tipped one. i left this two alive since i find them somewhat pretty and knowing i can zap them if they run rampant again.

[parkinsn]

equipments needed 9 to 18 volt battery(portable power tool battery), 18 gauge 2 strand wire, 2 alligator clips to connect wire to battery terminals, toggle switch, wooden dowel or plastic tube. expose wire ends and apart one eighth inch. jab into pests and switch current on for 2 to 3 seconds. SIZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZLE
took up this method from reefcentral and i electrocuted every single bleeping
pests in my tank well except for a green mojano and a brown and purple tipped one. i left this two alive since i find them somewhat pretty and knowing i can zap them if they run rampant again.

Ok so i follow you for the most part, but what is the wooden dowel or plastic tube for, you wrap the wire around it to make a "poker stick"? This will not zap your inhabitants? Do you have a link for the RC thread?

[reeferious]

fyi you strap the wire alongside the rod with wire end extending 2 inch beyond which enables you to shape wire to reach any tank area, yes even inside cave. electrical current will only flow between the eighth inch exposed wire ends which are buried inside things you want nuked. i cleansed my tank 3 days ago and i have not noticed any change to inhabitants. when i have time i will go back to reefcentral and check link.

[saltwater-virgin]

I've used a kalk and water slurry administered with a needle with good success. Drop it on their mouth and they eat it up.

I also had a copperband butterfly (RIP) that did a great job.

[Johnny Reefer]

what do the shrimp eat after the Aiptasia is gone?

My peppermint shrimp will eat krill, plankton, brine shrimp, and mysis shrimp. .....
...and newly budding Aiptasia. They help keep them from coming back.

[naesco]

100% success with peppermint shrimp. Try two, acclimate them very slowly and drop them in the dark.

[baker_jeff]

Why in the dark? I picked up two the other day and put them in during the day...

[naesco]

Why in the dark? I picked up two the other day and put them in during the day...

Because even a fish that would never attack any shrimp in the wild may attack a shrimp(or a very small fish) as you drop it in your tank. The fish thinks you are feeding it.
With the lights off this won't happen and the shrimp scurries safely into the rock.

[baker_jeff]

Ah yes I see. Luckily my two little guys are doing great! :)

[my2rotties]

Peppermint shrimp are not an option for me since my large puffer would eat them in a split second. I have one shrimp but he went to my overflow and is now hiding in 120pounds of live rock in my sump.

I don't know if it is breeding season for aiptasia or what... but I suddenly have a pretty serious outbreak. Of course they are on impossible to reach places, and I know I am in trouble here.

I know I can take the rocks out, and soak them, but these little buggers hide so well I know I won't get them all. I also have so much like in my rock and I don't want any die off. I also have over 200 pounds of rock in my display... All stacked into tunnels and caves which I will never be able to get this way again if I touch it. It took six hours or more to get it like this...

What do you do when there is a big issue with this pests? I am thinking I will have to take the rock out piece by piece and hope I can get the pests with lemon juice when they pop up in some salt water in a boucket. I have the chemical which I would use outside of the tank. I have tried to nuke the odd one in the display but my fish always come up to my hand and I don't want them burned.

I notice the lemon juice in the needle has not worked on the ones I just tried to get within my reach.:sad: I keep staring at the problem, and think I have to reserve myself to more invasive and time consuming methods. What have you done?

[reeferious]

i have 6 peppermints in my tank LOL i'm an all around shrimp fan but i find they'll go after small aiptassas but not larger ones nor will they touch mojanos which used to be my major headache. last cbb i had lasted 2 weeks and just faded away(cyanide caught?) then i considered seagrass filefish which would make short work of any anemone but probably end up finishing off most of your corals. came across an article on reefcentral concerning using electrical current to fry up these pests and so i more or less built something similar and tried it out of tank on a large rock covered with mojanos and a few attached corals. i noticed current charge will kill only targeted things and not affect others next to them,very fast very efficient killing method. next day i spent around an hour going through pests in tank and am happy to say i'm now pest free and have even chose to let the prettiest ones let live. correction on power source i tried 9,12, and 18 volts power source i think you should start off with atleast a 12.

[my2rotties]

Do you have a link or website where I can find out more about this? I saw a few CBB for sale at a few LFS but after reading how they are caught, I decided to try to combat this on my own. I am getting my arse kicked since the large ones laugh at the lemon juice.

Would a quick fresh water rinse kill them? I am concerned about everything else living in the rocks though. However I think one or two rocks need more then a quick remedy at this time. I have a large colony of big aiptasia n the back side of a rock that supports all the others. I cannot reach it, but I can see them...

i have 6 peppermints in my tank LOL i'm an all around shrimp fan but i find they'll go after small aiptassas but not larger ones nor will they touch mojanos which used to be my major headache. last cbb i had lasted 2 weeks and just faded away(cyanide caught?) then i considered seagrass filefish which would make short work of any anemone but probably end up finishing off most of your corals. came across an article on reefcentral concerning using electrical current to fry up these pests and so i more or less built something similar and tried it out of tank on a large rock covered with mojanos and a few attached corals. i noticed current charge will kill only targeted things and not affect others next to them,very fast very efficient killing method. next day i spent around an hour going through pests in tank and am happy to say i'm now pest free and have even chose to let the prettiest ones let live. correction on power source i tried 9,12, and 18 volts power source i think you should start off with atleast a 12.

[reeferious]

i suppose extented freshwater soaking could kill a few along with everything else living on rock (inverts seem much less tolerant versus fish regarding freshwater). anyway just found article discussion on reefcentral. advanced topic, 2nd page, thread how to rid a tank of majanos

[my2rotties]

Thanks for the info. I decided not to do freshwater... I will do piece by piece and managed to get the big colony. Of course my rocks will never be the same now... How I managed to get them they way they were, is beyond me. I have a large coral coming home tomrrow anyways and will need to rearrange to make space for it anyways. My tank is 30" deep and although it looks cool, it sucks to do anything with it.

i suppose extented freshwater soaking could kill a few along with everything else living on rock (inverts seem much less tolerant versus fish regarding freshwater). anyway just found article discussion on reefcentral. advanced topic, 2nd page, thread how to rid a tank of majanos

[dstasiuk]

IMHO the BEST way to deal with Aiptasia is Berghias (although they don't fix the problem overnight). I had a very major problem in my 135 - started out with a couple and over the course of about 6 months ended up with literally hundreds of them everywhere. I tried Peppermints (didn't work - they wouldn't touch the bigger ones), Joe's Juice, Lemon Juice, Kalk Paste, etc. The problem with all these is you always leave some behind to reproduce.

Finally I added 4 Berghias. I didn't see them for about 3 months, and thought they had died or become fish food. Then I started to see the odd one. About a month later, I started to see more and more. At their peak, I had probably about 100 visible during the night. It was really neat to see the Aiptasia disappear a little more every night. They found their way into my sump, refugium, overflows, everywhere. Within 1 month of their becoming visible, every trace of Aiptasia was gone.

The good part about them is there is no place for the Aiptasia to hide from them - they will find it in every crevise. One of the best $50 I ever spent (bought mine from Coralscaping). Totally non-invasive to your tank, 100% successful, and no effort on the part of the Aquarist. Great combination!!!:biggrin:

[naesco]

How many berghias do you now have in your tank?

[my2rotties]

Of course I am doing research now, but wonder how toxix they are to fish. I have a BIG puffer that loves to eat things.:wink: He really limits my capability of having anything productive for my tank. He's a BAAAAAD boy, but I love him, so I work around him.

IMHO the BEST way to deal with Aiptasia is Berghias (although they don't fix the problem overnight). I had a very major problem in my 135 - started out with a couple and over the course of about 6 months ended up with literally hundreds of them everywhere. I tried Peppermints (didn't work - they wouldn't touch the bigger ones), Joe's Juice, Lemon Juice, Kalk Paste, etc. The problem with all these is you always leave some behind to reproduce.

Finally I added 4 Berghias. I didn't see them for about 3 months, and thought they had died or become fish food. Then I started to see the odd one. About a month later, I started to see more and more. At their peak, I had probably about 100 visible during the night. It was really neat to see the Aiptasia disappear a little more every night. They found their way into my sump, refugium, overflows, everywhere. Within 1 month of their becoming visible, every trace of Aiptasia was gone.

The good part about them is there is no place for the Aiptasia to hide from them - they will find it in every crevise. One of the best $50 I ever spent (bought mine from Coralscaping). Totally non-invasive to your tank, 100% successful, and no effort on the part of the Aquarist. Great combination!!!:biggrin:

[Whatigot]

sigh...
Every couple of months, I just load a syringe up with concentrated Kalk/RO water mix and decimite every little nem I cam find.
Tanks looks great for a good while, I don't consider this to be the more tiresome of the regular tank maintenance I do either.
Kinda satisfactory actually...

[dstasiuk]

How many berghias do you now have in your tank?

After the last Aiptasia disappeared (about 2 months ago), they slowly started to disappear (it's their only food source, sadly). I saw one last week, but they have now pretty much disappeared, along with any trace of Aiptasia. It amazed me how they found it all - I had some in some very difficult-to-access spots on my return plumbing - they got it all.

I don't know how toxic they would be to fish - all of my fish seemed to know that they were to be avoided - I saw my trigger, flame angel and hawkfish all pick up one, and immediately deposit it back where they found it...

[naesco]

After the last Aiptasia disappeared (about 2 months ago), they slowly started to disappear (it's their only food source, sadly). I saw one last week, but they have now pretty much disappeared, along with any trace of Aiptasia. It amazed me how they found it all - I had some in some very difficult-to-access spots on my return plumbing - they got it all.

I don't know how toxic they would be to fish - all of my fish seemed to know that they were to be avoided - I saw my trigger, flame angel and hawkfish all pick up one, and immediately deposit it back where they found it...

Than I guess it would not be the best solution for aiptasia as you had suggested.
A better soluiton would be the other options suggested that did not result in the starvation of 4 critters, eh!