aiptasia------- G-O-N-E

redspot321 · #1 04/03/2005, 06:18 AM

After reading the "Methods of Aiptasia Control" thread I atempted to hunt these critters in my tank. I decided to use the calcium solution of C-Balance as my weapon of choice.

I tried for months to INJECT the anemone, it did not work. As soon as I hit them with the needle the anemone retracted into the rock work. I ended up knocking over several rocks and getting upset.

What did work? Well its so simple.....I just injected less than 2cc of calcium on the surface of the aiptasia. The aiptasia would try to retract, and then EXPLODE! all of its guts started to spew out of its mouth.

VICTORY

Leviathan · #2 04/03/2005, 07:09 AM

I hope for your sake, the "EXPLODE"ing pieces dont settle and become an even bigger problem then you had to start.

I always found that a turkey baster and boiling hot water would do the trick EVERY single time without exception. This of course ONLY works if you are lucky enough to have them in a spot not near anything that would be damaged.

Best of luck!

Mr_Quality · #3 04/03/2005, 07:34 AM

I make a paste of Kalk and dab some onto aptasia. Works like a charm.

Smo · #4 04/03/2005, 07:39 AM

Let us know in a week how many aiptasia you have.
Either you have done something good, or you have done something REAL bad!
Mine are slowly dwindling away with Joe's Juice as their food source.

srmbr · #5 04/03/2005, 08:55 AM

I know this sounds bad but would this method work stopping the spread of mushrooms? My mushrooms are spreading over everything and I would rather contain to a certain area.
....Unless there is a way to remove them from the rock?

lossman · #6 04/10/2005, 06:50 AM

Do you have to take the rock out to dose the aiptasia or just leave it in the tank? Thanks

redspot321 · #7 04/10/2005, 06:53 AM

Leave it in, the extra 2-5 cc 's of CA will be good for the tank. just dont kill 10 at a time or CA levels might raise to high

Fantasy Reefer · #8 04/10/2005, 06:53 AM

leave the rock in the tank and dose directly into the aptasia.

lossman · #9 04/10/2005, 07:24 AM

This is Sally's husband Brett. We use the same Reef Central account.

Been reading that Aiptasia reproduce very rapidly. Any idea how quicky? My concern is we might have more than 10 to kill. If I don't kill them off fast enough, they'll just replenish themselves.

Anybody tried natural approaches such as Peppermint Shrimp or Bhergia?

If so, where do you folks get them, especially the Bhergia?

Thanks

Smo · #10 04/10/2005, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by lossman
This is Sally's husband Brett. We use the same Reef Central account.

Been reading that Aiptasia reproduce very rapidly. Any idea how quicky?

You ever seen that Star Trek episode "The Trouble With Tribbles"?
That's about how fast the reproduce. Been hunting down aiptasia for 6 weeks now. They just love my tank! Their reproduction rate depends on how much nutrients are in the water column, and if you disturb them or cause them to break apart.
Aiptasia in my system reproduce in 5-6 days. Not overfeeding and Phosphate levels are at 0.

Don't try to pluck them out, you will only create more of them.

I've tried peppermints, their claim-to-fame is eating aiptasia, but they don't like my aiptasia(must not be sweet enough). The nudi's you are looking for are quite expensive and will prolly die after they have eaten all the aiptasia. That is their main food source, so you need to find them another home after they have controlled your aiptasia problem.

I use Joe's Juice and find it has been the best thing since sliced bread! It's also quite fun to see them open their little mouths and swallow up the Juice as if it were a treat. Then they dissolve away.............

Your few you have should be fine if you leave them be until help arrives. Just watch out, I have had 2 of them crawl up the back glass of my tank and try to get into my HOB filter. Talk about a quick way of reproduction!

HTH

Pike · #11 04/10/2005, 10:19 AM

Boiling R/O water was keeping my population in check, but I couldn't dent their overal #'s.

I took the big leap & purchased a CBB. It ate my aiptasia! & every worm in the tank :/

BradR · #12 04/10/2005, 10:28 AM

Whats a cbb?

knight_yyz · #13 04/10/2005, 10:40 AM

I had a major outbreak and it was recommended to me to try joe's juice. They are all gone now...

tom obrecht · #14 04/10/2005, 10:53 AM

I've been in this hobby a long time and have had numerous times of aiptasia problems. My only true solution ...a copperband butterfly. I'm not doubting the above mentioned solutions, but I've tried them all with little long term solutions. If you go the butterfly route, make sure the fish is eating at the store and is in good health for they can be finiky.

Ira NZ · #15 04/10/2005, 10:56 AM

The boiling water thing hasn't worked very well for me. Well, it works if if the aptaisia isn't in a crack or other place I can't get the turkey baster directly on top of it. So, I have just as many aptasia as before I tried the boiling water a bunch of times and now have heaps of spots of bleached white coraline all over the tank!

d4a2n0k · #16 04/10/2005, 11:00 AM

Once you get Aptasia, its almost impossible to completely get rid of them. Just because you cant see them, doesnt mean they are not there. I dont have anymore that are in plain view but when I got searching at night with a flashlight, I see ones that are tucked away in crevices. I also have them in my sump, they can survive with no light.

I have a Peppermint Shrimp and a Copper Banded Butterfly that keep them under control and they do a good job. Ive lost hope in defeating them, its a lost cause.

kayakrob · #17 04/10/2005, 12:34 PM

i have a question, and didnt think i need to start a new thread. I have a single little aptasia growign on the sand aat the front of my tank, the only one in the tank, i was wondering if i can just remove it and all the surrounding sand to get rid of it. will this work??

Ira NZ · #18 04/10/2005, 12:51 PM

Yup, should work fine.

lossman · #19 04/10/2005, 06:04 PM

Where's a good place, specifically, to get Berghia at a fair price? Don't think any LFS's around here carry it.

We didn't realize what the Aiptasia are, and we have waaaaay too many to try to take care of by hand (dozens). Our rocks are large too as we have a 150 gallon tank, so really don't want to mess around pulling rocks out and soaking.

We have 3 Peppermint Shrimp, and thinking adding some Berghia (possibly a few more shrimp) might be the way to try.

Thanks

Minuteman · #20 04/10/2005, 06:07 PM

Joe's Juice works well, but it's a recurring thing. You have to continue to find and dose new aiptasia all the time. I bought 3 peppermint shrimp and it seems to have solved the problem. I'll see one small aiptasia every now and then, but it's generally gone in a day or so.

gnikoli · #21 04/12/2005, 10:32 PM

What's in Joe's Juice? I'm sure they want to keep it a secret, but the only reason I have not tried it is because I never put anything in my tank unless I know exactly what it is.

Someone on this forum suggested sodium hydroxide and I tried it; it works! Both a 1N and 2N solution (8g/100ml=2N) worked well if it is allowed to sit on the Aiptasia for 10 minutes. The orginal source for this info said a 3N solution may be needed, but be careful around anything you don't want to hurt. Be careful with any concentration for that matter, work well away from friendlies at first to get the hang of it. I just squirt a little on the bad guy and it sucks it in as it recoils into its hole. A percipitate forms so you can see exactly where you put it. If you apply it to a more or less horizontal surface with all the pumps off, it will lay there and cook the Aiptasia. Vertical surfaces and overhangs are a bit of a problem, but you can evenutally smoke em if you can get them to pull enough in. I use sodium hydroxide flake that I got for recharging DI resin. 40ml of 2N in 200gal total system raised pH by less than 0.1. Tried kalkwasser, vinegar, boiling water, Copperband, Berghia but all have limitations.

What I really need is a better protein skimmer.