Seriously, how do I kill aiptasia???

[prespr]

My LFS gave me some white pebbly looking junk to rub on the rock that he sold to me with aiptasia on it. It killed it in his store. I have been trying and trying to kill this rabbit like multiplier to no avail. It just keeps coming back. It is mostly on one rock. What works for you all and why? LFS cautioned against using vinegar and he said he wasn't very impressed with Joe's Juice. If I use boiling water do I take the rock out to inject it or what? Thanks in advance, and oh I do not want to take a chance of killing my fish and my shrimp I have finally managed to keep them both alive for 2 whole months now!!!!!!!!:rollface:

[1998Nole]

I haven't been keeping saltwater fish for that long but when I had aiptasia I bought 2 peppermint shrimp . In about 2 days it was all gone and has not returned. I don't know if they are reefsafe though. I only have a FOWLR tank.

[ILikeFish]

peppermint shrimp love aiptasia. Theya re reef safe to

[sfsuphysics]

only certain peppermint shrimp like aptasia, L. wunderia (or something to that effect), and even if they are around, they'd prefer real food to aptasia anyday!

You could get a syringe of some sort and squirt kalkwater, or any toxic in concentration liquid right into though and it'll probably kill it.

[myth]

depending on the size of the rock get ride of the rock. i tryed joes juice and it killed it but with in 3 weeks the whole rock was covered so i just tossed the rock problem solved for now. so now i have a copperband waiting for their return.

[divemasterdave]

I used my probuff. When I need to buffer the water I shut off the pumps and squirt the buff right on the bums, and I have good luck. Don't over use any chem, and just keep after it. The shrimp are a good idea, but just be a little stingy with the fish food or just stop feeding for a few days(no harm done) and the shrimp will find the bums look very good!

[divemasterdave]

copper bands are a great way to off the bums, BUT they are not reef safe. As long as they are well fed they will leave the coral alone, but may nibble enough to kill the corals! You may be able to find a friend to give you one on loan till the bums are all gone.

[randy8876]

Do you think all your rock could be placed in a small tank (as small as possible) and with no flow dump in a bottle or two of Joes Juice and leave it for a couple hours?

I have some rock I just bought and have been plucking off or drilling holes through any aips I find. The rock is in a separate tank until I get it mostly cleaned up. Maybe a combo of high kalk and joes juice for a couple hours, or would this kill the rock?

[hogpark7430]

I have had good luck with a syring of kalwaser paste directly on the aiptasia.

[Vamplestat]

Joe's juice got rid of mine in a hurry!

www.joesjuice.com

[jacky]

Since it is anemone. Can we do a black out on that rock to kill it? Sorry if it sounds stupid... I'm new to salt water.

[koj11]

Joe's juice is definately the way to go. They reproduce so rapidly, you just have to be tenacious about it and stay on top of them.

[dattong]

I used turbo Calcium made by Kent to make a concentrated solution with water. It'd would be hot after mixed. Then injected directly into aiptasia. Make sure you're gonna inject a full cylinder or so for each individual aiptasia. they'll be gone definitely. If they come back, then do it again. I'm sure that they will all die. Good luck

[cich1]

http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/msubpestaiptasia/a/aa061903.htm

[Reef Junkie]

Watch the Calcium Chloride! It has quite a bit of chlorine in it, you know? Dechlorinate it before you put it in your tank. :eek1:
Joe's Juice seems to be a winner! My good buddy had some monster Aips and they're gone now. You have to give them a full Ml to kill them but this stuff seems to work. You know it looks just like Kalk? What is it?:confused:
Bill

[djackson5854]

Hello everyone...

I have been trying to inject mine with concentrated lemon juice. I have four of them and to be honest the lemon juice is not really working....I need to wait for about 2 - 3 weeks (just put in some clowns) then I will go out and buy a shrimp to clean it up.

If you have not already, you can check this link out:

http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/anemonecare/a/aa100798.htm

[NeuroLarry]

Joes juice is the best chemical method. If you want to go biologic then Berghia nudibranchs are the only sure thing. Problem is they are obliagate aiptasia feeders and once aiptasia are gone they will starve. Pepps are hit or miss IME as are CBB's. Simplest thing is to go with Joes Juice, it's safe, effective and relative inexpensive.

[prespr]

If I put the one rock in the QT to kill the aiptasia with the juice or whatever, and kill the three that are hanging on other stuff, that should do it I hope. I hate to pull the rock completely because its about ten pounds at 5$ a pound. Do any other fish eat this stuff besides CBB? Like the long nosed butterfly which is on my wish list anyway? THanks for all your input.

[NeuroLarry]

You don't need to lose the rock just nuke the aiptasia with Joes and leave it alone.

[jamison]

Joe's juice is likely the best chemical approach and is reef safe. The only down side is that you have to be able to see it and reach it to inject it. There are lots of places on your LR where that won't be possible. IMO and IME peppermints are awesome. I bought a few for $2.66 at my LFS and they are voracious aptasia eaters. They are also fun to watch. They even come out to give me "manicures" when I have my hand in the tank.

[sumpinhabitant]

IMO peppermint shrim are the way to go.

[troubled0001]

Peppermint's for 2.66 ?!?
WOW!

[Frogday]

Joe's Juice definitely works. Once you get them under control, it is just a matter of getting the singles as they pop up.

[NeuroLarry]

If pepps were reliable Joe wouldn't have his juice. You do have to be sure you are gettin L. Wurdemani pepps.

[prespr]

Will the peppermints kill my common cleaner shrimp?

[Markarian421]

Peppermint shrimp will get along fine with other cleaner shrimp, they are about the most shy kind of cleaner shrimp you can get.

I got two because as many people have pointed out, there are about 5 kinds of shrimp that are sold as peppermints, and two kinds that are nearly impossible to tell apart, but only one of them (and it appears not the most common one) will actually eat aiptasia. This link might help:

http://www.reefs.org/library/article/hopkins_redfield.html

Even with that, I'm pretty sure the first one I got was the wrong kind -- I'd say at least 80% of the peppermints I've seen in fish shops around here are the wrong kind (the Florida ones) and the fish shop folks (even at the good shops) don't know the difference. And many of them told me that peppermints just don't really work . . . . (well yeah, if they are the wrong kind). I finally spotted what I think was the right kind in a tank of mostly the others (side by side you can tell the differnece, otherwise it's near impossible) and convinced them to grab that exact shrimp.

We had about 5 small aiptasia before we got our two peppermints, all 5 were gone within a few days. New ones still occasionally appear (a new one just came in on a frag, argh) but they don't get very big before they vanish.

Before I got peppermints, we saw one aiptasia, and I took the rock out of the tank and injected boiling RO water. It killed that aiptasia and made a huge dead spot on the rock, but soon more aiptasia appeared. So I don't recommend that method.

[pollard]

i've used vinager w/success
take the rock outta the tank be4 injecting vinager, or the water will buffer the ph of the vinager up

[sfsuphysics]

shouldn't, I have 8 peppermints, and 2 scarlett skunk cleaners

[prespr]

Okay, I bought three peppermints from a LFS I found somewhere on this website. So one of them is bound to be the real thing eh? Also, the LFS was awesome and they guarentee their fish for two weeks 70% of what you paid for them!!!!!!!!! Well I will see how it goes with the aiptasia now.

[txmidget]

The coral book I have says that if you have an elegance coral by any chance take it an touch it to the apstasia and one sting will kill it. ( Aquarium Corals ).

[prespr]

I have no corals yet, just a ton of aiptasia which seem unharmed by the peppermint shrimp.

[Markarian421]

If the aiptasia are very large (same size or larger than the shrimp) the peppermint shrimp probably won't go after them. Try to pull out or otherwise kill the large ones , once they are in tatters the shrimp may go after them.

When we added the shrimp to our tank we had 5 small aiptasia, and two vanished within a day, all 5 within a week. Right now we have one large one that came in on a frag and so far they haven't touched it.

[prespr]

okay, just wanted to let you all know that slowly my aiptasia are disappearing!!!!!!!!!!! WOWEE< the larger ones are still there but most of the smaller ones are going BYE BYE. Tank U, Tank U all for the advise and the peppermints are pretty cool looking anyway. It has been about a week with the peppermints in the tank and about 50% of the 20-30 are gone. So I guess at least one of the shrimps is lysmata wundermanni.

[Markarian421]

Good news. Our lysmata wundermanni has been awol for the last week, I'm hoping he just molted and will be back in action soon . . .

[Markarian421]

I should add that while I have one of the Florida shrimp that doesn't eat aiptasia, it's probably my favorite shrimp. It never comes out during the day, but it swims all over the tank, upsidedown, at night. (We have a moonlight so we can see it.) It moves nothing like our other two shrimp, very strange critter. If I shine a red LED into the tank at night, it will circle it (swimming). It may not eat aiptasia but it's a very active cleaner shrimp.