aiptasia question

[worcestereefer]

Hello, I have a 29 gallon with some zoos, polyps, green and red mushrroms and some frogspawn. I also have two rocks with aiptasia growing on them. One is fairly small and one is more medium sized. Both can easily be removed and do not have any of my coral on them. What is the best way I should dispose of my ugly aiptasia problem, I noticed a couple small ones poking up next to the two biggest ones so I want to do it soon. Any suggestions is appreciated.

 

[Scott G]

its really hard to try to take them out with tweezers

but.....

ive heard that copperband butterflys and red legged hermit crabs can do the trick

or....

you could kill them by injection (idk where to get the stuff to do it though)

 

[owenz]

Be aware that aiptasia multiplies rapidly in the tank.

There are two ways to kill them, really: by introducing predators to feed on the aiptasia or to kill the aiptasia with chemicals. The best approach is a combination of the two.

The traditional aiptasia predator is the peppermint shrimp. Another one is the butterfly fish. Finally, there is the nudibranch - an expensive, slug-like creature that reproduces quickly and feeds almost exclusively on aiptasia.

The chemical approach involves squirting a liquid, such as Joe's Juice, into the aiptasia. These kill quickly and won't harm the reef, but are difficult to administer to smaller aiptasia.

 

[Scott G]

i have one aiptasia that ive had in my tank since the beginning, it has never multiplied or stung anything so i had no reason to really kill it...

...but...

i really like copperband butterflys and i was thinking about adding one in a couple of months, so we'll see what happens then

 

[Gina McReeferson]

From what we learned at the last meeting, and have believed for a some time now, sometimes it's best to have a fish or critter that will happily "eat" your problem. In this case, as Scott mentioned, Copperbanded Butterflies are known for eating aptasia. Just keep in mind that Copperbandeds do not always have the best success rate in captivity, make sure you get one that eats mysis and if possible, you could try to get one that is a proven aptasia eater.

We have a few peppermint shrimp and I have actually seen one of them chow on aptasia (I was very happy!), we only had a couple and they have been gone for a while. We have about 4 peppermints in there and have had no aptasia since, it could be a coinsidence but they're worth and shot and pretty inexpensive as well.

Here are some threads that you might find useful on aptasia and copperbandeds as there have been many on this topic. The search tool is excellent for finding several threads on your problem as many of us have gone through very similar experiences.......

http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=23729&page=2&highlight=wrasse+thread

http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=16177&highlight=aptaisia

http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=14534&highlight=aptaisia

http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?

http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums...2&highlight=aptaisiat=9379&highlight=aptaisia

Good luck,
Gina and Dave

 

[Behrmon]

Good thread.


http://bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=28016&highlight=APTASIA

 

[Scott G]

Gina and Dave you just reminded me that i have a pepperment in my tank (must have slipped my mind) .... but he never really went at it. he hung out on the rock it was on, until i got my LTA. now he wont leave that area at all.

so i guess not all aiptasia eating creatures are the same

 

[worcestereefer]

The thing is I have a snowflake already and dont want him feasting on the pepermints if that was the way i was going to go. Also, would a copperband be a little too large of a fish for my 29 gallon setup. I only have the snowflake and two clowns. And also wouldnt the copperband nip at my frogspawn and polyps and shrooms. Thanks for all the replies already though..

 

[swreef103]

i have had success with the 5 -6 peppermint and actually did an experiment with them. i scraped about 5 aiptasia anenomes and put them in with the shrimp and i watched them destroy them completely.the copperband theory works but sooner or later it will die. i've had about 3-4 and i,ve gotten 1 out of the 4 to live and keep the aiptasia controlled.my suggestion is if you do get a copperband get a medium sized one.

 

[dave601m]

i am having great luck right now with Joe's Juice. kills almost intantly, and you don't have to inject them, just feed it to them. within an hour, they die right off.

since you don't have to inject, you can get the small ones too.

 

[OceanGuy]

The Copperband needs a large tank as needs to hide when spooked by other fish. They need to swim a lot and need copepods, rotifers, or zooplankton, some eat mysis to peck at on the rockwork. They die easily if they don't get the food that they like or are stressed. If you put them in a small tank, they won't last very long especially if you have other large fish in them.

Taking the rock out and boiling it works if you have nothing else on the rock that you want to keep.

Also using a syringe or commercial Sea Squirt with boiling water with a little Kalkwasser powder in it will kill them.
You can only kill the ones that you see and it you have a lot of rock, this doesn't work well. If you smash them with tweezers or other tools, remember that each piece that goes into the water will probably develop into a new aiptasia.

Good luck with the clean out