Aiptasia treatment success or failure.... A poll

[NashobaTek]

Picked them out, never seen any since. Knock on wood!

 

[NashobaTek]

Picked them out, never seen any since. Knock on wood!

 

[gotmesalty77]

Just like most folks this has been an ongoing battle for me with everytank ive ever had. Personally its really about controlling the outbreaks for me now. Usually i use aptasia x but a few months back i got myself several peppermint shrimp. They did a great job of keeping the population down and i didnt have to use any aptasia x. Well the last one vanished a few weeks ago and boom they are back like no tomorrow. While i found them to be really effective i am pretty sure they were picking on my soft corals and lps at night. They didnt kill anything that i could tell but i would notice that alot of stuff would look kind of ticked off sometimes. I also think i was feeding the tank too heavy and that might have slowed them down.
Ive also tried franks F aptasia but i didnt see good results, but i dont know if i used it perfectly to their directions. I might give it another shot sometime.

 

[LiamPM]

Aiptasia are easy to beat if the keeper is willing to access the rock. I had one once show up on the side down low of my biggest display rock.

I lifted out the rock and set it on the counter. used a flathead hobby screwdriver to simply wedge up under it and take a little of the attachment base as a chip. set rock back. coralline covers chip in 3 mos / gone not a single one since.


fragmentation abounds when using chemical (partial kill/degrades in aquarium) means or those electrical zappers I tried those too. nothing beats complete removal in one pass externally.

for curved tonga get in there and scrape, be a dentist and you got the unlucky curve zone same attachment habits, can be dislodged with will.

aiptasia are literally of no concern to me whatsoever or any other anemone. i have a thread of 200 mushrooms invading my nano, and then 4 hours later not invading a single one onward. same as aiptasia, discosoma removal.


The cause of aiptasia problems is any excuse we make not to access the rock directly outside the tank on the counter with a hammer and flathead: rocks are stacked in place ill never get it back the same (precarious perch excuse/classic) corals locked in place. tank too big. rocks glued. I dont want to stir up the system...all are reasons to keep the offending anemones. once those blocks are gone, rock can be anemone free rather quickly. all the above options for the poll are fragmentation options though I know hunting fish will never allow emergence. no pedal tissue left behind with metal rasping.

May work when you have the odd couple but you aren’t going to pull the hammer and screwdriver job off on a rock with a thousand aiptasias, you’d have no rock left.

I’ve used everything there is. F-Aiptasia worked but being over in the UK I eventually ran out and getting it shipped over more and more just didn’t seem worth it.

The only thing that worked for me was the secret recipe posted on the other forum similar to this one. Easily found. Couple of chemicals bought easily and mixed together. Comes out similar to most shop bought remedies except you can make the strength to what you need and the thickness. I had a tank with thousands and since patiently doing a few courses of the above I’ve been almost free from them for a few months now.

Wouldn’t recommend it to everyone being a little dangerous but to answer the question it’s all that worked in many years of trying to remove every now and then.

 

[PR_nano]

I tried 4 Berghia Nudibranch on a 20Gallon. They removed about 90% but there were some left. They did reproduced in the tank as I saw multiple small nudi. I also tried Kalk paste with a syringe and pumps/wave turn off. They must have released spores as I got tiny ones around the ones that got killed.

 

[lapin]

My LFS cannot get any true peppermint shrimp from their suppliers in Fla. Something about they come in with the regular shrimp boats and because the water is too warm the shrimp baots are not going out at the moment. Has anyone had any success with tank raised shrimp https://www.aquaculturenurseryfarms.com/shrimp-and-crabs/peppermint-shrimp-lots/

 

[Dr RBG]

L A S E R or aptasia x

 

[Steph72]

L A S E R or aptasia x

Are you referring to the wand that zaps them?! I just got a small outbreak and I’m trying to decide how to kill them....frying them with a wand sounds right up my alley! Haha!

 

[radiata]

Something else - please describe

Nothing works 100 percent of the time - there is always one more aiptasia.

 

[Sailingeric]

When one pops up on a rock, I pull out my little friend

 

[Dr RBG]

Are you referring to the wand that zaps them?! I just got a small outbreak and I’m trying to decide how to kill them....frying them with a wand sounds right up my alley! Haha!

CAUTION DANGEROUS

Not the wand. I use a laser from an engraving machine, like in the picture. The key is you can focus it. be very careful and use safety equipment. SPECIAL GLASSES NEEDED! If you are not familiar with lasers do not use them

. It can burn skin or wood. But it dramatically kills aptasia You can hear the sound.

 

[Steph72]

CAUTION DANGEROUS

Not the wand. I use a laser from an engraving machine, like in the picture. The key is you can focus it. be very careful and use safety equipment. SPECIAL GLASSES NEEDED! If you are not familiar with lasers do not use them

. It can burn skin or wood. But it dramatically kills aptasia You can hear the sound.

I guess that would kill them with ease! Lol Since Im a fairly clumsy person I’m gonna opt for another route, but that’s definitely very cool!!! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Twoddler]

Just picked them out, aiptasia free for 3wks now thanks to advice from this forum, got bubble algae instead now, lol.

 

[Steph72]

Just picked them out, aiptasia free for 3wks now thanks to advice from this forum, got bubble algae instead now, lol.

I can relate....one pest resolves, another takes its place! Never a dull moment! Lol

 

[JasPR]

One word of caution, if you are breeding Rock Flower anemone like I am, peppermint shrimp will eat the new born flower anemones also.

 

[stanlalee]

I hit them with a thick paste of kalk and vinegar mix THEN supeglue them solid. That's the only thing that's worked for me. I use to try and epoxy them after the kalk/vinegar but they would find their way out of another crack + one more sometimes from released spores. The glue which dries in seconds under water seems to encapsulate them before they can move or release spores.

 

[Funston07]

I used F aiptasia, boom gone

 

[EMeyer]

peppermint shrimp. Theyve worked in every tank I've ever had aiptasia in. I looked around the other day and cant find any aiptasia, in any of my tanks.

I can't explain why they don't seem to work universally for others but they sure have for me.

Of course then they start eating other stuff too. Tradeoffs.

 

[FranklinDattein]

Something else: Australian Stripey fish.
I actually have great pleasure feeding aiptasia from the refugium to the fish, now.

It is a voracious eater, grows fast, bites LPS sometimes, so i use it as a tool and move it to another tank when aiptasia is under control.

 

[homer1475]

Over the years I have tried nearly every solution listed in the poll as well as Aiptasia X, lemon juice, super glue, and more. Most of those solutions just annoy the aiptasia enough that they reproduce rapidly and a few have knocked the aiptasia crop back but never really eliminated it. The only thing that has worked for me is F-Aiptasia Killer by @Frank's Tanks.

Didn't read the entire thread, no need to. This right here is the only thing that actually works 100% of the time.