Aiptasia!!

[To(meany)Tang]

I received corals today in the mail and a zoa that came has aiptasia on it. I'm scared to open the bag. What should I do?

 

[CasperOe]

If you get a needle type syringe and inject vinegar into the aiptasia it will die quickly. You can do this before putting your new coral in the tank; go through the dipping process as well as you wold. Make sure to rinse it properly.

I doubt that any coral vendor would take it back "just" because there's an aiptasia on it- but i could most definetly be wrong. I don't often shop coral online; only LFS for me!

 

[Lavey29]

Uh just take it out and pluck it off with tweezers

 

[To(meany)Tang]

Uh just take it out and pluck it off with tweezers

Does it not spread by doing it that way?

 

[To(meany)Tang]

If you get a needle type syringe and inject vinegar into the aiptasia it will die quickly. You can do this before putting your new coral in the tank; go through the dipping process as well as you wold. Make sure to rinse it properly.

I doubt that any coral vendor would take it back "just" because there's an aiptasia on it- but i could most definetly be wrong. I don't often shop coral online; only LFS for me!

Any kind of vinegar? Will the polyp retract and hide? I will post a pic down below to confirm It's aiptasia

 

[CasperOe]

Aye that's an aiptasia allright!

I have previously used normal vinegar; the kind you would use to descale a coffee maker. Alternatively, pop down to your LFS and get some Apitasia-X from Red Sea.. There's no guarantee either way that you will get it all though.

It is extremely hard to go the distance without introducing any aiptasia in to the tank at some point sadly.

I have it mine, but my australian stripey keeps it all at bay. He's a good fish!

 

[To(meany)Tang]

Aye that's an aiptasia allright!

I have previously used normal vinegar; the kind you would use to descale a coffee maker. Alternatively, pop down to your LFS and get some Apitasia-X from Red Sea.. There's no guarantee either way that you will get it all though.

It is extremely hard to go the distance without introducing any aiptasia in to the tank at some point sadly.

I have it mine, but my australian stripey keeps it all at bay. He's a good fish!

Ok I will try my best thank you for the advice . Maybe I should throw the whole frag away although it was a beautiful candy stripe zoa

 

[To(meany)Tang]

Aye that's an aiptasia allright!

I have previously used normal vinegar; the kind you would use to descale a coffee maker. Alternatively, pop down to your LFS and get some Apitasia-X from Red Sea.. There's no guarantee either way that you will get it all though.

It is extremely hard to go the distance without introducing any aiptasia in to the tank at some point sadly.

I have it mine, but my australian stripey keeps it all at bay. He's a good fish!

Do you think I could cut a couple zoas off and refrag them and throw the rest away?

 

[CasperOe]

Ok I will try my best thank you for the advice . Maybe I should throw the whole frag away although it was a beautiful candy stripe zoa

Contact the shop first, they might reimburse you for it!

Maybe anyone else on R2R have some advice for you.. Having aiptasia in my tank already, i would just go for it you know! A zoa is hard to snap off the plug, i try with all the frags i buy not to introduce the plug they come on.

 

[Reefapprentice]

You can use a kalkwasser paste as well in the mouth of it to kill it or boiling water using a syringe. Try to avoid letting the kalk sit in any Zoas as it will burn them.

 

[To(meany)Tang]

Contact the shop first, they might reimburse you for it!

Maybe anyone else on R2R have some advice for you.. Having aiptasia in my tank already, i would just go for it you know! A zoa is hard to snap off the plug, i try with all the frags i buy not to introduce the plug they come on.

I had a post earlier where a an encrusting coral was starting to grow over a single zoa polyp on the same frag. Someone told me to use a razor blade at the base. Maybe if I don't touch the aiptasia I can save a couple zoas?

 

[To(meany)Tang]

You can use a kalkwasser paste as well in the mouth of it to kill it or boiling water using a syringe. Try to avoid letting the kalk sit in any Zoas as it will burn them.

My only concern is that as soon as I mess with it it will try to reproduce..I've never dealt with aiptasia before so idk how exactly it works.

 

[CasperOe]

I had a post earlier where a an encrusting coral was starting to grow over a single zoa polyp on the same frag. Someone told me to use a razor blade at the base. Maybe if I don't touch the aiptasia I can save a couple zoas?

Yeah that might for you mate, just be careful! Some zoas can be quite bad for you if you get anything in your eyes, nose, mouth etc. so just check that out first!

 

[Reefapprentice]

Feed it the kalk paste and it’ll accept it as food. This effectively kills it and if you smother it the chance of it being able to replicate is low. Depending on the size of the nem in question manual it may get a Zia or two.

 

[To(meany)Tang]

Yeah that might for you mate, just be careful! Some zoas can be quite bad for you if you get anything in your eyes, nose, mouth etc. so just check that out first!

Will do! Thanks

 

[To(meany)Tang]

Feed it the kalk paste and it’ll accept it as food. This effectively kills it and if you smother it the chance of it being able to replicate is low. Depending on the size of the nem in question manual it may get a Zia or two.

I posted a pic above. It's a single polyp from what I can tell and ups delayed my shipment an extra day and I don't have immediate access to kalk paste. Is that a special paste for aquariums or is it just caulk from home depot that you use to seal things?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Any kind of vinegar? Will the polyp retract and hide? I will post a pic down below to confirm It's aiptasia

keep it simple-
Using syringe, inject either lemon juice or better yet. . kalkwasser powder mixed with tank water into a paste the consistency of toothpaste and inject into the very center core and it will melt away

 

[To(meany)Tang]

keep it simple-
Using syringe, inject either lemon juice or better yet. . kalkwasser powder mixed with tank water into a paste the consistency of toothpaste and inject into the very center core and it will melt away

I don't have kalkwasser and would probably take a few days to get it. Could I cut some zoas from the frag and refrag it and throw the aiptasia part in the trash?

 

[AKL1950]

I don't have kalkwasser and would probably take a few days to get it. Could I cut some zoas from the frag and refrag it and throw the aiptasia part in the trash?

You could also use 3% hydrogen peroxide mixed 50-50 with tank water. Put the entire frag in it for 5-10 minutes. It will kill the Aiptasia, but shouldn’t hurt the Zoa’s. I had to do that once with an Aiptasia imbedded in a Zoa Colony.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I don't have kalkwasser and would probably take a few days to get it. Could I cut some zoas from the frag and refrag it and throw the aiptasia part in the trash?

You can also use Lemon juice. If no lemon juice, boiling water