When did Aptasia become such a big deal

[Jmp998]

I remember my uncle in 1978 with the first saltwater tank I'd ever seen. He was showing it off to me and pointing out all of the glass anemones that he was so proud of.

I remember in the 90’s a LFS routinely selling them as baby ‘Curley cue’ anemones (Bartholomea).

 

[Scottiemac]

Agree. I don't understand the whole sterile tank thing trend.

Sterile tank just means nothing goes into the tank that I didn't put there. This significantly reduces the chances of nuisance hitchhikers showing up in the tank.

I started with dry rock and dry sand. My corals get clipped from their rocks before going in if possible. If not, the rocks are thoroughly inspected first. My refugium was with pest-free chaeto that I added pods to.

Some of us just don't like dealing with bristle worms and aiptasia and other things we call pests.

 

[RedTheReefer]

If you can take the rock out and remember where the aiptasia are located, a soldering iron does the trick every time.

 

[Chrisv.]

I remember in the 90’s a LFS routinely selling them as baby ‘Curley cue’ anemones (Bartholomea).

Yup! "Anemone Rock"! Haha I remember as a teenager in the mid 90s feeling like I lucked out in an almost sneaky way when I got a piece of live rock with a free sea anemone on it.

 

[hart24601]

Honestly the only real trend I have noticed changing since the 2010s has been needing elevated nutrients. The clean tank stuff has been around since then. Before that it was movement to LEDs, and before that was automation and bluer mh.

 

[Chrisv.]

Honestly the only real trend I have noticed changing since the 2010s has been needing elevated nutrients. The clean tank stuff has been around since then. Before that it was movement to LEDs, and before that was automation and bluer mh.

Feeding corals is semi new? I had some trachys that I fed black worms to in like 1996. Other than that I didn't feed corals "back in the day."

 

[hart24601]

Feeding corals is semi new? I had some trachys that I fed black worms to in like 1996. Other than that I didn't feed corals "back in the day."

I won the reef2reef acro growout contest in 2014 (I think, threads are deleted) and I fed the tank like crazy then specifically for acros, so even acro feeding has been around for 10+ years although it wasn’t all that common then, it was used more for lps. I would say feeding coral has been trending upward in popularity for 15-20 years or so.

Edit: ah 90s reefing! I still have power compact nightmares!

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

They sting other coral? Theyre ugly. They multiply readily.

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

If your tank has a very small/stable population of Aiptasia, Berghia are not appropriate, and I routinely tell potential buyers that. However for many, the Aiptasia population grows rapidly and becomes either an eyesore or frankly destructive to more desirable corals. In that situation Berghia are one of several reasonable options to try to control Aiptasia. Unfortunately none of the options are perfect or work for everyone.

Berghia work best when there are many Aiptasia so they can feed and breed.

Agree.. i got lucky and my peppermint shrimp make quick work of aiptasia.

 

[Chrisv.]

I won the reef2reef acro growout contest in 2014 (I think, threads are deleted) and I fed the tank like crazy then specifically for acros, so even acro feeding has been around for 10+ years although it wasn’t all that common then, it was used more for lps. I would say feeding coral has been trending upward in popularity for 15-20 years or so.

Edit: ah 90s reefing! I still have power compact nightmares!

Haha I still have unused PC bulbs in my boxes of hoarded reef gear.

 

[merkmerk73]

In the beginning, god created the earth - and then he and the devil took turns creating creatures.

God - dolphins
Devil - mosquitos
God - clownfish
Devil - aiptasia

There's your answer. Don't listen to any of these people trying to tell you aiptasia are precious creatures or whatever.

It's all propaganda

 

[robanister]

Well i think 2 things. If mistakes were made and they made it in then oh well. Also a 5 dollar frag with aptasia no problem. Now if my tank is pristine and I pay a premium. Over 50 for a coral then it should be nice and without pests. If I spend 200+ spotless only corals

 

[cilyjr]

. I can walk away from my tank for 6 months and not worry about coming back to an aiptasia or majano farm. You can't.

Maybe, that said, I couldn't walk away from my tank for 6 months for any reason without it falling into complete disarray.

I still don't think an Aptasia problem is any worse than anything else. It just struck me that people seem to talk about it like it is far worse plague than I have ever experienced with them.

 

[cilyjr]

Then you've been fortunate and know what you're doing. Lots of people get one or two as hitchhikers and are able to keep it from becoming an infestation.

The problem is more for newer reefers, of which I was one of on my first tank. We didn't realize that what we were doing might be aiding the infestation, and by the time we figured all of that out it was late. Even getting the right peppermint shrimp (as opposed to camel shrimp, which are often sold as peppermint) has no effect once the infestation gets out of control.

An experienced reefer now knows to do whatever it takes to prevent the introduction of aiptasia in the first place. I'm more alert for them now than I was with my first tank, and so when I eventually do get hit I'll know what to do.

But for the inexperienced reefer who has put in a few thousand on livestock and now has a tank full of aiptasia? Yeah, that's a problem.

It's not just since the pandemic, as per your original post. We had been discussing the problems with aiptasia for years before I left the hobby in 2014.

I suppose, I did have the OGs of Boston Reef Society to help me when I got going.

Pretty early on it was peppermint shrimp and my kalk q- tip.

 

[cilyjr]

To keep it in perspective, I'm not saying anyone should just leave them, like anything there needs to be some control of any "managed biome".

My point was that I've read a lot of people posting like it's the end of that tank.

I think I found my answer in the first few posts.

Thanks all for contributing!

 

[Jmp998]

To keep it in perspective, I'm not saying anyone should just leave them, like anything there needs to be some control of any "managed biome".

My point was that I've read a lot of people posting like it's the end of that tank.

I think I found my answer in the first few posts.

Thanks all for contributing!

Fair enough. Certainly far from the worst pest. All the solutions are imperfect, but chances are very good that one will work, and Aiptasia aren't like some of the various 'bugs/bad nudis/etc' that sneak up on you and wipe out an expensive collection of corals before you can react.

 

[GARRIGA]

Recall Jake Adams having aiptasia and more focused on maintenance vs eradication

 

[The Mushroom Man]

They can cost you thousands of dollars spreading and killing your corals, thats why people want them gone, not reef safe for the hoke aquarium!

 

[SFREEF3R]

I had a few that came in on my live rock. They never multiplied and it took me a few try’s with Aptasia-X over several months before they died. I wonder if the fact that my tank is pretty low nutrient kept them from multiplying at all. I tend to agree (from my limited experience) that the concerns seem overblown. Or perhaps there is some more virulent species (or tank condition) for folks to have such alarm.

 

[LARedstickreefer]

People freak out about asterina starfish, 99% of those eat algae and clean up your tank. It will be a photo of one on the GLASS clearly eating algae and people still be freaking out.

If you go a step further and look at scientific papers, they eat coral mucus and can even be beneficial as they eat old films coral needs to shed. This is why you will find them on toadstools that are getting ready to shed and at the base of paly's and yes.. on dying coral (because it was already dying/going downhill).

I remember a post of a tank where all the SPS were dying so the starfish (they had the whole time!) were now on the SPS because... well its dying.. and they blamed the starfish for their "crash" saying the starfish were eating the SPS - basically a scapegoat when the problem was probably something they did but who wants to admit that... - the starfish were there for years and your theory is overnight they all turned evil?

There are coral eater ones but they are rare so most people are just freaking out over nothing. They are not even ugly.

I used to listen to this advice, even when I watched an entire colony of Ompa Loompas shrink to nearly nothing.

Then I watched as Asterina took out 5 of my Great Owl zoas…

I no longer listen to this advice anymore.

That’s some serious $$$.