aiptasia are nems correct? so that means...

[KAW750SS]

I have a getting out of control aiptasia problem in my tank. Heres what i was wondering.
The common nem, like a red bubble, green, etc would need a salinity of around 1.025 correct? I think my tank is 1.024 the last time i checked.
I have a couple rocks that are getting COVERED in the aiptasia nems, its only a matter of time until they start killing my corals. Now if i take the rocks that are covered in them and put them in a saltwater tank that has the salinity of around 1.017, this would kill them correct? and keep my rock with little die off? or am i totally wrong?

[Maivortex]

That wont kill them

[LPSGurl]

It would probably take alot more then that, I've even see Aiptasia thrive through a complete new tank cycle with highly elevated ammonia levels.

The only thing I've seen truly work on finally getting rid of Aiptasia's are the Berghia Nudibranches. Except for completely bleaching or boiling your liverock....




Christina

[KAW750SS]

i think im in trouble then....:sad2:

[KAW750SS]

It would probably take alot more then that, I've even see Aiptasia thrive through a complete new tank cycle with highly elevated ammonia levels.

The only thing I've seen truly work on finally getting rid of Aiptasia's are the Berghia Nudibranches. Except for completely bleaching or boiling your liverock....




Christina

nudibranches always get stuck in some kind of filter or in my sump, etc. I dont know what to do. Ive tried joes juice. That makes them go away for a couple days.

[Sharpie_]

This is the best solution, a blowtorch. You may think I'm crazy but it is the best method for spot treating rock. If the entire rock is covered though, you can bury them in sand which will kill the aptasia but lead to a small spike.

[KAW750SS]

I might just fill up a 10 gallon tank half full of cheap sand and bury the rock in it then. Im going to try it on a small piece of rock and see how it works first.

[JTL]

cheap syringe and concentrated lemon juice works every time for me. On rare occasions I need to give them a second "shot".

[Sk8r]

Juvvie pep shrimp will eat them: they're pesky critters (the shrimp) and only 5 in 10 will eat them. But if your lfs can demonstrate that they have shrimp that do, grab them.

Another thing: these little nems are only dangerous to the more fragile corals, not really to much else, so don't panic. I had one and put a hammer right near it: it didn't win. They are invasive and multiply fast, but eventually you'll find the right shrimp.

[Dustin1300]

I'd say do the following if you are not having trouble with them attacking other coral:

1) Use Joe's Juice and turn off powerheads and spray on aptasia. Wait a couple days and do again.

***Alternative to Joe's juice is making a paste out of water/kalk and squirting with syringe on aptasia.

2) Get a few peppermint shrimp ($6-9 a piece)

Then you'll have it under control and they will help maintain them from that point:)

[Meggie2409]

I had great success with getting rid of my aptasia by using boiling water in a syringe, I did it in my qt tank that way I am not subjecting my display tank to that lol, I shot the aptasia right in the mouth and it imploded lol, I kept the rock in that tank for about a week to see if it would come back and I am still aptasia free! It was also a great stress reliever to shoot the aptasia with the needle and water lmao! but it is a cost free solution I thought I would share :)

[megatsea]

I have found 2 aptaisia and wondering if the acan will sting it if I place it close enough to the aptaisia and that would take care of my problem...?
I bought Aptasia X , knowing I need to be prepared as in 8 years, I never had aptaisia until now but waiting to use it.

[bassplaya12]

Had the same problem. Tried leaving it exposed out of the water for 3 days. Still alive. Went to my LFS and they sold me an aiptasiea poison essentially. Syringe and the stuff. Killed them immediately. Peppermint shrimp also eat them I was told

[Tuscaquatics]

Aiptasia-X. Works like a charm. Use that to nuke the big ones and get some peppermints to get the little ones.

[Falconeer]

I know this is unorthodox, but I wasn't about to boil water and try to use my turkey baster with it. What I can tell you worked for me, but I don't know about anyone elses tanks. I only had one pesky little aiptasia, and literally I blasted it with hot water...not boiling, but hot. I had to do it a few times (over the course of the evening), but no aiptasia anymore.

[Ethan_W]

I have found 2 aptaisia and wondering if the acan will sting it if I place it close enough to the aptaisia and that would take care of my problem...?
I bought Aptasia X , knowing I need to be prepared as in 8 years, I never had aptaisia until now but waiting to use it.

a little advice for taking it out with the aptaisia x. it works great, just make sure when you do use it to blast the aptaisia quickly. they have spores on the ends that will release once under any stress. so when you go in, engulf the whole thing quickly. the hooked syringe it comes with is nice for getting into those small crevices.

peppermint shrimp work great too on small aptaisia too. pick up one of those and drip acclimate it (important) to hopefully get the fastest results from it once it goes in the tank. if they are stressed they wont start eating it.

[Jstdv8]

How to kill aiptasia with pickling lime or kalkwasser mix

1.) Mix 1tablespoon and 1/2 teaspoon of Mrs. wages pickling lime with 1 1/2 Teaspoons of water to make a nice paste. The paste should not be running, but it also must be thin enough to get injected through the syringe.
2.) Apply a layer of the paste to the oral disc of the aiptasia. Sometimes you can get them to think its food by teasing their tentacles a little and then injecting the paste onto the oral disc. If they suck back into their hole right away just cover the hole with the paste.
3.) wait 45 minutes to an hour
4.) suck out the paste and the aiptasia with a turkey baster and dispose of them.

I bought 100 lbs. worth of live rock from a fellow reefer who was tearing down her tank. The rock was covered with aiptasia (estimating over 300). Some of the rocks also had some corals on them (mushrooms, green star polyps and Kenya trees)
I put the rock on a 55 gallon tank that I used as a holding area while I treated the rock before putting it into my display tank.
I mixed up a small batch of the lime paste and started injecting the aiptasia with the method used above.
I recommend doing only a few at a time as the paste can cause a PH spike in your tank if you do too much. Keep in mind Pickling lime and kalkwasser are similar products that are used for correcting alkalinity and calcium problems and can be used safely if in small doses.
Be sure to cover the whole face of the aiptasia with the paste to ensure that it cannot release its seed into the tank and make more aiptasia later. You also must get it out of the hole as even a small piece of aiptasia can grow into a whole one over time. Do it right the first time.

Other methods that work include Peppermint shrimp, Copper banded butterfly, joe's juice, aiptasia-x, vinegar, boiling water or just leaving the rock out in the open air for a couple of days(killing everything on it.)

Peppermint shrimp work well as long as they don't have a different food source they like better. It is also very important to get the correct shrimp as there is an imposter shrimp that doesn't feed on aiptasia that looks very similar. When you are buying the shrimp ask for L. wurdemanni. Do Not accept the shrimp if it is a L. californica.
Peppermints will also not attack a large aiptasia so these will have to be removed in another way. There is also no guarantee that the aiptasia will not release its seed into the water which they tend to do when in danger. This will cause more to pop up later.

The Copper banded butterfly's require an established tank to safely house one (preferably 6 months or longer). Some for whatever reason don't prefer aiptasia though (the upside here is that these ones are reef safe)
If you choose this method you risk the fish devouring other corals in your tank that you wanted to keep once it has eaten the aiptasia. And again, there is no guarantee that they won't release their seed into the water when attacked.

Aiptasia X is similar to the paste that I described above and it comes in a nifty little syringe with a straight and an angled head for getting at aiptasia in hard to reach places.
The downside here is the cost. At 20 dollars a tube it gets pretty costly, especially if you have a lot of aiptasia to treat. A jar of Mrs. Wages pickling lime costs about $4 at Wal-mart and you will have a lifetime supply.

Boiling water, vinegar and Joe's juice all have been known to work but as with most methods are very hit and miss. While one person says they had great success the next may say it didn't work at all.

Best of luck to you and good hunting!

[KAW750SS]

im going to try and do the pickling wages one. Im a college student and the 20 bucks is not cheap, youre right. But say if i do not get all of sucked up, will it hurt the tank?

[megatsea]

When you say small for peps to eat...what is small? Pea size and under?

[cewoodall3]

Peps do a good job. Just put in a few so there's a competition and don't feed your tank for a few days. Make sure your LFS is selling you real "peps" as some of the look alikes can chew on your corals.

[mutateddogbone]

if you have a large freezer, you could freeze it. rinse with freshwater then freeze. freezing invertebrates causes the cell membranes to expand and burst

[rcpauff]

FILE FISH for the win!!

[diddy2k]

hey everyone, new to this. just setup my tank this evening and not sure if this is cool or a problem. can someone ID?

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e41/bscairns/photo3.jpg

[Jstdv8]

im going to try and do the pickling wages one. Im a college student and the 20 bucks is not cheap, youre right. But say if i do not get all of sucked up, will it hurt the tank?

I treated 10 a day for 30 days. at the end I did have a pretty good calciuma dn PH spike but most people arent treating that many. if you just do a couple a day or whatever you should be just fine. Jut remember whatever you get the paste on will die so be carefull to turn your powerheads off and don't drip any on corals. your coraline will also turn white if it gets touched. no biggie just something to be aware of.

As long as you get the majority of the paste out of the tank you are good to go. If you end up leaving a little in there that you can't get for some reason you may want to wait a day or two before doing the next set of aiptasia.
I killed all of mine in a 55g tank with corals in there that were attached to the same rocks as the aiptsia. This was a seperate tank from my DT.
all of the corals lived through the experinece including a rose bubble tipped anemone. I can't see it being a problem if you are treating a few here and a few there as I did 10 a day for a month and everything lived except the aips.
had two come back about a month later. killed them 2 (out of 300+) and never saw another one since. been about 8 months now

[Jstdv8]

Diddy those are not aiptasia. looks like a pally maybe. Good coral.

[Frick-n-Frags]

pepps are a case-by-case basis. you hear all kinds of stories. mine was good, but i bought 6 at a time because they are bold in groups. they ate every last aiptasia, regardless of the size, for me.

[diddy2k]

Diddy those are not aiptasia. looks like a pally maybe. Good coral.

thanks! ended up with some good corals from the live rock. 1 blue/green yuma, whatever those paly's are, a leather, and 3 pink bta's :)