help with aiptasia

[warlord239]

I put a big zoa flag in my tank and now i see one little aiptasia on it ...how do i get rid of it?

[reeftivo]

kalk paste over the top of it or a bottle of aiptasia X

The aiptasia x works best if the flow is shut off and you just slowly squirt a little on the disk with out spooking it. Just let it think it's food. It will close over it without squirting out plenula(larvae) and ingest it then implode. The key is not to spook it and do it slowly.

A picture would help to be sure its a glass nem (aiptasia) though

[warlord239]

is actually a big piece of rock theres no disk i will try and get a pic tho its really small

[warlord239]

http://i1061.photobucket.com/albums/t463/warlord238/aiptasia.jpg

there it is right next to the shroom, and the zoas are closed because i just moved it

[mbmikebray]

I just used 'aiptasia x' this morning to rid my tank of 6 aiptasia I had been wanting to remove for a few weeks, 3 of them were the same size and color as the one in your pic and within 15 seconds of applying the aiptasia x they are dead, if you approach them very carefully and get a direct 'hit' with the fluid they seem to die off very quickly-even a larger one had no way to respond once the liquid was applied and after a few mins was completely gone, hope this is helpful, I thought about other methods and decided to try this method which seems to have worked well for me.

[warlord239]

Ok thanks...is aiptasia x expensive?

[mbmikebray]

I paid $15.99 seems expensive but seems to work well and plenty left if I need it again.

[warlord239]

That's not to bad i guess...as long as it works lol

[jmn111080]

It works good

[mlott132]

You could also get a couple peppermint shrimp.

[warlord239]

I'm gonna try a peppermint shrimp...if it's not gone in a week aiptasia x

[reeftivo]

Peppermint shrimp are hit or miss. From my experience, if they do decide to go for the nems, they will only go for the tiny ones. They must be true peppermint shrimp though so be sure because many local fish stores will sell what they call peppermint shrimp but they are not true specimens.

When then peppermint shrimp is introduced it will usually stay visible only for a short while before it retreats to the rock work . At that point, if there are lots to eat in the system like pods, tiny dusters and worms, they probably will never touch the aiptasia.

I would suggest the aiptasia x given the location on the zoas. Kalk paste will harm the zoas but the aiptasia x will not. Aiptasia if spooked will release dozens of larvae into the water column and many will attach to the rock work. They can over run a tank quick so beware.

Best results for X are with the flow shut off. Shake the bottle well and fill a small amount of the polymer inside. Slowly lower the syringe just above the nem (don't touch the nem with the tip!) , then slowly release the polymer out until a glob falls over the disk. The nem will think it's food and will slowly pull it in and start to close up. After a few minutes the nem will slowly implode and eventually disappear (if done correctly). Any left over polymer is harmless to tank inhabitants.

Aiptasia x all the way!

Good luck

Tivo

[warlord239]

That sounds scary lol..looks aiptasia x immediately I'm not risking it

[Beefy_Reefy]

I hear the majano/aptasia wand works well. It looks like it disintegrates the aptasia in video of wand in action.

[BobbyV]

Just be careful with all those pastes and specialty gels. If what you are using can be diluted in the water column any anemome you have such as bubble tip will get very sick! I accidentally had a very powdering water based solution and the bubble tip closed up to the size of a quarter. Then when it fully recovereded no more bulbs on the tips - just long tips like any other anemome.

[mbmikebray]

I just used 'aiptasia x' this morning to rid my tank of 6 aiptasia I had been wanting to remove for a few weeks, 3 of them were the same size and color as the one in your pic and within 15 seconds of applying the aiptasia x they are dead, if you approach them very carefully and get a direct 'hit' with the fluid they seem to die off very quickly-even a larger one had no way to respond once the liquid was applied and after a few mins was completely gone, hope this is helpful, I thought about other methods and decided to try this method which seems to have worked well for me.

Less than a week after using the aiptasia x the aiptasia started reappearing, even the few that were larger have come back in the same place as before and now several more smaller ones also, so I have invested in 2 L.WURDEMANNI peppermint shrimp which have been in the tank 2 days, they have not removed any aiptasia so far and you dont see them in the open during the day. Approx 10 -12 aiptasia in the tank now!!

[worm5406]

Slow down on the feeding of the tank too... If you were over feeding (by accident) the shrimp are not worried about the aptasia.

Once they realize the food situation, they normally get to work... ALSO... feed close to the aptasia and the shrimp will come running there and get their tentacles in the aptasia and they will go to town. They really don't like to have their tentacles touch it. So if you have some that are outside their running area they may never really care about it.

[Reef_Knight]

Aiptasia X takes them away and a month more a less there are a few again. Mine are only a few but I can't stand seeing them and I'm pretty worried they might continue blooming.

[mbmikebray]

Slow down on the feeding of the tank too... If you were over feeding (by accident) the shrimp are not worried about the aptasia.

Once they realize the food situation, they normally get to work... ALSO... feed close to the aptasia and the shrimp will come running there and get their tentacles in the aptasia and they will go to town. They really don't like to have their tentacles touch it. So if you have some that are outside their running area they may never really care about it.

My tank has no fish yet so not feeding it (Firefish in quarantine for 2 weeks now, looking good so far) so hoping the shrimps will get to work soon.

[fishox]

lots of butterfly fish will eat them too. You don't have to get a copperband. Ofcourse, the butterfly may nip at the zoas too.

[AZBigJohn]

I was told to inject lemon juice into the stalks of the few I found. I brought home needles and syringes, had lemon juice in the ridge, and stuck the needle into each stalk and injected a little. Next morning I yanked, off they came, and I have not seen thier return (granted its only been a couple weeks).