Aptasia removal question.

[saltygq]

Hello all,

I have a question that I hope you will be able to help me with. I just picked up a tank from craigslist for cheap (wonder why) and on the 50lbs of live rock I have about 30 large aptasia. They range in size from half inch across to almost inch and a half. I was thinking about putting the rocks one at a time in a bucket of saltwater to cut off the aptasia then brush off the remaining stalk. Then dip the rock in clean saltwater to move back in the tank. I really don't want to put any chemicals in my tank and I've never had aptasia in my tank before.

Would this work and if not is there a better way of removal without doing it in my main tank?

Funny thing is I thought it was some type of regular coral when I picked up the tank because they were so large. You live you learn.

[O3reefer]

Is this a brand new tank with anything else in it?
I have been battling these now for about 6 months. I have tried everything and can narrow it down to what has worked for me. first scrubbing the rocks will not work. you will not be able to get them and then they just spread even faster. If it is a new tank then your best bet would be to just boil the rocks. It is worth it because they are a pain to get rid of. Aiptasia X only works half the time. It might seems like it works but a week or 2 later the ones you tried to get just come back. I have found the 100% real lemon juice injected into the mouth or base of the aiptasia kills them instantly and if you combine this with a copper banded butterfly to get the smaller ones it should take care of them. Again this is what has finally worked for me and your tank is different. In the end i wish i would have just saved all the money and effort and just bought some berghia nudis. It would have saved me more money and time even though it would cost about $100 to get your starting stock of them.

[Tuton]

I don't agree with putting a Copperband in a 50 gallon
Peppermint shrimp would be your next best option

[Reef264]

Copperband butterfly works, I don't recommend trying it though.Pretty Finicky Fish (opinions vary).Peppermint shrimp work, sometimes, seems to me the more they get fed the lazier they get, as do any shrimp.Aptasia X is pretty good, little pricey though.Kalkwasser Paste is my favorite option.Lemon Juice works ok...I don't know how I feel about using Lemon Juice though.Aptasia Eating Filefish are a great option, they are said to pick at SPS, mind never did though.Good Luck.

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[saltygq]

This is in my main tank, 65 gallon with about 80lbs of live rock, fish and assorted coral. Does it matter that they are all large in size? As of right now I only about 30 over 8-9 rocks. I do have another tank setup with just live rock in it that I could take the infected rock to during treatment. My main tank has been up for over a year and it would be easy to take the rocks back out for treatment.

I was thinking because I can see the large ones and I dont see any smalls ones that cutting them off and a little scrub would work.

[YoungREEFA]

premiumaquatics peppermint shrimp 95% of the time only eat aiptasia, throw five in and call it a day. i threw in a file fish and hes a pig when they were in he tank! ate a 2 inch piece in a day. now he enjoys flake food and mysis.No treatments, they will just cause problems.

[jasin401]

i boil water and blast it on them with a plastic syringe! works great

[DownwardDawg]

I can't believe nobody mentioned these. these are by far your best option. I've tried all the others mentioned here. Aptasia X worked on some, then little babies would pop up everywhere. I've never had a peppermint shrimp that would touch an aptasia. Butterfly fish are difficult to keep. Filefish will eat featherdusters (so will butterfly fish) and some corals. The Berghia Nudibranch's will ONLY eat aptiasia. When they are all gone from your tank, the nudibranch's will die.

[saltygq]

Excellent thank all of you for the help!!!

Looking at pictures online it actually looks more like Mojano than Aptasia. Does that matter with the treatment?

Ok so I thought that would be all the questions I have but just a couple more. Is there a major retailer that sells the correct syringe and would a file fish eat the big ones?

You all are great with your replys. Thanks a ton.

[jasin401]

I can't believe nobody mentioned these. these are by far your best option. I've tried all the others mentioned here. Aptasia X worked on some, then little babies would pop up everywhere. I've never had a peppermint shrimp that would touch an aptasia. Butterfly fish are difficult to keep. Filefish will eat featherdusters (so will butterfly fish) and some corals. The Berghia Nudibranch's will ONLY eat aptiasia. When they are all gone from your tank, the nudibranch's will die.

they were mentioned in the first reply :facepalm:

[jasin401]

Excellent thank all of you for the help!!!

Looking at pictures online it actually looks more like Mojano than Aptasia. Does that matter with the treatment?

Ok so I thought that would be all the questions I have but just a couple more. Is there a major retailer that sells the correct syringe and would a file fish eat the big ones?

You all are great with your replys. Thanks a ton.

in reply #6, states the fish ate a 2" piece. i have never had a file fish so i cant concur.

[O3reefer]

I have tried many peppermint and I agree they get lazy and don't even look at the big ones. They eat a few and then don't care about them anymore.

Aiptasia X is essentially a kalk paste and they will work but as i said they do not work all the time.

I have had tried 2 matted file fish but neither has even looked twice at the aiptasia. I guess it was just my luck.

CBB is really only if your tank can handle it, as i stated every tank is different. If you can find one that is healthy and is known to eat them then just borrow it for a week or two. It should be ok for that amount of time.

I have not tried boiling water and shooting at them but i have read that it can work.

I have not tried joes juice, and instead went straight to lemon juice which has worked 90% of the time for me. Remember anything you use to treat should be done sparingly but lemon juice has not affected my tank at all.

When you add up the costs of trying these different remedies it adds up quick and is not guaranteed to work. So since i was not lucky enough for the easy remedies to work it has cost me 10 different pep shrimp (when you order online their is no telling what size of shrimp you will receive), 2 file fish, 2 bottle Aiptasia X, and 1 CBB plus shipping when not bought locally since the local fish store is horrible here (by the way 1 bottle of 100% Lemon juice only costs $2). This is why i said to maybe look into the guaranteed way to get rid of them right of the bat with berghia nudis. They only eat aiptasia and will reproduce until their food source is gone. Again this is my experience and my major headache. When these start to get out of control they really can affect how you feel about this hobby.

[jasin401]

i got the syringe from work, heres a link on what it looks like. im sure you can find them at a local pharmacy

http://www.skygeek.com/saft-105112-plastic-syringe-20cc.html?utm_source=googlebase&utm_medium=shoppingengine&utm_content=saft-105112-plastic-syringe-20cc&utm_campaign=froogle&gclid=CObJoZ213rMCFYKK4Aod8FcAWg

[Reeferz412]

Aptasia X Worked for me but i had some pretty tiny aptasias. I used a peppermint and it got all of the little ones I couldnt reach or see. The dang shrimp is 2 years old now!

[ReefWhoDat]

I've been using coralline-colored 2-part epoxy. Chase the little bugger into the rock and stick a dab over the spot and let it cure. It's worked wonderfully for me.

I offer this both as a solution and a question (in case there's some terrible reason I should NOT be doing this)

I'll be honest, I didn't really think it through or research, it just made sense and I did it

[jagow4]

if you have one or two pieces of rock in your tank that has aptasia you can go with the fail safe way and that is to submerge the Live rock into a pot of boiling water for a few minutes and the Aptasia will cook up to a great medium rare and be gone forever. thed do0wn side is that rock is now dead as well and will have to be placed into a tank and let itself come back from the dead once again. it also helps clean out many of the small pores that we have on the live rock and makes room for new bacteria.

kind of like rock spring cleaning

[Crusinjimbo]

Application of pool acid via a syringe on a rock momentarily removed from the tank for some extra attention seems to work. A few drops fizzes 'em right up. Thoroughly flush and back into the tank. Max time out of water is < 1 minute. Gotta be extremely careful though. :{)

[ebrewer89]

I only have a 4g nano and had to cycle 3 different peppermint shrimp form it to a small quarantine tank over acoue weeks so they wouldn't get full or sick of them but I had a large break out but they finally took care if it even ones we couldn't see. One of my favorite things to do us look in my tank at night with a flash light it's amazing the things that go in in there and me and my wife were lucky enough to see one if the shrimp violently yanking an aptashia from a crack in the rocks. Best if luck to you.

[BucNtears]

I used to have a problem with Aptasia (60+) until I placed a file fish in the tank. He took care of the "issue" in a week.

[SteadyReefin]

I have had great success with both Mojano and Aiptasia eradication with the Aiptasia X product by Seachem. I just cut the pumps get a small amount and go in slow to the pest. I go very gentle so I do not spook them and squirt a bit onto the mouth. I have had to repeat occasionally but it has always in the end removed the pest.

Also since these anemones are consumers of nutrients in the water I would drop back the feeding a bit and make sure the Nitrates and Phosphates are as low as you can get them. You can actually use a sump filtration system with a ton of aiptasia to use as a water filter to give you an idea of how much these little guys can pull from the water.

[joec]

I recently used Aiptasia X and it seemed to work, but the sucker is still there - down in a hole in the rock. I'm going to hit it with a follow-up treatment.

My peppermint shrimp wants nothing to do with it.

[lighthouze08]

if i have an aptasia in a hard to reach place, i just use a bit of the reef putty and plug the hole where it's growing from. It should die in a couple of days then you can get the putty out of just leave it

[kzziboy]

I used the lemon juice treatment just last night! I bought a syringe from a local farm/ranch type store. They carry them along with needles and such for livestock like cattle and horses. I got the syringe and a pack of needles for $2.50. I like the needle on the syringe because it's easier to get the lemon juice in their mouth from a distancer rather than trying to shove the blunt end inside their tentacles.
We'll see if they actually die off. They really shriveled up! I hope I got those little Bas@*$%#!!!

[kzziboy]

I used the lemon juice treatment just last night! I bought a syringe from a local farm/ranch type store. They carry them along with needles and such for livestock like cattle and horses. I got the syringe and a pack of needles for $2.50. I like the needle on the syringe because it's easier to get the lemon juice in their mouth from a distancer rather than trying to shove the blunt end inside their tentacles.
We'll see if they actually die off. They really shriveled up! I hope I got those little Bas@*$%#!!!

[swanny]

+1 on simply boiling water and nuking them. Works every time for me and have not seen them reappear ever.

[whitemarlin]

A little late i see, but if each rock only had a few on each piece, all you needed to do was pull the rock and use a lighter or propane torch and burn them to death. then a quick rinse in saltwater and back in the tank.

[joec]

Odd question for the people recommending blasting them with boiling water...

Do you boil RO water, salt water or tap water?