Aiptasia - Is it possible to eliminate 100% ??

[Big Chief]

Hello,

My question: Is it possible to remove Aiptasia completely, 100%? Or will there always be some small breakouts over time?

Background: I have a 16g Nano, running for approx 6 months. About 3 months into it, Aiptasia started to emerge... at first I didnt think much, but heard they can spread... within a month, I had about 10-15 scattered. Stupidly, I still didnt react yet... after 2 months, there were 20-30 and some getting close to 1 inch total length. I inquired at the LFS and they instantly gave me "Joe's Juice". I was hesitant to use it... but when I did, they got nuked FAST. But, there are still small one's (less than 1/4")... hard to see, hard to treat them.

So... am I wasting time hunting them down? Will there always be some small ones to deal with? Or do I keep hunting until the problem is Nuked?

Thanks,

[Astroreefer]

I have seemingly erradicated them in two tanks. I injected them with hydrogen peroxide every time one popped up and I didn't see anymore after about a month and haven't seen any since

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[biomek]

a matted filefish cleaned my 220 out in a couple of weeks and never saw any since. but heard they are hit and miss though. none the less a cool fish for sure!

[ca1ore]

Possibe, yes; probable, no. I've employed various biological controls over the years and assumed they were completely gone, only to observe them return once the control was gone.

[Big Chief]

Seems like I shouldn't give up on getting rid of them (keep them controlled)... but don't drive myself nuts if they won't go away completely.

I like the idea of using a fish to help control them. The Matted filefish looks cool. Are there any other fish I should consider?

Tank is 16 gal with LR and (1) Bangai cardinalfish and small polps. I know I can only support 2-3 fish max... so I have been carefully considering what to add... looking for "cool fish" but also "functional" fish that will help the tank overall.

Thanks again,

[scar79]

If you intend on keeping the tank alive in the process (i.e. not bleaching the system) it's improbable that they will be 100% eliminated. You can certainly get 99% of them via manual removal and by introducing a natural predator like a butterfly, but if you remove the natural predator, you can't be surprised when they pop back up again.

I think they key is to just keep them in check. When you see one, take care of it. they'll multiply exponentially so nip it at the bud.

[Grayhead]

In my old 75, I had a major infestation. Purchased a matted file fish. He cleared the display in a matter of weeks. Also cleaned my polys and zoa's. I have tried since to introduce zoas with no luck. In that system, I still had them in the overflow box and fuge.
With my new system, so far I haven't saw any. So a file fish is a good place to start, but not if you value your zoas. He may have attributed to the death of my open brain as well. Caught him picking at it after it suddenly receded

[lionfish300]

a matted filefish cleaned my 220 out in a couple of weeks and never saw any since. but heard they are hit and miss though. none the less a cool fish for sure! I also used this method after try Joe juice without success. CB is another that did well. But a 16 gallons is tough for these fish. The Matted filefish is 30 gallons min. according to LA

[tonysi]

Berghia worked for me, expensive option but it worked.

[Mikereef1]

+1 it's the only thing that has a diet of aptasia only. They worked for me and havnt had a single aiptasia since

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[Lavoisier]

Berghia work. With your 16g tank you would want to remove them after the aptasia are gone so they do not starve and foul your water.

[Hentz]

I had a bad bad outbreak at one point. 2 Peppermint Shrimp and 5 days later, I never had aiptaisa again.

[izza1125]

Peppermint shrimp took care of my Aiptasia problem and I never saw one after that. Been over a year.

[FirstContact]

If you intend on keeping the tank alive in the process (i.e. not bleaching the system) it's improbable that they will be 100% eliminated. You can certainly get 99% of them via manual removal and by introducing a natural predator like a butterfly, but if you remove the natural predator, you can't be surprised when they pop back up again.

I think they key is to just keep them in check. When you see one, take care of it. they'll multiply exponentially so nip it at the bud.

+1 I don't believe you can really be aiptasia free unless you bleach all the rocks and make sure there are none on the tank or in the sand bed over a period of weeks before the rock is put back in. Trying to keep them in check through biological predation or chemical decimation just drove me crazy. I primarily worked with bergia and kalk paste. Who knows at what stages in life they survive at in the water column, in the refugium, in the piping. Extremely hard to get free of them without starting over.

[Voodoojar]

How much LR can possibly be in a 16G tank? Is there any way you could cure a new batch of dry rock in a separate system, even a trashcan then just completely swap your aquascape?

On my Old system which ran this way for 5 years. I had Aiptasia in my sump but none in the DT. My sump had probably 200lbs of TB live rock but my display was started with all super clean dry rock. A mesh filter over my return kept the big stuff out of the DT. I'm employing this same method on my new tank and it seems to be working out as well.

[CStrickland]

I've had very good luck with aiptasia. I think once you have an infestation, it's a very different issue, but just for reference it is possible to keep it out of your tank. When I buy a new frag I acclimate it somewhere I can see it from all angles. I keep an eye on it and if an aip pops up I hit it with kalk paste. I also have a wrasse that nips at the rocks all day, I known he eats little hydroids and spirirbids, it wouldn't surprise me if he's taking care of baby aips too.

Obvi once they have colonized your pipes and sump it's a war of attrition. But no i don't think it has to be that way

[saf1]

Both possible and probable. Just like everything else within this hobby few solutions and different ones have varying levels of success.

Peppermint shrimp
Matted Filefish
Threadfin butterfly fish / Chaetodon aurega
Berghia

I've personally had success, long term, with peppermint shrimp and the matted file fish. I've also used Berghia years ago but they are not my go to anymore due to their short life expectancy and dependency on the pest / Aiptasia to survive. Everything else just depends on your tank size.

Possible, very possible and doesn't require sun drying your rock, tearing down, etc.

[disc1]

I used joes juice to get the ones I could see and a couple of peppermint shrimp to stop the little tiny ones trying to come back. Took a few weeks but I haven't seen another one pop up in a couple of years.

[gone fishin]

Possibe, yes; probable, no. I've employed various biological controls over the years and assumed they were completely gone, only to observe them return once the control was gone.

I agree, about once a month or so I will go an aiptasia hunt. There is something satisfying about watching one melt away.

[Big Chief]

Awesome... I appreciate all the feedback.

I was considering a peppermint shrimp afew months back... for the looks of it... didnt realize they helped with the Aiptasia also. Alittle concerned of what it might do to any corals though... but if need be, I'll trap it and give it to a friend or trade it back.

Pulling the rocks is not really an option I would consider. I actually already bleached them about 6 months ago when I started the tank. I have just under 10lbs of rock... 6 lbs was bleached/cured for several weeks when I started the tank... but I grabbed 1 rock from the LFS to help jump start and cycle the tank... it did an amazing job, also coraline is everywhere now... I'm sure this is where the Aiptasia started as well.

I think I got enough to make a move... thanks again.

[ThRoewer]

Peppermint shrimp did the trick for me.

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[TimFountain]

File fish and targeted injection with calcium supplement and bingo, all gone. So yes, it is relatively easy.

[Nanighan]

+1 I don't believe you can really be aiptasia free unless you bleach all the rocks and make sure there are none on the tank or in the sand bed over a period of weeks before the rock is put back in. Trying to keep them in check through biological predation or chemical decimation just drove me crazy. I primarily worked with bergia and kalk paste. Who knows at what stages in life they survive at in the water column, in the refugium, in the piping. Extremely hard to get free of them without starting over.

This is the right answer. I fought them for many years (5+). If you remove the predator they will pop in again. I got fed up and soaked all my rocks in fresh water. Much happier for it.

[MrDaniel]

I have eradicated them from my tank 100% and haven't seen one in about two years. I never experience the full on outbreak that some have. Keep with it and make sure anytime you do see one you act quickly.

[2smokes]

Im aiptasia free in a coldwater and really dark aquarium.I would sometimes want to see an aiptasia.Without the light they get smaller and smaller,more transparent(even thogh i fed insane ammount of foods) and finally dissapear.

[saf1]

MrDaniel - yup. There are a lot of options to mitigate and overcome. Once contained then it is only a matter of how you introduce or add new corals and rocks. I've not seen one in over 7 years.

2smokes - they have a nick name of glass for that very reason :)

[hbrochs]

I use kalk paste on mine, and kinda view it as an ongoing battle.

I'm leary of peppermint shrimp pulling food out of my lps.

Berghia are really expensive, and then when they eat all the aiptasia the berghia will die.
Then I feel like the aiptasia will come back because they will have missed a few.

[devimik]

I wasted lots of money trying Berghia with no success. The first time I tried them, I believe I got too few of them due to price and never noticed any difference - never saw the Berghia again after putting them in the tank. Second time (a year later and many more Aiptasia too) I bought a lot more- but still didn't notice any decrease in Aiptasia - I believe all the Berghia were eaten, so a big waste of $.

I just started manually killing them with Aiptasia X and my Majano Wand - I made a dent, then one of my lights went out, so half the tank was darker for a couple of months - all the Aiptasia on that side went away,so that was good.

I had a good amount left though, but after getting a couple of Filefish, who ate them all, now, I am Aiptasia free - at least, I can't see any in the tank.

My Peppermint shrimp didn't work either, but the Filefish eradicated the Aiptasia.

[d0ughb0y]

it is possible, over time.

If you expect some instant fix, then I don't think that can happen.
Just use kalk paste. you need lots of patience and diligence to kill them whenever you see them, every day, or at least once a week.

[edinphilly]

Look into a Molly Miller Blenny


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[jason2459]

FWIW, darkness alone will not get rid of them. I welcome them in my sump which is unlit 99% of the time. Great filter feeders. They do loose pretty much most all their zooxanthellae and turn whitish/clearish. I keep on staff an army of pepermint shrimp at all times in my display tank which keeps them in check.

They can still get to a nice size
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20150622/f434822bcb65be161d7d2ee67c21ceb5.jpg

And to get rid of them you pretty much have to get every tiny piece which you wont see with your naked eye. Here's one under the microscope.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=24800148

All it takes is one of these pieces to get out. It's under 100 microns so most everyone's filter socks wouldn't filter it out.

https://c7.staticflickr.com/6/5515/30338664694_c2bea62063_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/NdVA2L)Aiptasia-0051 (https://flic.kr/p/NdVA2L) by Jason (https://www.flickr.com/photos/145000273@N07/), on Flickr


Here's one I found last night rummaging around some hair algae on one of my gyre circulation pumps.
https://c5.staticflickr.com/6/5652/30808339100_8f2c1411aa_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/NWqMSm)Hair_Algae_Pump-0016 (https://flic.kr/p/NWqMSm) by Jason (https://www.flickr.com/photos/145000273@N07/), on Flickr

[2smokes]

That aiptasia you keep in the dark should get smaller and smaller no matter how much you feed and die finally.Theyr photosynthetic anemones after all,cant live without light.In my verry dark aquarium i had somme big aiptasia that after a while started took like baby aiptasia and finally died.But it needs to be dark.Ive even had aiptasia moving from the display into the algae scrubber because they liked the light down there.If you have a big aiptasia in a dark place is possible that its just passing there but long term survival is out of question for them in the dark.

[jason2459]

That aiptasia you keep in the dark should get smaller and smaller no matter how much you feed and die finally.Theyr photosynthetic anemones after all,cant live without light.In my verry dark aquarium i had somme big aiptasia that after a while started took like baby aiptasia and finally died.But it needs to be dark.Ive even had aiptasia moving from the display into the algae scrubber because they liked the light down there.If you have a big aiptasia in a dark place is possible that its just passing there but long term survival is out of question for them in the dark.

They can most definitely live in the dark. They do not depend on their zooxanthellae. My sump is in my basement and unlit. Has been for many years.

[richard king]

I've had them live in an external Eheim cannister filter! Not much light in those.
FWIW, peppermints never worked for me.
Zapper didn't really work.
All the after market products failed. The big nems would actually blow the stuff out with great force.
Kalk paste probably worked, but once there are a lot of them, you'll never catch up...
Never tried the file fish. Some say they'll eat corals too.
My tank was 150 gallons. A large CBB from Australia did the trick very well. Within a few weeks he nailed every one. He lived for four years on a diet of frozen mysis and live black worms. I suspect he died when I cut back on his feeding schedule. They are pigs and my filtration needed to be stronger. If I kept up his feeding schedule, I strongly suspect he'd still be around and looking for any aptasia that thought about poking it's head out.

That's my 2 cents.

[Heuristic]

I'm new to Saltwater, but I've always been super aggressive with them. At the very first sign when I put in the LR I started blasting them with lemon juice down their mouths. I'm now weeks out and have yet to see a single one. No peppermint shrimp, no clean up crew, nothing.

[Kawasaki213]

What kind of tank is this? Cold and dark......Do you keep non photosynthesis corals only?

Im aiptasia free in a coldwater and really dark aquarium.I would sometimes want to see an aiptasia.Without the light they get smaller and smaller,more transparent(even thogh i fed insane ammount of foods) and finally dissapear.

[Tanthaitrung]

My Peppermint shrimp didn't work either, but the Filefish eradicated the Aiptasia.
Some people told Peppermint shrimps did not work but the guys they got were Camel shrimps. Even truth Peppermints but some of them do not work.

I don't think the fishes (Filefish, Copperband Butterflyfish ... etc) can eradicate Aiptasia. Their mouth can not pick the Aiptasia that hides in the rock. They are still there, you can not see them.

My Copperband Butterfly worked very well. After few weeks, I could not see any Aiptasia. When he got itch, I moved him to QT. My DT is now full of Aiptasias.

I read good reviews about Majano Wand Aiptasia, I'm thinking about this. Could you please tell me about it? What is the length (my DT is 27" deep)?

[Joe0813]

I have a 180 gallon and I had some pretty big ones with a ton of small ones... I bought 4 peppermint shrimp thinking they would only eat the little ones but nope... they even ate the big ones. Few hours before I put them in the tank I fed my fish pretty heavy since I wasn't going to feed the tank for a few days to make sure the shrimp were hungry. it worked... they ate every single one of the aiptasia

[HippieSmell]

I think it's incredibly difficult to completely eradicate aiptasia in a larger aquarium. I had a bristletail filefish that ate every visible aiptasia. Then, he died and I had the largest explosion of aiptasia I'd ever seen. Truly plague proportions within a matter of weeks. Now I've got two more bristletails and a copperband. The copperband is doing a great job eating them, but the sump is still infested. I've given up trying to eradicate and actually welcome them in the sump for their filtration abilities.

I tried berghia, as well. Spent $200, put them in the tank, never saw them again and never saw a reduction in aiptasia. Then, a year later I saw one, so they did survive.

Peppermints never worked, either. Tried them about three times.

[Astroreefer]

Great I've gone and jinxed myself. I said earlier that I haven't seen any since using H2O2, which was almost 2 years, and today I can see an aptasia...

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[hart24601]

Berghia worked for me, expensive option but it worked.

+1

If you don't have anything that will eat them.

They are small enough to get in just about everywhere and some even make it down to the sump when I had them. They also tend to last long enough to snag any stragglers. I think 100% is quite possible with them, if you don't add anything that could have more aptasia on it!


I should add that in another tank I had success with peppermint shrimp and eradiation, but I only spot fed the fish a tiny bit so the shrimp either ate aptasia or died and it worked.

[Big Chief]

UPDATE:

Thanks for the all the replies and insight... huge help.

So my tank is only a 16gal Nano. Some small zoas and frogspawn, 1 Banggai and lots of LR. LEDs and close to windows.

I ended up going with (1) Peppermint Shrimp... AND... it devoured the Aiptasia in a matter of days. :rollface:

Small tank, so fish would have been a tricky option. I read lots about people getting the wrong Shrimp and was ready to give it away if needed... but my LFS guy was beyond confident while speaking to him. Especially when I asked if they had any Peppermint Shrimp and his response was: No, we are out, but I have a shipment of "2000" coming in 3 days (I guess they sell a crap load). When he found out I only wanted 1... he brought me to a frag tank and found a random few he kept in there... also assuring my confidence it wouldnt hurt my corals.

Shrimp seems happy... Aiptasia is cleared. Thanks guys.

Note for anyone thinking about them... although they are super cool to watch, they spend ALOT of time hiding in rocks.