POLL: Do you have aiptasia in your reef tank?

[Miami Reef]

Do you have aiptasia? If so, how do you manage it? If you don’t have aiptasia, how did you prevent them?

 

[bolson]

I had one pop up and I covered it with coral glue, seems to have worked!

 

[Utubereefer]

I had a big outbreak a while back so I grabbed a 10 pack of peppermint shrimp from WWC… they took care of the issue in 2 weeks time. Then I had to remove and rehome half of them because they were fighting for food. Now I see one every once and a while but not for long.

 

[chemisfun11]

I am not sure if there any survivors left. Been in this hobby over 15 years. I tried all the biological controls... nudis, peppermint shrimp, filefish etc. But the aiptasia were never completely gone.

I recently have gone on a mission to eradicate the annoying brown anemone with an onslaught of F-aiptasia and Aiptasi-X. The first product was great for the majority of the aiptasia and very few if any returned in those locations. Some angles and locations made its use a challenge, but definitely a solid product.

Over the next several months I would attack any remaining aiptasia with Aiptasia-X on a weekly basis. It was easier to use in a shorter window of time.

I am happy to report that I have had no sightings the last few weeks. Have I won? Did I accomplish my goal? Not sure I want to celebrate quite yet. Time will tell. I have definitely made the issue manageable with persistence and dedication to eradicating this pest.

I also pay careful attention to any new additions to the tank. I remove frag plugs and isolate new additions to make sure I am not constantly reintroducing the ugly brown anemones back into my tank.

Only bad things happen fast in reefing, good things take time.

 

[ColoredRock]

I have a few.. but also have a six line wrasse.. I tried the shrimp.. or I should say the 6 line had shrimp for dinner.. I put the shrimp in well after dark.. saw him for a couple days.. thought the aiptasia was dwindling.. .. ugh for me not that big of an issue..

I have tried the other products.... turn off all flow after applying and let it cement the little suckers in.

 

[ApoIsland]

Do you have aiptasia? If so, how do you manage it? If you don’t have aiptasia, how did you prevent them?

A copper banded butterfly in the display and a peppermint shrimp in the sump keeps them under control.

 

[Bfragale]

I have them pop up here and there- I keep a file fish (not sure if he works or not- no one wants to work these days )

my favorite method of eradicating them is a glob of kelkwasser paste on top of them. Does the trick lol

I’ve also tried f-Aptasia. It worked for me but kelkwasser is cheap, readily available and works like a charm!

 

[reefGoat]

Lol. Anyone that votes no either hasn't been in the hobby long enough or hasn't looked close enough. The right tank inhabitants will hide the problem until you look in overflows, plumbing, or sumps.

 

[PR_nano]

I have some in the back chambers of AIO. Display is kept Aiptasia free by 2 peppermint shrimp.

 

[Lavey29]

Are there different types of aprasia? I have small brown ones in the sand and larger purple ones on my rocks?

 

[ColoredRock]

Are there different types of aprasia? I have small brown ones in the sand and larger purple ones on my rocks?

Aiptasia Anemones - Reef Aquarium

Aiptasi sp is a type of pest anemone that infest reef aquariums and it should although beautiful be removed from an aquarium as soon as possible.

www.reefaquarium.com

 

[damsels are not mean]

I have seen aiptasia once in my first tank which is still running 10 years later. Got it on a frag and nuked it with kalk paste and never saw anymore. Tank is well fed, full of life, and not really bonsai'd at all so they would be all over if that didn't work years go. With the prevalence of aquaculture for corals and less use of LR I don't think aiptasia is unavoidable like it used to be.

 

[ying yang]

I bought a small zoa rock with maybe 40 polyps,2 kinds so roughly 20 of each and after one day in dt noticed 2- 3 very small aiptasia when lights out and zoa polyps retracted,epoxied it on another rock on sandbed and in last 2 months I noticed about 5 so far,I've zoomed in all around my 2 main rock structures and noticed 0 so either not spread or my copperband is eating them ( bought the cbb just incase get aiptasia as read threads like these that majority will get aiptasia at one point or another

My plan is to do something I seen @Tamberav Mention many times which is fill a needle with boiling water and Inject into mouth if aiptasia,so when get around to moving zoa to its final resting place I will do this in a Container outside of the tank and hopefully get them all and hopefully doesnt make them spread or get more somehow ^_^

My cbb pays no attention to the zoa rock when lights are on so not sure if it's because aiptasia are small and doesn't rise above polyps ( 1 is below the polyps o. Rock itself so should be able see that ) or my cbb not interested In aiptasia idk lol

 

[Jedi1199]

Found 1 in my 55 a while back, Took out the rock it was on and scrubbed it clean, let it dry out for a few days and put it back in. Didn't see any more for a couple months. Last week I saw another fairly large one in my tank and did something stupid... Tried to grab it with forceps and yank it out.. BAD BAD move.. It broke apart like a car window.. I am sure I am in for a MAJOR outbreak now. I am however being proactive on this and have a trip planned tomorrow to pick up a few peppermint shrimps to hopefully combat the impending issue.

 

[Miami Reef]

Thanks guys!

Here’s why I made this thread. I’m setting up a new tank with dry rocks and I want to be sure I don’t introduce aiptasia by quarantining all my livestock prior.

I have a clam in QT. It had 2 small aiptasia on its shell, so I glued it and haven’t seen any pop up. I think to myself, “this is easy!”

Then I bring home a lobo. It had 2 larger aiptasias and it has much more crevices. I glued them.

I checked 2 days later and I see teeny tiny aiptasia babies. I think I found 2. I thought to myself, is this even going to work? Look how small they are, who knows how much this lobo has. Is 1 month even enough?

I’ve been brainstorming so much. My brain came up with an idea with HCl (aq) and a q tip to apply acid all over the calcium base to kill any spores, but it’s just not possible to do that without contaminating the QT water. It could even damage the coral!


So, I spoke to eatbreakfast and he said he had great success with a pyramid butterfly eating aiptasia. It makes me feel good knowing there are some natural options.

 

[Lavey29]

I think ima gonna murder some tomorrow.

 

[mehaffydr]

Years ago I had a bad outbreak of Aptasia in my 225 reef and I purchased a Kliens Butterfly. After a few months they were all gone and I rehomed the fish as he started on Zoa's.
In my new tank a few weeks ago I noticed the first one and then it seamed like just a few days later there were 20-30. I am currently doing 35 days of Hyposalinity so it will be interesting to see if they can survive this.

 

[DHill6]

I tried berghia three times, they kept disappearing, a lot of money wasted there. Then lemon juice into mouth didn’t work, next trial was glueing them in. The final step was 1 peppermint shrimp which wiped them out within a couple days and I haven’t seen one since.

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Aiptasia are only hated because of the name. Rename them some crazy name like other corals and suddenly they are $500 a frag . Golden Fan Brandy. There you go.

Anyway, my best results came from a male matted file fish. It took 3 weeks but once he started to eat them he finished a few hundred in a week. Be warned, once they are in your tank, most likely they will come back no mater what. I got rid of mine for 4 years, once the conditions were right they just showed back up.

 

[Bfragale]

Are there different types of aprasia? I have small brown ones in the sand and larger purple ones on my rocks?

Maybe majanos