Aiptasia...Avoidable or Inevitable?

[D'sreef]

I was aptasia free for a long time, then had one or two pop up. My peppermint shrimp done a fantastic job at keeping the tank clean. I hadn't seen any in months. Low and behold I have a single in my return pump chamber. So, I think they are definitely manageable. Now the tiny feather dusters I have everywhere might be a different story.

 

[chema]

I have voted that it is avoidable. Indeed it is if you keep organisms that predate them. In my case most of the large angelfish I have or I have had would eat them. It has been a long long time since I saw the last aiptasia in my tank. When that happened they were growing in hidden places. Just by moving the rocks and exposing them the next morning they were gone.

 

[steveschuerger]

So yes it’s inevitable that they show up “aiptasia will find a way”-Ian Malcom, but there a lots of ways to mitigate them with both made made and natural predator ways(my preferred method). I’ve used both peppermint shrimp in smaller tanks and in a 90 I had a copperband that ate the majority of them

 

[Danjoethepirate]

Death, Taxes, and Aptasia!

 

[MikeyZo]

I've been very frugal inspecting my corals and dipping them etc. The only thing I do not do is a seperate observation/quarantine tank. I had one frag that popped up an aptasia in the middle of some zoas 3 weeks after putting it on my frag rack. I had another rock from my previous tank that never had aptasia for 6 months all of a sudden pop one out. I think they are unavoidable unless you have a long quarantine process/tank. Same with bubble algae. I had a torch that I have had for 6 months and just last week I noticed bubble algae on the base of the plug.

Same. No matter how much I’ve inspected and dipped, a few showed up.

 

[RichReef]

I used to think I could keep it out and never get it after 11 years straight of never having it. I never even put a frag plug in my tank. All corals were removed from the plugs and or rocks. Dipped. The whole 9 yards. Yeah I was the MASTER.

Until I got it.

 

[Nor'easter Reefer]

While avoidable, most of us don’t follow the same regimented protocol as Tahoe61 so we will experience Aptasia. For those people, say hello to my little friend….

Unfortunately mine eats like a pig, and wont touch aptasia. Little mysis snob.

 

[Luke Schnabel]

I think that you increase your odds of avoiding them by running a 72 day QT. These little guys could be microscopic and not show up for weeks and weeks till your naked eye can detect them. The downfall is if you detect them in QT, you have to rid them, then wait weeks and weeks more to be sure you got everything.

I do not consider Aiptaisa to be a "horrible pest" though... I leave that to AEF and Monti eating nudis. There are many options to keep these under control now. The best option will always be natural predators. Berghia are the best in my opinion.

 

[Saltysav96]

Id like to know what “dip” you guys are using that kills aptasia.. in my 10ish years of reef keeping, I’ve never known dipping frags to kill aiptasia. Only pest like FW etc…

From my experience, it’s dang near impossible to avoid. Yeah you might avoid it for the first couple years but you will EVENTUALLY get it.

Not every coral can be removed from plug and re glued.


Yeah you can fully inspect and QT. But baby aiptasia are very easy to miss. It can even come in through snail/hermit shells.

Over the years, Ive tried file fish (they all die within a few weeks or eat your coral) ,peppermint shrimp ( doesnt touch them) , franks aiptasia, lemon juice , kalk paste , aptasia x , etc and those all cause it to spread like wildfire .

My current tank has a horrible outbreak of aiptasia. (My whole right side of the tank has no corals on the rock because there is so much aiptasia).

Since September of last year, I have probably added 50 berghia (not all at the time ) and it has barely put a dent in the population. I check usually 2-3 times a week with lights off and usually I see 1-4 berghia . Sometimes none .

It’s like the aiptasia reproduces faster than the berghia are consuming them.

I’ve looked into the Aussie stripey, but I’ve read 50/50 chance they will eat coral. The other issue I have is, you can’t hardly find them in stock anywhere online
None of the fish stores around me get them in either and when I’ve asked, they seem like they can’t even get them.


Also considered a copperband . Finicky, hard to get to eat AND the chances of it surviving my yellow tang and hippo tang that I’ve had over 5 years is very unlikely.

 

[Jeff70227]

Bought a frag from a disreputable online dealer - saw an aiptaisia in the frag a week after placing in my tank. Being a cheap butt, I tried to scrape it off and replace the frag. Then, a week after replacing it in my tank, it showed up elsewhere. I tried everything - shrimp, nudibranchs, file fish - nothing worked. Population exploded.
Got so bad that I went nuclear option and removed ALL the rock from my tank. Then I used a turkey baster to suck up the ones left in the sand bed. Waiting a month to reinstall the rock, but 3 weeks in, have not seen a single aiptaisia.

 

[EricR]

I guess I've been lucky 'cause I've never seen one in any of my tanks. Current tank has been running over 4.5 years,,, couple others for shorter times prior.

...and, I don't even QT corals even though I know I should.
I do dip and get rid of frag plugs if possible or cut away as much as possible if not.

The only other thing I do to actively avoid them is that I've purchased all of my corals from one local coral shop where I've never "seen" any and avoid another where I have seen them.