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I thought this could be an interesting subject today because we all have some sort of experience and if you haven't then rest assured that you will! Aiptasia! Sooooo what leads me to this topic today? Rather, why have I worded the title in such a way that it might suggest I "leave aiptasia alone?" I'm glad you asked! First let me say that I do not condone or advise people to not eradicate aiptasia as quickly as they can. But I am curious so let's proceed.
As mentioned in an earlier QOTD topic I have been really "hands off" with my tank for the past year and it has blossomed. Not only has it done well color, coral growth and algae wise but it's also had an issue or two and one of them being that some aiptasia popped up many months ago. More like a year ago. Being that I was hands off at the time I decided to roll the dice and if the aiptasia got out of hand I would throw in some berghia nudis to devour them. Well as time marched on the aiptasia got worse and spread a little more. Still I held out. Over time though I noticed that they were starting to diminish! The fields of aiptasia were disappearing. A few BIG ONES had set up filtering stations and claimed homes of their own but the masses started diminishing. Where were they going? I don't have any aiptasia predators in the tank, that I'm aware of. But it did get me thinking that maybe there was something to this. Let's talk about it today!
1. Do you ever just leave aiptasia alone?
2. What is your experience with leaving aiptasia alone, in a maintained tank? Not talking unmaintained, don't care about you, type of tanks.
image via @Cameron Martinez
As mentioned in an earlier QOTD topic I have been really "hands off" with my tank for the past year and it has blossomed. Not only has it done well color, coral growth and algae wise but it's also had an issue or two and one of them being that some aiptasia popped up many months ago. More like a year ago. Being that I was hands off at the time I decided to roll the dice and if the aiptasia got out of hand I would throw in some berghia nudis to devour them. Well as time marched on the aiptasia got worse and spread a little more. Still I held out. Over time though I noticed that they were starting to diminish! The fields of aiptasia were disappearing. A few BIG ONES had set up filtering stations and claimed homes of their own but the masses started diminishing. Where were they going? I don't have any aiptasia predators in the tank, that I'm aware of. But it did get me thinking that maybe there was something to this. Let's talk about it today!
1. Do you ever just leave aiptasia alone?
2. What is your experience with leaving aiptasia alone, in a maintained tank? Not talking unmaintained, don't care about you, type of tanks.
image via @Cameron Martinez