Aiptasia Outbreak!!

[brianaM10]

So we bought a small Zoanthid coral shortly after we got our tank up, running and alive. It's doing great, but we noticed a small anemone growing on it after a while. Thinking it was like a cool bonus, it got bigger and bigger. I found out it was an Aiptasia anemone which is an invasive species, and was told it was bad for zoanthid coral. I did notice the bigger it got, my coral wouldn't open up. Upon instructions from my local fish store person, I tried to remove it, yes the big one is gone, but now they are growing everywhere in my tank! I purchased two peppermint shrimp, and nothing has happened since we got them except one died a little over a week after we got them, and now my coral is infested with them. How can I get rid of them, especially on my coral. I was told by different pet/fish stores that Aiptasia X works great, but is it safe to use on the anemone on my coral? I seen straight lemon juice works also. But not everything read online works, so I figured someone here had a personal experience with this that could help? Don't want to kill that

 

[brianaM10]

Sorry about repeat pics, didn't realize I did that many of the same one

 

[hdsoftail1065]

I haven't personally tried this but have heard good things about it.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/f-aiptasia-rocks.627406/

 

[roger.baltayan]

I bought a couple peppermint shrimps a 6 months ago and have never seen anothet aptasia...they are nocturnal tho so i never see them.

 

[Addy1]

I have had great success with Peppermint Shrimp. They seemed to get rid of the aiptasia but they returned after I introduced some wild collected coral to my tank. I now have resorted to using F-Aiptasia which was posted above. I only recently started to use it but have read great results as well. It seems like a combination of Peppermint Shrimp and F-Aiptasia would be a good remedy.

 

[Peace River]

Sorry about repeat pics, didn't realize I did that many of the same one

If you want to remove any pictures you can select “edit” and then “more options” to get to the screen where you can make the changes.

 

[brianaM10]

I was hoping the peppermint shrimp would have at least helped. But I have more now than what I started with when I brought them home.

 

[scobeyra]

Stop feeding any food for a few days. Once the shrimp get hungry enough, they'll chow down on them.

 

[Emarley]

I was hoping the peppermint shrimp would have at least helped. But I have more now than what I started with when I brought them home.

Peppermint shrimp can be hit and miss, some will eat them, some won’t!!!

 

[flchamp89]

Superglue or reef putty can work too. Especially on the smaller ones.

 

[Cment]

Berghia nudis. Not cheap but works amazingly well

https://reeftown.com

 

[cmcoker]

I'll third the f-aiptasia, works well. Actually gonna run by Frank's this weekend to get another bottle to treat some I missed on the first go round.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/f-aiptasia.542934/

 

[TheGreatWave]

Honestly you are going to want to throw those coral out and keep your fingers crossed. The mistake you made, well two mistakes is killing the big one and not quarantining the zoa first. Most of us have done it.

Don't start buying livestock, people suggest all kinds of things without even looking at the size of your tank. Non of these eradicate them, they cant reach them plumbing. Just trust me dont do it. Some people with large enough tanks can try a certain species to keep them at bay, that is fine because they also know that it may not work, they have the space and lots of other fish. (Do you want your only two fish to be a filefish and some other problem solver lol) Some of these animals spread it around as much they eat it so that you may never see the end of it.

Your tank looks relatively new so you may be getting off easy if you restart, it's probably going to be a long road ahead if you don't, there is no need to punish yourself when your tank is so young.

I'm not even going to suggest any chemicals because it's too late. If you hadn't of killed the big one causing them to spread, you might have got it with Aiptasia X etc.

 

[Bob Weigant]

I have great luck with peppermints but as stated earlier it’s hit and miss. I’ve gone as far and torched them to death once before.

 

[ZoWhat]

This works 100% of the time

 

[RouJr]

I got 2 15mm peppermint shrimp 2 months ago cause I had aptasia and also microhydroids on the glass. I have not seen any aptasia or hydroids since about 2 weeks after they went in. Also hadn't seen the shrimp till last night cause they hide in 5kg of liverock rubble all day. they have quadrupled in size in 2 months.

 

[Leadfooted]

Not sure if you know but you also have some brown palys that you might want to research. They're mixed in with you Aptasia in the pictures. These are the toxic ones to be mindful of.

 

[RouJr]

arent they just toxic like all zoas?

 

[TheGreatWave]

arent they just toxic like all zoas?

What does "just toxic" mean lol.

 

[Leadfooted]

Please read for better understanding. By the way I have a massive colony of these that I can't remove from main rock until I decide to remove the whole rock from the display one day. I don't mess with mine and they don't mess with me, all is well but if I could go back to when I onlyhad a few like you, I'd take more action and probably toss the whole rock in the back yard under a lot of dirt.

https://reefs.com/2015/09/14/the-dangers-and-myths-of-zoa-toxicity-part-1/