Aiptasia paradise

[Rocks reef]

I agree on a CBB or Kleini.
The Kleini adapt easier to captivity versus a CBB. Sometimes, more often that not, it is difficult to get them feeding and they with away.
However, since you have plenty of aptasia to do offer. It may go swimmingly well… see what I did there?

 

[machmachmach]

Thanks everyone. Going to give a CBB or Kleini a try. Will report back

 

[SaltyMix]

Wow! That’s an invasion.

If this was my tank, on top of what you’ve done. I would also get 4-5 peppermint shrimp. I have had seriously good luck with them. I had an outbreak in the past and now I have 0. 3 peppermint shrimp did some serious work around the tank and worked together to take down really large ones. I’m amazed with what they did. I never saw them in the works but I slowly noticed all the aptasia disappear.

Careful with the peppermint shrimps, but i fully agree. Mine have gone rogue after eating about 90% of the aiptasia they nibble on coral, kill conches, and took out a Lettus Nudibranch as a snack. Once they've had their fill, they will absolutely turn to other snack foods, so be prepared to catch/rehome them once the aiptasia is under control.

 

[Reef Jedi]

Careful with the peppermint shrimps, but i fully agree. Mine have gone rogue after eating about 90% of the aiptasia they nibble on coral, kill conches, and took out a Lettus Nudibranch as a snack. Once they've had their fill, they will absolutely turn to other snack foods, so be prepared to catch/rehome them once the aiptasia is under control.

Wow I’m surprised yours went after all that. Mine don’t touch a thing and are eating frozen since they’ve eliminated all the aptasia.

 

[Biokabe]

My tanks have been as bad as yours in the past. It's always a roll of the dice for me until I finally find something that works for that tank. It's never been the same thing.

• Peppermints have never worked for me. I've tried them at least 10 different times, all from vendors that guaranteed that they were a species that ate aiptasia. They've never made a difference from what I've seen.
• Manual control has also never worked for me. Maybe I'm just not diligent enough. But AiptasiaX, lemon juice, boiling water, kalk paste, F Aiptasia. They would all kill the aiptasia that I used them on, but they could never stop the distress spread. So inevitably, after an initial dip, the population of aiptasia would rebound with a vengeance.
• The ReefDelete UV torch... also not terribly effective except as an early intervention. If you have full access to your tank and can easily get a good angle on all the aiptasia, it will kill them, and pretty effectively. However, I'm not sure that the claim of killing their reproductive ability is true unless you can just sit there and blast the aiptasia for 5-10 minutes each. Not really feasible when there are dozens or hundreds of aiptasia.
• Berghia will eat them, but I'm not convinced that they're an effective long-term solution. Paradoxically, the fact that they only eat aiptasia is what makes them less effective. Berghia aren't terribly great predators and succeed through essentially swarm tactics. Once aiptasia drops below a critical level, there's a pretty good chance that your berghia will starve before they finish eliminating the aiptasia. And that's before you remember that many fish consider them a tasty snack.
• Bristletail filefish will work, especially the captive-bred ones from Biota - they're raised with aiptasia as a food source. However, it can take some time before they decide to start eating aiptasia, and they can sometimes be opportunistic towards corals. I like them as an option for small-medium tanks - they don't get too big, they'll eat other stuff too, they're fairly hardy and they have a certain ugly charm to them. For larger tanks, they might not have a big enough appetite.
• Copperband butterfly... I've heard good things about them, but mine never even though about eating an aiptasia before suiciding against a powerhead six weeks after adding him. If you can get one that survives and it eats aiptasia it's a fantastic option.
• Yellow Pyramid butterfly. I had one and it was hands-down my favorite fish. Mine ate aiptasia and kept my tank mostly aiptasia free until I lost him in a tank transfer. Easier to keep than a copperband, but from what I understand the fact that mine ate aiptasia was unusual. Some coral risk, but not much - mine went after acans until I started feeding nori every day, and then he stopped.

Those are the control methods I've used. The only ones I've had long-term success with are the filefish and the pyramid butterfly.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Well, this certainly is a lot of aiptasia

I'll just say go with what others have stated, and hoping you can get this cleared up!

 

[SaltyMix]

Wow I’m surprised yours went after all that. Mine don’t touch a thing and are eating frozen since they’ve eliminated all the aptasia.

RIGHT? Me too. And I feed them. Like spot feed them daily because they clearly are so hungry.

 

[Bugenar]

Hi all,

For background, I have a Red Sea Reefer S1000 (~265gal) that has been up since early 2024. I've spent a bunch of time automating my tank so that I can manage it along with family and work. Part of that automation involves an Avast Marine Plank auto-feeder (very highly recommend) broadcast-feeding a blend of re-hydrated foods during daylight hours.

While this feeding has done wonders for the health of my fish and corals, I've also unintentionally engineered the perfect conditions for aiptasia, and I'm looking for some advice to manage the infestation (hopefully in a very low-maintenance way). I definitely don't have time to do any major manual removal, and I would estimate that there are many thousands of aiptasia in the tank so that seems impossible anyway.

I recently introduced 25 berghia nudibranchs last week after introducing around 10-15 6 month ago to no effect. I'm hoping the larger count and better acclimation (lights off + in a cave) will have better results, but I'm hoping for some other suggestions as well. I've had people mention a copperband butterfly, but I'm worried it won't have a taste for aiptasia and/or might eat desirable corals and/or the nudibranchs.



A snapshot of my latest parameters is below. Happy to answer any additional questions if it would be helpful.

sweet jesus. my tank was at that level at one point.

the answer is berghia nudibranchs, lots of them. I set up a little hang-on tank that lets the nudibranchs lay eggs and exist, then I plop them in all over once they hatch.

the issue with nudibranchs is time, it will take a long time for them to clear one rock. what I did was just set the coral up on frag racks away from the aiptasia if thats possible... the nudibranchs is an ensured victory, just promise you will not introduce peppermint shrimp as they hunt them (and your coral!).

 

[Bugenar]

Wow! That’s an invasion.

If this was my tank, on top of what you’ve done. I would also get 4-5 peppermint shrimp. I have had seriously good luck with them. I had an outbreak in the past and now I have 0. 3 peppermint shrimp did some serious work around the tank and worked together to take down really large ones. I’m amazed with what they did. I never saw them in the works but I slowly noticed all the aptasia disappear.

if OP added nudibranchs to the tank already (assuming they're not dead) peppermints would just hunt and destroy that population, wasting that effort...think about the nudibranchs!

pepps are overrated anyways, once they're done with the aiptasia all your coral are next.

 

[Luke Schnabel]

Most of the people who say Berghia didn't work are probably because they bought juveniles, and they were eaten by a predator. That is why I only sell LARGE breeding adults. They are less likely to become a snack, AND they will instantly breed, increasing the odds of success.

I've always told people that you add Berghia to your display tank. But, we all know that Aiptasia live in the sump and overflow boxes as well. You have about a 50/50 chance of Berghia getting into your sump to eat that aiptasia. I tell people if you ever see Berghia out and about in your tank after a few weeks/months, put them in your sump as well.

Starting with large adults, you will be at a critical mass population in a shorter timeframe. Can Berghia remove ALL aiptaisa? They can, but it doesn't always happen. Much better chance to get all aiptasia than a predator fish, because you can add these to places your fish can't be.

 

[BobTheBlenney]

With your size tank, I would get a CBB in a heartbeat, maybe 2 CBB simply because I think they're beautiful fish. As for aiptasia, berghia worked for me in my 20g. I put them in at night after my wrasses were asleep. After a couple of weeks the aiptasia began to disappear one by one. That was last year and I haven't seen any in the display since. They still pop up in the back of the AIO, but I get those with a toothbrush dipped in H2O2.

 

[Neilie]

I could tell you I had a Aptasia issue not as bad as yours, I added an Australian stripey and fed the tank before putting him in to avoid the other fish to pick on him. He ate the frozen food immediately, and cleaned out hundreds of Aptasia over night.

 

[Notsolostfish]

For me- Kleini butterfly which eats them like candy

Does not eat your corals?

 

[Notsolostfish]

For me- Kleini butterfly which eats them like candy

Does not nip on your corals?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Does not nip on your corals?

Mine does not but they are capable of but seldom do

 

[Ergo531]

Hi all,

For background, I have a Red Sea Reefer S1000 (~265gal) that has been up since early 2024. I've spent a bunch of time automating my tank so that I can manage it along with family and work. Part of that automation involves an Avast Marine Plank auto-feeder (very highly recommend) broadcast-feeding a blend of re-hydrated foods during daylight hours.

While this feeding has done wonders for the health of my fish and corals, I've also unintentionally engineered the perfect conditions for aiptasia, and I'm looking for some advice to manage the infestation (hopefully in a very low-maintenance way). I definitely don't have time to do any major manual removal, and I would estimate that there are many thousands of aiptasia in the tank so that seems impossible anyway.

I recently introduced 25 berghia nudibranchs last week after introducing around 10-15 6 month ago to no effect. I'm hoping the larger count and better acclimation (lights off + in a cave) will have better results, but I'm hoping for some other suggestions as well. I've had people mention a copperband butterfly, but I'm worried it won't have a taste for aiptasia and/or might eat desirable corals and/or the nudibranchs.



A snapshot of my latest parameters is below. Happy to answer any additional questions if it would be helpful.

Hi, I have been breeding berghias and struggling growing aiptasia to keep up with production, so I am actually amazed at this growth. How long did it take the aiptasia to get to this point? Beautiful tank BTW.

 

[machmachmach]

Hi, I have been breeding berghias and struggling growing aiptasia to keep up with production, so I am actually amazed at this growth. How long did it take the aiptasia to get to this point? Beautiful tank BTW.

Maybe I can start an aiptasia farm. It really exploded the last year since I got the Plank feeder. I feed every hour during daylight hours with a mix of TDO A/B1, BeneReef, NLS Algaemax, Golden Pearls, and ReefRoids

 

[Ergo531]

Hi, I have been breeding berghias and struggling growing aiptasia to keep up with production, so I am actually amazed at this growth. How long did it take the aiptasia to get to this point? Beautiful tank BTW.

Maybe I can start an aiptasia farm. It really exploded the last year since I got the Plank feeder. I feed every hour during daylight hours with a mix of TDO A/B1, BeneReef, NLS Algaemax, Golden Pearls, and ReefRoids

Good to know and appreciate the reply. I'm looking to upgrade my aiptasia culture with more reef grade equipment. Best of luck dealing with infestation. Keep us posted.

 

[Notsolostfish]

Any update on this thread?