First Aiptasia sighting- what would you do?

[mysaltwatertank]

Just found my first Aiptasia, and I have notices this Kenya Tree has been struggling on and off.

Suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
James
My Saltwater Tank

 

[Jekyl]

I just added a peppermint shrimp

 

[Rjramos]

Just 1. I would just remove from tank and scrape it off with a razor blade. Other option is kalkwasser paste and inject with hypodermic needle and syringe

 

[ZoWhat]

Pull frag and razorblade it off

Do not do anything inside the tank as when disturbed Aiptasia spews out millions of regenerative spores

 

[saltybees]

 

[bradt24]

I agree with the other friends. Pull out of tank and razor blade.

 

[aquakj]

Yea like everyone else said if it’s just one just scrape it off...but if you want to always be sure they are gone get peppermint shrimp if you can they are the best when it comes to aiptasia

 

[1guydude]

Or fraf the kenya tree and throw the base of the kenya tree and the disc out.
The kenya tree will heal and re attach. It looks good imo just trying to get away from the little creepers.
D

 

[1guydude]

Frag*

 

[brandon429]

Be a little meaner than razor that way you take a bit of anchor

step up to small hobby flathead screwdriver and chip it out from up under

pls if you will, we can make a new article on absolute aiptasia control vs the retail methods which should be advertised as breeders of aiptasia with the occasional kill.


literally the whole hobby perpetuates the acts that cause reproduction


the above cannot be beaten and a razor is 100% preferable to any retail additive or injection or animal. Let’s start a work thread on total aiptasia ablation. Everything else is laughable kid gloving. Dont you just hate the little anemone, channel it #palpatinemode

 

[1guydude]

I agree. We need to band together and remove this pest! And say no more!
Strike!
Lol
D

 

[Tamberav]

Just scrape it off outside the tank... sometimes peppermints go after euphyllia corals and such so screw them guys.

 

[Garf]

I would scrape it into the bin then put a blob of superglue on the site, just in case

 

[RobertTheNurse]

Aiptasia X works but you have to apply properly to prevent not killing it completely.

Other option is to toss the frag. I woukdnt scrape it off. First of all they retract very easily...and when it does, what are you scraping?

 

[brandon429]

Someone find a hard one

knurled live rock

ten apparent reasons we should leave it in place to produce...ten more.

such as a few corals abutting the attachment zone, eleventh reason to rely on indirect controls and hope. A true test, this one above is easy.

take the tool and jamb it up under the anchor point and dig out more rock than was needed. Now the spot is blank. Wash it out with saltwater and plant a new coral on the old spot. Post the pic= how we handle live rocks with aiptasia nestled into a crevice. Attack the whole crevice, in that spot. Rinse out, put back re planted.

every aiptasia thread changes instantly into hands off, indirect, wait and see modes.

for once am offering to not

just once

like old school gardeners who get down on a knee and yank that rascal root and all, using an old rusty butterknife from 1972. can we just have one decisive action thread

heck, we can keep the retail purchases. Simply apply them to the former spot after first doing the right mode. That way the expenditure can still be made if determined, but the tank never had to risk another single aiptasia. My tank had one, once a long time ago. And then after I snapped the pic it instantly did not have one anymore ten seconds later, I snipped off the entire section of live rock with dirty toolbox wire cutters and set the rock back.

 

[Biokabe]

Yea like everyone else said if it’s just one just scrape it off...but if you want to always be sure they are gone get peppermint shrimp if you can they are the best when it comes to aiptasia

If you go the peppermint route, be aware that there are 6-10 species of peppermint, and not all of them will eat aiptasia. Buying from your LFS will be a mixed bag - here in the Pacific NW, our suppliers seem to not stock the aiptasia-eating peppermints. I've had dozens of peppermints over the years, and I have never had one eat a single aiptasia. I've heard that some online suppliers are more stringent in their species selections and will more reliably stock peppermints that actually eat aiptasia, but I haven't purchased a pep from one of them so I can't confirm that myself.

 

[Imaexpat2]

Just 1. I would just remove from tank and scrape it off with a razor blade. Other option is kalkwasser paste and inject with hypodermic needle and syringe

That would be my best power play! Mix some Kalkwasser into a slurry like Half and Half of condensed can milk, suck some up in a syringe from your local feed store, put that needle just above the Aptasia and slowly squirt out a cloud that will engulf it. It will suck in some of it before it shrivels up and most likely die without leaving a trace behind. Its the most effective technique I have found to date in 21 years of reefing.

 

[1guydude]

Swf.com
D

 

[brandon429]

if you wait for directed action you risk having more in a month


even in April, when systems have fifteen anemones, that’s fifteen taps to freedom. eventually someone will go wizard fingers on the aiptasia and we will see those pics

the crowd flails him with digital sticks

 

[brandon429]

If the op were to turn on a dremel small polishing wheel set to speed eight and tap it a few times that would fix the op’s issue and still be down scraping no leftovers work. You couldn’t be ridiculed with spinning wheel mode on a flat surface.

although chef’s creme broulet torch sp. seems like it would work or the fancy lasers that called from 2008, those burn topically and leave attachment cells for regrowth already noted. It’s along the mode of at least considering decisiveness - all points earned but already tried...going about it like andy dufrain did is exactly right. Precision taps and evacuation of the space is exactly right

taking little bits of substrate in your rolled up khakis cuff for export is exactly right