Is this aptasia???

[BryanM]

Hi all, I noticed this on one of my zoas today. This was the 2nd one that I put in the tank and it was dipped when I got it never saw anything on it before. These things are tiny as you can see from the zoa polyp. There is no detectable body to them that I can find. I made the zoa close up and nothing can be seen, but the tentacles of whatever do retract somewhere. This zoa is already half on and half off the plug so I can't get it out of the tank to do a close inspection.

So if this is indeed aptasia I will be getting a nudibranch ASAP, but I don't want to starve it if this isn't what they are. Any help appreciated!

Indeed it is.

 

[indigoze]

So my aptasia killing army has arrived. I'm so happy! Plus they have already laid eggs as I discovered when I got home from work just a bit ago. The aptasias days are hopefully very numbered.

 

[indigoze]

So they still haven't attacked the main mass under the zoa plug but they have gotten rid of this one, and I assume they have been eating others that I haven't seen myself. I spotted this one the day they arrived.

 

[ErikVR]

Why not use something specifically made to zap them? I use red sea aiptasia-x if ever spot one. Kills them right away and I never have major issues.

 

[indigoze]

Why not use something specifically made to zap them? I use red sea aiptasia-x if ever spot one. Kills them right away and I never have major issues.

My problem is getting to them. The main population is under a plug that the zoas have grown half off of so I can't pick it up without damaging them. I did get rid of one with the cauk paste method that was in between the polyps. I tried to squirt the others but they retract too fast.

 

[slingfox]

With a 15 gallon tank even if you rock work is Ken giant piece it should still be feasible to pull it out for maintenance. Would be better if it was 2-3 pieces. I have a 110g display and I have had the unfortunate experience of pulling out all the rock work several times. Thankfully the rockscape is divided into 5 main pieces, each between 15-20 pounds. Hopefully the berghia can address the problem but aptasia can spread into your pipes and into small crevices that no fish or nudibranch can reach.

 

[Liquid361]

I use a 5mw laser. It fries them and is quite satisfying.

 

[indigoze]

I use a 5mw laser. It fries them and is quite satisfying.

I saw this in a youtube video

 

[Liquid361]

I saw this in a youtube video

I figured someone else was likely doing it. I bought this stupid expensive laser which truly has no purpose. It’s dangerous, but so awesome. My thought was that since they’re photosynthetic, the laser would kill their photosynthetic ability. I’m not sure if that’s the reason it works, but obviously know it can’t heat the water around it.

 

[indigoze]

Just a quick update... The nudibranchs did their job perfectly and they are still alive so I assume they're still finding more that I can't see. I even found two of them in the sump area of the tank. How they got in there I don't know but if they're eating I'm ok with it. All of the visible aiptasia have been gone for over a week now.