Let's talk Aptasia.

[secretreefer]

sirevans reef, let us know in about a week if you have new ones pop up. kinda curious on the hot water. i have heard it works immediately but the melted tissue spreads around and grows new babies.
reefer831, I think that's the key. siphoning out the residue and follow up with pep shrimp. i'll be setting up a temporary cube for my sps soon so maybe i'll move all my corals into the cube. the plan is to either redo the 180G, or upgrade to a 240G or 320G. both tanks are at a buddies house. just need to figure out which one i'm bringing here, but i do want to use half of the live sand and most of my live rock i already have in the 180g.

Thanks all for the info. keep "techniques" coming!

 

[JuicyJ]

i had the same issue, ended up getting a pearlscale butterfly fish. 3 days later he ate ALL my aiptasia. (50g tank)

 

[secretreefer]

i'm thinking about them too. maybe isolating all my LPS in a portion of my tank with some eggcrate and letting a butterfly go!

 

[secretreefer]

ok so far solutions we have :

Copperband butterfly-yes with caution
Pearlscale butterfly- yes with caution
Peppermint shrimp- yes remove and put in seperate tank when all aptasia gone from DT.
Joe's juice- spreads aptasia around more, siphon while treating might help better
Aptasia x- spreads aptasia around more, siphon while treating might help better
Lemon juice- immediate success BUT (aptasia spread around later?)
Hot water- immediate success BUT (aptasia spread around later) siphon while treating might help better
White vinegar injection- success (will check if came back) siphon while treating might help better
Kalk paste- success (but heard similar/same ingredients as similar product like joe's juice) siphon while treating might help better
Aptasia eating filefish- with caution, might need to remove after all aptasia gone
Aptasia zapper- immediate success but heard aptasia babies popping up after, maybe siphoning aptasia out when zapping better technique.
Lasering- so far most positive results but still a new type of treatment. plus costs $$ for a laser and glasses and dangerous.


My point in creating this thread is so anyone with aptasia problems can just come here and look at 1 place to see what might work for them in ridding their tank of aptasia. Instead of having to look all over for this information. :xd:

 

[GR808]

bro, I've been using Kalk paste and it melts them down no prob. It has taken care of all my aptasia in an instant.

 

[slugwall]

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/soft-coral-discussion/78450-aptasia.html

 

[secretreefer]

hey slugwall. how long ago did you use the lemon juice and are there still baby aps in your tank? more?

 

[caudill187]

Great idea siponing the remains out after aptasiax......why didn't I think of that?

 

[Murfman]

hey buddy! yeah i heard the electric wand doesn't work that well for more than less. same as joe's juice i heard. But how is it working for ya? a buddy of mine is testing with a laser and looks promising!

I have not seen any big outbreaks with using the wand. I just make sure I keep enough contact time to really smoke it. If I can get the rock out, I pull it out, cut the Aptasia off and use superglue to cover where it was living.

 

[palvyre]

Live clam is not bad. Little neck clams at Publix cost about $3.50 for a weeks worth.

 

[secretreefer]

G- I didn't either. sounds like it would be common sense but i never thought of it! LOL! duh me!
murf- thanks! maybe doing diligent zapping is the key. zap the big one, then makes smaller ones, zap the smaller ones into oblivion.
palvyre- yeah i might try a aps eating filefish and "seperate" my lps.

so since i don't have a zapper or laser and trying to keep this as cost effective as most of us reefers here, i'm probably going to:

Kalk/aptasia x the APS. siphon out the "melting" tissue and whatever i can get out using a tubing attached to a strong sucking return pump since i'm up to do a 30 gallon water change anyways, add a APS eating filefish or butterfly and seperate my LPS from my main rock that has aptasia on. Follow up in a week to put new baby aptasia into oblivion. sounds like a plan! hope more reefers can add any more techniques or reef safe ways to rid of the irritating APS. I also hope this could be a resource tool/guide to other reefers wanting to remove aps. I know every reefer has a different setup and different situations in their tank and can use this to "customize" their attack on aps.

 

[tst400]

My comprehend don't touch corals and my 180 is aphasia free. I do let them stay on the rubble in my sump then I grab one hold it in the display and he eats aptasia out of my hand.. so fun he's an aptasia. Assassin.

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

 

[secretreefer]

i've kalked the large aptasia and am kalking the "small clones" of the big ones. then i'm waiting for a copperband from my LFS.

 

[jaytizzle]

I've tried peppermints and they're very hit or miss. There's only one specific species of pepps that will eat them and they're VERY difficult to get the right one.
I've tried copperbands but they're so **** finnicky that they're difficult to keep alive.
I've tried berghia but they're absolutely a waste of money. Better off ******* in the wind.

My best luck came with a matted filefish aka aiptasia eating filefish. I had one and he did great then I loaned him out to a friend who decided to keep him. I got another one for a separate tank and loaned him out afterwards and that friend decided to buy him for twice the market price because he was so awesome.

The biggest problem with filefish is that they are a maintenance control. They eat the aiptasia down to a nub and as soon as they start to grow back the fish will eat it again. Over the long term, if the fish stays alive and eating aiptasia you won't see them anymore. If the fish is removed or dies or develops a taste for prepared foods (i.e. pellets, etc.) and no longer eats aiptasia then you'll see them come back with a vengeance. Easy solution is to get another filefish and you'll be fine. It's not an expensive control method. Be forewarned, though, as some can QUICKLY develop a taste for LPS. I had one of my two that really liked meaty LPS - acans, open brains, etc. - and I had to pass him along to someone else at that point.

 

[secretreefer]

yeah that's what i'm afraid of happening. i could isolate all my lps in a corner and divide with a sheet of acrylic but not long term. i'm gonna give the "kalk large ones and then kalk small clones" a shot.