New tank and just found aptasia please help!

[CierraBeckwith]

Okay so I recently started this tank, 40 gal AIO, I built the structures that are white still myself and it was dry rock. Then I know someone local to me who also has a tank and asked him for some cycled rock, because the other tank I have is only a 16 gal and I couldn't spare any live rock from it. So he gave me some rocks, I scrubbed them and placed in the tank to help with the cycling and biome building/cycling. I haven't turned the lights on yet. And have added some pods, I planned to add more pods this weekend. So I was just looking at the tank and found more than one aptasia on only the rocks I got from the person local to me. What should I do to eliminate it? I'm going to a really nice fish shop this weekend, it's almost a 3 hour drive so I couldn't get cycled rocks from them originally, but here we are. Should I just pull the rocks out with any aptasia on them and then get cycled rocks from the store I'm going to tomorrow and add those? I am kinda bummed cuz I wish he would have either told me if he had noticed aptasia in his tank before giving me the rocks because I wouldn't have just scrubbed them, knowing that beforehand. Thank you in advance for your help. Also not sure what the blue thing is behind the giant aptasia??

 

[jabberwock]

looks like your tank is young. Maybe don't worry too much, and see what happens.

 

[Budman93]

You can pull them out but there is a chance they will still spread. I use this stuff called joes juice which you just use a syringe and spray over their mouths killing them. Probably plenty of other similar things. Very easy as long as you dont have a full blown invasion of a hundred or something.

 

[bobnicaragua]

Peppermint shrimp work great for aptasia. If the aptasia get too big for the shrimp to handle, spray some kalkwasser paste on them with a syringe.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Okay so I recently started this tank, 40 gal AIO, I built the structures that are white still myself and it was dry rock. Then I know someone local to me who also has a tank and asked him for some cycled rock, because the other tank I have is only a 16 gal and I couldn't spare any live rock from it. So he gave me some rocks, I scrubbed them and placed in the tank to help with the cycling and biome building/cycling. I haven't turned the lights on yet. And have added some pods, I planned to add more pods this weekend. So I was just looking at the tank and found more than one aptasia on only the rocks I got from the person local to me. What should I do to eliminate it? I'm going to a really nice fish shop this weekend, it's almost a 3 hour drive so I couldn't get cycled rocks from them originally, but here we are. Should I just pull the rocks out with any aptasia on them and then get cycled rocks from the store I'm going to tomorrow and add those? I am kinda bummed cuz I wish he would have either told me if he had noticed aptasia in his tank before giving me the rocks because I wouldn't have just scrubbed them, knowing that beforehand. Thank you in advance for your help. Also not sure what the blue thing is behind the giant aptasia??

Aiptasia as a Pest - and HOW to get rid of it

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[Macbalacano]

To be honest, in the grand scheme of things Aptasia will not be a big deal to you in the future. It's actually the best time now to deal with it as you barely have anything in the tank. F Aptasia works very well for me. I've used peppermint shrimp as well in the past. Others have used nidibranches. Lots of other solutions on this forum as well and lots of people willing to help.

Unless you do a very strict quarantine of everything that ever goes into your tank, it is almost guaranteed that you will get hitchhikers and pests like Aptasia. Most of the time, as long as you act on it early, everything will be fine.

Best of luck and enjoy the journey!

 

[CierraBeckwith]

looks like your tank is young. Maybe don't worry too much, and see what happens.

Yes it is young which is why I'm kinda worried because wasn't really wanting to start off with the dreaded aptasia lol and also because my other tank hasn't ever had one so this is the first time I've dealt with it.

 

[CierraBeckwith]

To be honest, in the grand scheme of things Aptasia will not be a big deal to you in the future. It's actually the best time now to deal with it as you barely have anything in the tank. F Aptasia works very well for me. I've used peppermint shrimp as well in the past. Others have used nidibranches. Lots of other solutions on this forum as well and lots of people willing to help.

Unless you do a very strict quarantine of everything that ever goes into your tank, it is almost guaranteed that you will get hitchhikers and pests like Aptasia. Most of the time, as long as you act on it early, everything will be fine.

Best of luck and enjoy the journey!

Thank you for the reply! It's my first time dealing with it, so I was just pretty freaked out. So if I did take out the rocks with it on it, and replaced them with other cycled rocks, would that hopefully get rid of them? Or should I get a peppermint shrimp or look into other options? I was reading some people said they used a torch to kill them and also read some other good techniques on eliminating them. But your right it is good the tank is still young so dealing with it won't be as stressful as it could be. Which is kind of why I thought replacing the rocks would work.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Okay so I recently started this tank, 40 gal AIO, I built the structures that are white still myself and it was dry rock. Then I know someone local to me who also has a tank and asked him for some cycled rock, because the other tank I have is only a 16 gal and I couldn't spare any live rock from it. So he gave me some rocks, I scrubbed them and placed in the tank to help with the cycling and biome building/cycling. I haven't turned the lights on yet. And have added some pods, I planned to add more pods this weekend. So I was just looking at the tank and found more than one aptasia on only the rocks I got from the person local to me. What should I do to eliminate it? I'm going to a really nice fish shop this weekend, it's almost a 3 hour drive so I couldn't get cycled rocks from them originally, but here we are. Should I just pull the rocks out with any aptasia on them and then get cycled rocks from the store I'm going to tomorrow and add those? I am kinda bummed cuz I wish he would have either told me if he had noticed aptasia in his tank before giving me the rocks because I wouldn't have just scrubbed them, knowing that beforehand. Thank you in advance for your help. Also not sure what the blue thing is behind the giant aptasia??

I have heard that you can use a syringe and either inject with very hot water or lemon juice to kill them. If you try to pluck the off the rocks under water, they will just spread. If you can get the rock out of the water, pluck them that way.

 

[Subsea]

I have heard that you can use a syringe and either inject with very hot water or lemon juice to kill them. If you try to pluck the off the rocks under water, they will just spread. If you can get the rock out of the water, pluck them that way.

Use h202. It dissolves them

 

[Itsadeepbluesea]

You can take an insulin syringe and inject them with a small amount of lemon juice concentrate. That will kill them.

 

[Cell]

I'd pull the rocks you added with aiptasia and deal with them out of the tank. If you have a spare tank to QT those rocks for a bit to ensure no more appear, that would be ideal. I'd also consider just scrapping them and getting some new live or dry rock. There's just no way I'm starting a brand new system with aiptasia. Various aiptasia eating creatures can work, but adding animals that weren't necessarily in the plan isn't ideal.

 

[aSaltyKlown]

I'd pull the rocks you added with aiptasia and deal with them out of the tank.

I'd also consider just scrapping them and getting some new live or dry rock.

^^^ This, pull them and put them in a small plastic container or bucket with tank water so you can deal with it. F Aptasia works well. Treat the rocks and let them sit for a day or so, inspect, and retreat if needed. if not, rinse with old tank water and add back in.

I'd probably ditch those rocks and get some from the LFS.

 

[bobnicaragua]

This thread is insane. Pull out the rock? You haven’t even gone through the ugly stage yet. I would try to add live rock from multiple sources. The goal is biodiversity and maturity so you can cover your rock with healthy coral. Nobody thinks of their tank as an ecosystem anymore.

Peppermint shrimp eat aptasia. You can also spray them with a variety of things as noted above.

Add bumblebee snails, peppermints, emerald crabs, hermits, snails, cleaner shrimp, etc…..

 

[Harpo]

Some people have had success with various remedies.

IMHO there is only one guaranteed solution and that is to pull all rock with Aptasia and bleach them outside..

 

[bobnicaragua]

Can anyone honestly post a pic of a mature established reef tank, that doesn’t have aptasia, vermatid snails, or bubble algae?

I may not see them, because of the way the tank is stocked, but I’ve got them all.

 

[exnisstech]

Can anyone honestly post a pic of a mature established reef tank, that doesn’t have aptasia, vermatid snails, or bubble algae?

I may not see them, because of the way the tank is stocked, but I’ve got them all.

I found the best method is to ignore them. When I was trying to kill them off they were popping up all over. Now that I leave them alone they seem to have stopped reproducing. They're actually kind of pretty under the right light. I feed this one

 

[Lavey29]

Can anyone honestly post a pic of a mature established reef tank, that doesn’t have aptasia, vermatid snails, or bubble algae?

I may not see them, because of the way the tank is stocked, but I’ve got them all.

I agree and see these nuisances as part of an overall healthy ecosystem too.

 

[Lavey29]

OP if you are really worried about a few little aptasia now you're going to have a rough first year with the ugly stages. Just hit em with aptasia x and they will be gone but will always return sooner or later. It's just part of reefing unless maybe you have a good fish that eats them.

 

[andyman]

if your tank is young, its best to chip them off the rock. don't use joes juice or anything else. You'll just fragment them into little bits and they will come back but at a much higher quantity. You'll want to physically remove them whole or replace the rock... Or take them out and let them dry out. You should do this before your tank becomes established.

peppermint is hit or miss, joes juice doesn't work long term and makes things worst. those electro rods they sell also don't work long term.. you don't want to spend all your time dealing with aptasia. the little berghias work to a certain extent but those nudibranchs are blind and sometimes they don't eat all the aptasia before their life cycle ends due to lack of food. The one fish that has worked is copper band but they usually starve to death after 1 year and are finicky eaters.

the best way to avoid aptasia is to quaranty everything before it goes into the main display. If you can't do that then you'll probably get aptasia again later. it always starts with 1 or 2 and they multiply.