Plagued With Aiptasia

[bluedevils6653]

Berghia Nudibranchs, they are not cheap but will get the job done

 

[Tanglover11]

Berghia Nudibranchs are awesome, but delicate at the beginning, put in a baby food jar and let them come out on their own, once they acclimate you will rarely see them but your aiptasias will slowly disappear

 

[Anton Wray]

I have had great luck with peppermint shrimp also. My melanarus doesn't bother them, but I keep him well fed. I have a peppermint and a cleaner in my 75 gal without issues, honestly I hardly ever see the peppermint shrimp.

Green file fish. Cleaned up my infestation.

 

[Anton Wray]

Green file fish cleaned ip my infestation.

 

[TinyChocobo]

Berghia Nudibranchs are awesome, but delicate at the beginning, put in a baby food jar and let them come out on their own, once they acclimate you will rarely see them but your aiptasias will slowly disappear

This is the solution I've always heard/seen. They come out at night and can get inbetween the rocks / small / tight places to eat the aiptasia you can't see that even a peppermint shrimp couldn't get to.

 

[Sleepydoc]

Bergia nudibranches - reliable and reef safe. (But gram for gram probably the priciest option!) I was getting overrun and the bergias completely eradicated every trace of the aiptasia.

Peppermint shrimp are very hit and miss. Some are voracious eaters others won’t touch it. Personally, I’m 0 for 3 with them.

File fish and butterfly fish also work.

IME, chemical alternatives like AiptasiaX and joes juice are good for zapping a few, but not when you have a massive infestation.

 

[Osteoclast]

Really? I heard that Klein's are hit and miss and generally go after softies. I would personally love to add one to my tank, but I don't want my Frogspawn and Hammer to disappear.

Yes in terms of LPS and SPS I have had no issues with Klein's, Burgess, or with my current Tinkers. My Tinkers is now 2 years old--a very hardy fish. Eats all sizes of aptasia. I do not have any soft coral in my tank so cannot comment on those. But I have been very pleased. I know others have had success with these but certainly many reef safe fish develop tastes for coral. I do have a few Aptasia in my overflow so they are hard to completely eradicate but none in my display so I do not care much at this point.

 

[Dawn Dababneh]

Recently More & More Aiptasia has been popping up all over my tank. I've nearly ran out of aiptasia X and i'm looking for something that sorts of eats aiptasia. I currently have 2 wyoming whites, Power blue tang, and starry blenny and an assorted zoanthid species which i picked up from a lfs.

Berghia Nudibranches eat only Aiptasia. They can be a bit pricey but, well worth the investment. They will eat every one of them the down side is they will die after they have eaten all of the Aiptasia

 

[Christina M]

Peppermint shrimp are my rock anemone :mad:

 

[Cae]

Recently More & More Aiptasia has been popping up all over my tank. I've nearly ran out of aiptasia X and i'm looking for something that sorts of eats aiptasia. I currently have 2 wyoming whites, Power blue tang, and starry blenny and an assorted zoanthid species which i picked up from a lfs.

Peppermint shrimp and if that doesn't work get some Peppermint shrimp. For 100 gal I would get 10. They're pretty cheap and after they clean up the aptasia they will clean up under the rock work for you.

 

[Sfplaya1]

Peppermints seem to be getting busy and I only picked up 2.

 

[Marie7]

Copperband butterfly for sure.

Alternative is a syringe applied directly into core of apt anemone using:
a- Joes Juice OR
b- Lemon juice OR
c- Kalkwasser diluted into a semi thick paste OR
d- Boiling water.

Any of the above will do the trick

If i have to choose I will go for the boiling water but it's tricky also as they close as soon as u touch them, getting in the center of the Spartacus is an art. U also heard that the remedies sold at pet stores may alter the tank when those are added, so I decide to go the natural way with the peppermint shrimps. Good luck!

 

[Tautog]

I have stopped buying Aiptais X when I discovered that squirting straight vinegar (maybe 2 mls) right at them and leaving the water still for 10 minutes works at least as well as Aiptais X but probably better. Still a hopeless solution. Only contains the problem at best. I have been going to get a Copperband as my next step. I am concerned with Peppermint shrimp that they might eat the fins on my sleeping wrasse...I cant keep Hermits for that reason. Anyone got Peppermint Shrimp with Wrasse..???

I have 2 wrasse, I introduced 6 Peppermint shrimp with lights out one week, and added another 6 with lights out the following week. Most Apitasia gone.

 

[75pxatr]

Aiptasia X is not a long term solution. I have a major infestation and added peppermint shrimp, nudibranch, and also a copperband butterfly. The aiptasia are finally disappearing. I think the key is the natural solution - the aiptasia will return and you need something that will keep them in check.

 

[curiouser]

Peppermint shrimp and copperbands should eat the babies, but they won't eat the adult apitasia. I would dip new corals more thoroughly to prevent more aiptasia from entering the system. Lemon juice also works well to kill aiptasia, you just use a syringe and inject it into the mouth.

Which dip(s) kill aiptasia?

 

[Berlibee]

Check this - https://reefhacks.com/how-to-kill-aiptasia-anemones/
I think the Berghia Nudibranch is the most effective option, I have the same problem now. But I just kill them every two weeks with Aiptasia X in the main display but I don't touch them in the refugium.

 

[curiouser]

Which dip(s) kill aiptasia?

As far as I can tell from a quick web search there are no safe dips that kill aiptasia.

 

[NY_Sea]

If i have to choose I will go for the boiling water but it's tricky also as they close as soon as u touch them, getting in the center of the Spartacus is an art. U also heard that the remedies sold at pet stores may alter the tank when those are added, so I decide to go the natural way with the peppermint shrimps. Good luck!

I wouldn’t boil. I think best option would be to acid wash the rock. Pretty easy but you have to remove all the rock and then re cure after wards. I’ve hear tile fish work. I had luck makin a kalk slurry and dropping it on them a couple a times a week. But I only had a few

 

[Pellikan]

I use one shrimp in my 80g and he keeps the aiptasia in check. I know my overflow is rife with aiptasia that the shrimp can't get to but I don't consider that a bad thing. They're filter feeders so I figure it's another level of filtration for the tank. I just don't want them taking over the DT and one shrimp serves that need well. Once you've got it you'll always have it, there's always one hiding somewhere. I did have 3 shrimp at one time and I think there wasn't enough for them to eat and they started munching on softies. I gave them away and the aiptasia came back so I ended up buying another (but only one) shrimp. It's working well so far.

 

[Tedzilla]

I use one shrimp in my 80g and he keeps the aiptasia in check. I know my overflow is rife with aiptasia that the shrimp can't get to but I don't consider that a bad thing. They're filter feeders so I figure it's another level of filtration for the tank. I just don't want them taking over the DT and one shrimp serves that need well. Once you've got it you'll always have it, there's always one hiding somewhere. I did have 3 shrimp at one time and I think there wasn't enough for them to eat and they started munching on softies. I gave them away and the aiptasia came back so I ended up buying another (but only one) shrimp. It's working well so far.

Pellikan, you are absolutely right on all counts. I keep one per tank, so I don't have a bunch of hungry shrimp, that all look the same. They keep the aiptasia in check. If I can't see it, it's probably bothering nothing I care about. And they are such great filter feeders, that many people purposefully grow colonies of them in their sumps.