Plotting My Attack on Aiptasia

[Cthulukelele]

Also fwiw I had a leopard wrasse, a fairy wrasse, and a flasher wrasse in my tank when I added them. The biggest risk would be any of the halichoeres wrasses

 

[Troylee]

I have added them with a blue star and another type of wrasse, no problems.

Agreed.. I have a large blue star leopard, large yellow and small silver belly.. I turned off flow and used a turkey baster to put them in a hole where I had a few aiptasia and waited a couple minutes.. turned flow back on and they’re doing their job now! It was mid day with lights on for me.

 

[Jmp998]

Whatever you prefer just have it held at your local FEDEX/UPS. Generally the safest option for livestock especially if the weather is bad since many of the trucks are not well heated or air conditioned. Dinkins has a really good DOA policy, Salty Underground and Reeftown are also solid vendors.

 

[Macbalacano]

Aiptasia is an ongoing battle for me too. But for me, the only thing that really wiped it out was a peppermint shrimp that was guaranteed to eat aiptasia by LFS.

On my nano, I only have one pop up at a time and the moment I see it, I use F-aiptasia or glue on it.

Never tried berghia, but in Canada, I see them on sale for $15 each. I almost exclusively order things online, and if you can get a good deal online, I would definitely encourage that.

I would be open to using a filefish if it was guaranteed by LFS to eat aiptasia or if I can watch it eat aiptasia in person.

Its true - peppermint shrimp and filefish can go rogue, but you can trap/catch them and get them out. I think with most options in this hobby, there is always a chance of loss (aka risk) and you just have to pick the one the option that carries the risk you are most comfortable with for the price you are comfortable with as well.

Best of luck!

 

[Jmp998]

I don’t know if filefish or peppermints work better, both seem hit or miss both on eating aiptasia and corals, but I think filefish are probably easier to catch if they become a problem as they usually sleep in the open at night. I had peppermint shrimp years ago and I think the only way I could have caught them would be with a trap or removing rockwork. I think I could grab my filefish barehanded when she is asleep. So far she has mostly restricted her diet to Duncanopsammia so I haven’t tried though.

 

[rja]

Looks like I can get 12 for $140

I don’t know if filefish or peppermints work better, both seem hit or miss both on eating aiptasia and corals, but I think filefish are probably easier to catch if they become a problem as they usually sleep in the open at night. I had peppermint shrimp years ago and I think the only way I could have caught them would be with a trap or removing rockwork. I think I could grab my filefish barehanded when she is asleep. So far she has mostly restricted her diet to Duncanopsammia so I haven’t tried though.

I think I am just going to bite the bullet and order some nudis. Spent too much time on this reef for it to go to waste and by far my most expensive/rare corals are my torches

 

[Troylee]

Looks like I can get 12 for $140

I think I am just going to bite the bullet and order some nudis. Spent too much time on this reef for it to go to waste and by far my most expensive/rare corals are my torches

The bergs will multiply and when their job is done you can always sell them to a local reefer I’m sure…

 

[Cthulukelele]

Looks like I can get 12 for $140

I think I am just going to bite the bullet and order some nudis. Spent too much time on this reef for it to go to waste and by far my most expensive/rare corals are my torches

Just be very careful when you add them test they end up on the rocks and comfy away from the mouths of stinging coral. Also don't be concerned if you only see 1 or 2 (or even 0) aiptasia a day go missing at first. I barely had them eat any for the first few months. The real magic happens after they breed a few times 2 of 3 months out. Then every morning feels like Christmas morning waking up to a half dozen fewer aiptasia. They also have to get quite large and older before they tend to consume the big boy massive aiptasia.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Hey fellow reefers,
My beloved reef is experiencing an outbreak of Aiptasia. It’s a 75 gallon true mixed reef with 6 fish. A pair of clowns, Tomini Tang, Solar Wrasse, Midas Blenny, and Chalk Bass. I am beginning to see a pretty substantial infestation and I want to take action before it gets too crazy.

I have a few ideas in mind and would like your ideas and opinions.

My first option and what I am currently doing is Aiptasia-X/F-Aiptasia. This method has really only fueled reproduction in my opinion as I am running through bottles of it and it’s only getting worse. I do not want to drive the Aiptasia into reproduction either.

My more realistic option is trying my luck with Peppermint Shrimp. But I have some prized LPS, golden torches, for example. I hear these shrimp can go rouge/opportunistic and attack LPS. I also hear some are not interested in Aiptasia at all. I understand there is one specific species we go for when it comes to Aiptasia but I have no real method of sourcing that exact species. Even then, I hear this species might not go for the Aiptasia. I think Algae Barn could be my best bet at sourcing the true Peppermints I need. However, their reviews are seemingly hit or miss.

My next option is another hit or miss. But my LFS always has Filefish and I hear these guys consume Aiptasia. But again, very hit or miss and can consume coral. The reason why I listed my fish population is because I think I am maxed out and do not want to add more fish.

Finally, there are Berghias. Which are very expensive and a lot less hit or miss. However, they are impossible for me to find locally and will end up costing me around $200 for a few. I have never ordered live animals before and I am absolutely terrified to do so. I see this as a last resort.

However, I do not want to risk the addition of something that may kill one of my torches.

What would you do?

Edit: If you had success with online vendors of either Peps or Bergs please let me know the vendor! Also, if you have Bergs and happen to be selling/shipping/or in Michigan, let me know too!

Dinkins aquatics gardens have great high-quality bhergia nudibranchs, I got five for 40 and they all arrived healthy and decimated my aiptasia

 

[rja]

Dinkins aquatics gardens have great high-quality bhergia nudibranchs, I got five for 40 and they all arrived healthy and decimated my aiptasia

they currently have 3-$50 but Salty Underground has 1/4” ones for $11 and free shipping over $130. I might get 12 of them. Not sure about them only being 1/4” but they claim they breed at that size. Think I am going this route

 

[bsquaredX2]

I put a stripey in my tank and all my aiptasia was gone within 24 hours. (except in my back chambers) I've had him for a couple months and luckily he hasn't started nipping at corals.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

they currently have 3-$50 but Salty Underground has 1/4” ones for $11 and free shipping over $130. I might get 12 of them. Not sure about them only being 1/4” but they claim they breed at that size. Think I am going this route

I did buy three, but they threw in two extra for me

Also brought them on sale

 

[rja]

I did buy three, but they threw in two extra for me

Also brought them on sale

That’s awesome. Might have to give them a holler. I wish these little things weren’t so expensive!

 

[TranceLvr]

In a 25-gallon tank, I had good luck with carefully using lemon juice in a syringe per the suggestion of my LFS at the time. I would poke the Aiptasia with the syringe and squirt in a small amount of lemon juice. I would closely monitor all parameters and did extra water changes to be safe. It didn't take long before all the Aiptasia were killed, and they never returned.

 

[Robinson]

Australian stripey, 100% will take care of them. I had a cooper band, then a filefish and barely they did anything. Also, only if you have a way pf catch it again, will recommend Klein butterfly, he will do the job in less than a week but he loves to nip corals after.

 

[MnFish1]

I would order Bergia at the amount recommended by the seller. Many people that fail with them buy too few. I would guess that many of the other options are successful 50% of the time - so you can spend a fair amount with no results on shrimp, copper bands, filefish, etc (I know you don't want more fish). Bergia are pretty fool-proof

 

[Roatan Reef]

Few things....

1. I have had great success with Aiptasia-X. Only problem is, you can't use it on ledge where it can drip down ...it will literally melt corals beneath said ledge.

2. I have had awesome success with peppermint Shrimp....tossed in 6 of them, aiptasia was gone. Never once did any eat or even look sideways at any coral. In fact, 6 went to 4, 4 went to 2, and I have only 1 left...he hangs out underneath the rocks.

3. Here's a super secret...you can pay me later...this works 1000%.

Get coral Putty, roll and form like you would for attaching coral/liverock etc.. get you several small or medium sized pieces...place said Putty over aiptasia and smother them. That's all you really have to do.

Then after a month or so, remove the remainder of Putty left, or simply glue a frag on to it. This works absolutely!

Trust me...I dealt with a bad infestation 6 months ago.

 

[Eldritch_blast]

Just be very careful when you add them test they end up on the rocks and comfy away from the mouths of stinging coral. Also don't be concerned if you only see 1 or 2 (or even 0) aiptasia a day go missing at first. I barely had them eat any for the first few months. The real magic happens after they breed a few times 2 of 3 months out. Then every morning feels like Christmas morning waking up to a half dozen fewer aiptasia. They also have to get quite large and older before they tend to consume the big boy massive aiptasia.

I was thinking there was a good chance I got my wrasses ( Halichoeres & Hortulanus) an expensive snack adding a dozen Berghias to my 115 gallon. I put them in after they were asleep under the sand, put them all in a group on the rocks with all pumps off until they went off and hid. They were definitely small, like 1/4" long.

This was about 4 weeks ago. My wrasses are pretty late sleepers, I Was really hoping they would never cross paths, but I have looked at night several times with a blue flashlight and not seen a single one. No impact to aiptasia population yet.

Seeing your comment is giving me hope they're still there. Was considering going and getting an aiptasia eating filefish today but am worried about some LPS one of which a blastos I just love and would be bummed if he got messed with. Still might pull the trigger on that, sounds like they're easy enough to catch if problematic.

 

[NanJ]

I wrote some things we learned in our battle against aiptasia in this post:

Aiptasia / Berghia Nudibranch / Study

This research study provides in-depth detail, with time lapsed dated photos as the study played out. In 2012 had a Aiptasia breakout, they were totally wiped by using Berghia nudibranch‘s. To be honest, I took those Berghia for granted. In 2017 had another Aiptasia outbreak hit my reef, l felt...

www.reef2reef.com

See post #9.

Good luck! They are the devil himself.

 

[LARedstickreefer]

Peppermint shrimp worked for me. I tried nudis and they just wound up disappearing while the problem wound up covering my entire tank.

The shrimp didn’t seem interested at first and then I began to notice the Aiptasia population in a serious decline.

-Matt