SPS and Aiptasia

[SaltyB24]

I’m looking to start adding some SPS to my DT tank and have ran every coral thus far through a QT process. I’m worried though my QT tank is too new to be stable enough to house the SPS coral for the minimum of 6 weeks @81 degrees and them come out healthy so I have considered buying already QT’d SPS coral through the same vendor I buy my QT’d fish from. One of the main things im worried about however is aiptasia. I remove coral plugs before the first dip while they are in QT and have been able to catch several that showed up on the base of LPS corals successfully eliminating it before moving into my DT but have limited experience, well no experience actually, with SPS. Does the pesky aiptasia grow on SPS tissue? Ideally I would like to order them, dip/remove plugs, add to QT for a week or so, dip again then add to DT. But, not wanting to take any unnecessary risks with introducing it to the DT.

 

[exnisstech]

Toss a peppermint shrimp or two in and they'll take care of any aiptasia that sneak in. I keep two peppermints in my acro tank and only have aiptasia in my overflow and sump. I've never had them bother sps coral but have read of them bothering LPS.

 

[Tonycass12]

I’m looking to start adding some SPS to my DT tank and have ran every coral thus far through a QT process. I’m worried though my QT tank is too new to be stable enough to house the SPS coral for the minimum of 6 weeks @81 degrees and them come out healthy so I have considered buying already QT’d SPS coral through the same vendor I buy my QT’d fish from. One of the main things im worried about however is aiptasia. I remove coral plugs before the first dip while they are in QT and have been able to catch several that showed up on the base of LPS corals successfully eliminating it before moving into my DT but have limited experience, well no experience actually, with SPS. Does the pesky aiptasia grow on SPS tissue? Ideally I would like to order them, dip/remove plugs, add to QT for a week or so, dip again then add to DT. But, not wanting to take any unnecessary risks with introducing it to the DT.

Aptasia in the display is just a part of life imo. Best way to combat it is with good inhabitants that can keep it under controll. I have a copper band and a long nose butterfly that will clear out aptasia in a week or two. I move them between my display and grow out tanks when I start noticing the aptasia popping back up and they eliminate it again. Even the best retailers will still have pests sneak past from time to time.

 

[george9]

Aiptasia in your DT is nearly unavoidable no matter how many precautions you take IME. Although you won't find it growing on living SPS tissue. Chucking the plugs and dipping corals is just about as careful as you can be with aiptasia but it's nearly unavoidable eventually. Good news is it's pretty easy to eradicate with the right arsenal of clean up crew. I don't bother with the chemical killers anymore unless it's just one or two.

 

[Jmp998]

Aiptasia will grow at the base of many types of SPS, sting the adjacent tissue killing it, and then spread from there.

Proactively inspecting your frags is the best idea to delay or minimize introduction of aiptasia, but you will likely end up with them eventually. Dipping itself will not stop Aiptasia, but it is a good idea to help with other pests.

Berghia or peppermint shrimp will eat Aiptasia growing within your SPS. Filefish etc might have more difficulty getting into tight spaces between branches.