Still Fighting Aiptasia

[OceanTeacher]

Hi! I've been fighting with aiptasia anemones in my inherited tank for a while now. I tried cutting them off and burning the bases, and it seemed to work temporarily, but now there are tiny anemones everywhere.
I had originally planned to get a peppermint shrimp to help with the problem, but the local fish store wasn't very helpful. (I'm in Asia, and don't speak very much of the local language. After translation and googling, they told me they don't have shrimps, maybe I could try to go to another location and ask them... I'm not sure they understood that I wanted a specific type of shrimp, either.)

I'm not sure what to do now... Should I try to burn off the anemones again? There are hundreds of tiny ones, and I'm afraid I'll miss several.
Should I continue trying to get a peppermint shrimp, or some other form of biological control?
Or is there a better solution for my situation?

 

[Da Ghost]

Never tried it but I heard there is a nudibranch that eats them. That may be helpful. Maybe Aptasia X. Not really sure.

 

[Jesterrace]

What size is your tank? If it's big a Copperband butterfly could make short work of them. Aiptasia X is effective, but not well suited to mass eradication. You can only do a small portion at a time. Aiptasia X is best suited for situations where you catch it early with only a few of them.

 

[OceanTeacher]

It is 220L. I've heard of the nudibranch, but am not sure it's available here either. I may have to ask.

 

[dilligaf29]

matted filefish will eat them

 

[kkeller416]

Maybe consider mail order for critters instead of local fish store.

 

[OceanTeacher]

I may try mail order. Does anyone have any experience with shipping critters internationally? Is quarantine or shipping costs an issue?

 

[mbmax]

I have a 150gls display that was totally infected, I got 6 or 8 (can remember) aptasia eating Nudibrachs and in 2 months the aptasias were all gone. The nudis don't eat anything else so they die after aptasia are gone.

 

[Fourstars]

Have to go ninja on those little suckers. Aptasia X make sure no flow when using. More like a surgical strike then a carpet bombing run Get it right in their mouth if you miss they will spew out their spawn. Usually after a session of hunting you will end up with a few that have released. that’s why it’s important to have a few peppermint shrimp to clean up.

 

[Pet Detective]

matted filefish will eat them

As already suggested, the Matted File Fish or "Matty" as I call mine will do the job in a month or 2.....let me qualify and quantify [$], I had hundreds, maybe even a thousand of these aiptaisa in my 90g reef, for years they multiplied, getting to the point of menacing my corals, attaching themselves to their skeletons and stinging them quite frequently, I was at wits end [almost tore it down], I tried every and any trick in the book, including Joe's juice, works kinda, Hot water blast, works kinda, Kalk paste, works kinda but very messy, Lemon juice, not much success, Berghia Nudibranchs, they work but slowly and if they don't colonize in your tank, they will ultimately epically fail, they are easy prey for predators, as is their eggs, blind, very prone to getting caught in filters and pumps and they are not $cheap$, removing the rock and burning them, no real success, peppermint shrimp....NOPE, Copper Band Butterfly, will eat them but good luck keeping it alive, they are ultra sensitive and very shy, lasers...yep lasers, it's no better than burning and you have to be crazy careful with your other inhabitants and your own eyes, also not useful for aiptasia hidden from view [more than you know]......sooooo, I tried Matty, I honestly doubted the File fish would work and they say it will pick at some corals, mostly LPS & it does, but not to the point of destroying the coral, at least not in my case and in any event it couldn't be any worse than what the aiptasia were doing to my tank, long painful story short, Matty devoured every single aiptasia in less than 2 months, that was almost a year ago now and I haven't seen a SINGLE aiptasia in my tank, since, so for $36.99, my gamble paid off nicely, now I don't dread looking at my tank helplessly anymore.

Do yourself a favor and save lot's of time, money and effort and just purchase Matthew the File fish.

 

[OceanTeacher]

Thank you all for your advice!
I'm definitely sold on some sort of aiptasia-eating animal. I'll start looking into the animals, which ones are best with the fish I already have, and which ones are available where I am.

 

[jakeh22]

Tried all the file fish and they were the best thing for me but it was a hit or miss if they ate coral. So hard to catch if you want them out lol

 

[jd371]

I've tried everything and going with the Berghia Nudibranch as a last resort. Although Aptasia-X works for the ones that are out in the open and easy to get to it does nothing for the ones in the holes and crevices. I've tried to kill those and it just makes it worse and they spread. Tried Peppermint shrimp but they didn't last that long with my Wrasse. I wanted a nice showpiece fish for my tank and bought a Copper Band Butterfly and the fact that they sometimes eat Aptasia was a plus. The CBB ate them at first but has now stopped and the Aptasia are starting to spread through out the tank.
I was reluctant to get the Nudi's because they are expensive and I was afraid of the Wrasse making an expensive snack out of them. But they are nocturnal so the chances of them meeting are slim and I've heard that they taste bad to a Wrasse. As long as the Nudi's survive and multiply the Aptasia will be taken care of because that's all they eat nothing else. I'm just waiting for the temperatures to warm up a bit for safe shipping then I'm placing and order.

 

[Yati]

Peppermint shrimp will work but if the aiptasia is to large the peppermint will likely not bother it because they can become the prey instead of predator but if you throw a few of them in there they should do the job for you and then you can easily set up a trap to get them out once that food source is depleted if you start to see them pick on some of your LPS or softies...

 

[User1]

matted filefish will eat them

This - Matted Filefish. 30 days and you won't see any unless you are over run with them. I've personally used one and it cleared my problem. It also learned to eat mysis and brine shrimp, pellets, and flake food so I kept it around. It wasn't until it started to pick on my Xenia that I rehomed him. Great fish though sure to do the trick. Also not expensive.

 

[Aqua 59]

Hi! I've been fighting with aiptasia anemones in my inherited tank for a while now. I tried cutting them off and burning the bases, and it seemed to work temporarily, but now there are tiny anemones everywhere.
I had originally planned to get a peppermint shrimp to help with the problem, but the local fish store wasn't very helpful. (I'm in Asia, and don't speak very much of the local language. After translation and googling, they told me they don't have shrimps, maybe I could try to go to another location and ask them... I'm not sure they understood that I wanted a specific type of shrimp, either.)

I'm not sure what to do now... Should I try to burn off the anemones again? There are hundreds of tiny ones, and I'm afraid I'll miss several.
Should I continue trying to get a peppermint shrimp, or some other form of biological control?
Or is there a better solution for my situation?

Peppermint shrimp or Berghia nudibranchs would probably be a good idea. Berghia nudibranchs eat only aiptasia, and are completely reef-safe. You can order them off of Ebay.

Good luck!

 

[Aqua 59]

I have a 150gls display that was totally infected, I got 6 or 8 (can remember) aptasia eating Nudibrachs and in 2 months the aptasias were all gone. The nudis don't eat anything else so they die after aptasia are gone.

After they eat all the aiptasia, you can sell them or give them to other people needing help with aiptasias- getting more out of your original purchase AND re-homing them.

 

[BZOFIQ]

This - Matted Filefish. 30 days and you won't see any unless you are over run with them. I've personally used one and it cleared my problem. It also learned to eat mysis and brine shrimp, pellets, and flake food so I kept it around. It wasn't until it started to pick on my Xenia that I rehomed him. Great fish though sure to do the trick. Also not expensive.

It's a hit or miss, I've had 3 and only the third one proved 100% effective. Now that he is done with aiptasia, and let me tell you I had some show pieces, he readily takes flakes, pellets and frozen food.

Good luck, that pest is major PITA.