Pests or pets???

[Stephen]

I have some Aiptasia on my live rock. Actually I can see around 10 of them about the size of a dime and 10 or so smaller ones. Can I keep these things in my tank? I'm not planning on adding corals to the tank, just fish and inverts like shrimp and crabs. I've read that peppermint shrimp will eat them. I'm planning on adding 6 actually when the tank is cycled. Would the Aiptasia be ok in the tank with the fish and inverts, or will it harm them? I also noticed 1 very small bristle worm on the sand today. Good or bad?

[Andy16]

The aiptasia will soon be all over your live rock if you dont do something about them. There is some chemical you need to inject them with but i am unsure what it is. I dont think the peppermint shrimp will eat them either.

[kreblak]

Aiptasia is a stinging anemone that reproduces very quickly in aquarium environments. It WILL multiply out of control in a very short period of time if you leave it alone. Some people do indeed leave it alone, but if you already have 10, you are probably going to have quite the infestation in another three months.

Peppermint shrimp will eat aiptasia, but only one species of them will (it seems there are two species referred to as "peppermint shrimp"). The following line comes stright from some advice given to me by Hoops Guru: "The "imposters" (L. californica) have much deeper, bolder striping than L. wurdemanni. " L. wurdemanni is the species you want to eat aiptasia. Apparently, though, it is extremely hard to tell the difference.

If the aiptasia are large enough you can inject kalkwasser paste into them. That will kill them outright in a matter of minutes. Do this with a hypodermic syringe, but take care that the paste doesn't get jammed up in the needle.

One mroe thing; do not try to pull the aiptasia off of your rocks or anything else. Unless the anemone is completely destroyed, it grows back. Pulling it off leaves pieces behind that become new anemones, thus defeating the purpose.

[Guy W]

Also the bristle worms are ok, but can become damaging if they get really big. I think I was told if they are under 8 inches not to worry about them.

Guy

[mogurnda]

Just thought I'd chime in with another opinion. If you're not planning to have corals, anemones or other sessile invertebrates, they might make a nice little display. The National Aquarium here in DC has a display with a few species of clownfish, a massive sarcophyton and the biggest mass of Aiptasia I've ever seen. If one forgets the fact that they are probably a symbol of how run down the Aquarium is, it's kind of pretty to watch them wave in the current. The fish don't seem to mind.

Otherwise, I agree with Kreblak and Guy. From what I read, peps don't tend to go after the bigger ones, which will need to be injected with kalkwasser paste, vinegar, various other evil substances. They will apparently swallow the kalk if you put a blob on their mouths.

Bristleworms are controversial (is anything not controversial in this hobby?), but are generally thought to be a good thing. A few species will eat soft corals, but they should cause no problems if you have no corals. Mostly they will just scavenge and not bother anything.