Aiptasia #1 PITA

Robert04

Robert04

Aspiring Self Proclaimed Expert
Dec 31, 2008
492
0
16
I have been getting all my stuff slowly moved into the 90g.. killing aiptasia that got out of control etc.. well I came home two days ago and noticed my mushroom polyps werent opened like usual and didnt think much of it.. then I picked up the piece so i could see it better and there is like 10 little tiny aiptasia or more growing on it... I honestly have never seen so many before.. I had a mini stroke when I realised what was going on. How do I deal with this? Its so bad I dont think i can fix it withought hurting the corals with aiptasia removing injections and smothering glues.... ill have to post a pic of this one when my cam comes back.. its ridiculous.
 
If you have a lot of small aiptasia, you may want to consider a group of peppermint shrimp in the 90g to take care of them. A group of 3 or 4 should rid them from the tank in a relatively short period of time. Any that are too large for the peppermints will need to be dealt with using your choice of other methods, but they should knock out the small ones for you.
 
I'm completely new to saltwater, and don't have a tank of my own, but I've been volunteering at the local aquarium and one thing I've picked up is aiptasia hunting... we use a syringe to inject each aiptasia with an acid, and it dies instantly. I don't remember what the acid is, but I think it was sulfuric acid... just a very small amount is enough to kill the aiptasia, and you can see it happen instantly. I was told that the small amount is not enough to affect water quality... but they are rather large tanks there too.
 
I think sulfuric acid is a little extreme. The same thing can be accomplished with kalk paste if you inject it into them and not just spread it on their mouths.

Still, Peppermint shrimp would be my recommendation as well.
 
Straight or concentrated lemon juice injected into the aptasia kills them instantly with no worry about stressing them into spawning. I would stay away from sulfuric acid.
 
Thanks.. the issue is that they are small... I have aiptasia removal crap with a syringe.. but these are all tiny little aiptasia between every polyp on my coral.. i'll either be giving the piece to someone who has peppermint shrimp and has no fear of aiptasia OR I will try to save enough money to buy peppermint shrimp, I'm already investing alot into the 90g as is. so far all the aiptasia is isolated in my 15.. I've moved alot of corals etc only thinks left is some of the substrate found 2 aip in the sand. 3 small pieces of live rocvk prob 5-7 lbs.. and one rock of mushroom coral. thats it. the other 6 corals fish etc are in the 90..
 
Eh....I did the syringe thing for a while.....used liquid calcium, lemon juice, boiling water.....the aptasia curls up and looks like you killed the bugger, but then you look next day,day after and there it is again.

The peppermint shrimp took care of the issue and all I had to do was toss em in the tank. :huh:
 
Berghia nudibranchs work well also, and they can be ordered online. They only eat aiptasia and work well on the small stuff.
We've also used vinegar injected into the aiptasia, although, as with any of the chemicals, keep an eye on the water quality when you do it.
 
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