aptaisha

[oscarlvr]

I started my new tank about 1 month ago, but 1 week ago some aptasia started on one piece of live rock, today there is about 4 pieces on the same rock, instead of treating i took the rock out and am soaking it in fresh water for a couple days, what else can i do to prevent this from spreading in my tank, i know this is bad but hope i got it before it spreads out of control, should i still trat my tank with something,


thanks

robert

[MonoSebaelover]

I would add a couple of Peppermint Shrimp to your tank and they will take care of future Aptasia outbreaks. Anyway, hope this helps and good luck.

[AK_Dude]

This thread was posted quite a while ago, but here goes anyway.

I've had several aptasia in my tank. I've read in a number of places (wetwebmedia.com, in particular) that you don't need to be overly concerned with aptasia unless you are overfeeding your tank, since it is overfeeding that *really* causes these to spread. But I've also read that you should try to get rid of these ASAP, since they can be such a nuisance. I've chosen to err on the side of caution :)

I have found that lysmata wurdemanii shrimp (be sure you don't get the lysmata rinchocetes--they look very similar, but only the wurdemanii eat the aptasia!) or kalkwasser do a good job removing aptasia. My wurdemanii shrimp ate several, I've sprinkled kalk on one and scrubbed it with a toothbrush, and I've made a slurry of kalk and freshwater, sucked it up into my water sampling syringe and squirted the slurry on the aptasia. Leave it for an hour or two, then use the syringe to blow the kalk paste off the former aptasia. I have never seen an aptasia recover from any of these treatment methods; just make sure if you use kalk that you don't squirt anything that you intend to keep. The kalk is rather caustic, and will kill your wanted organisms as well as the aptasia. I've also found that a little piece of air-line tubing on the end of the syringe helps me deliver the kalk exactly where I want it.

[johngp]

I dont have that many in my tank, but when I get one I take a fresh lemon, squeeze it into a dish, take my test kit syringe and suck up a small amount, I then place the end of the syringe in the mouth of the aptasia and squeeze a small amount into the mouth - hey presto they shrink back and disappear.

I have had them next to mushrooms and other corals and there hasnt been a problem. I would just be concerned if I had loads of them and was using a lot of lemon juice at the same time.

Give it a go, worked for me..