Hi to all I need help getting rid of aptasia even after reading the posts about it

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MerlinStone

Registered Member
Apr 18, 2012
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Hi,

I have had saltwater and freshwater aquariums for over twenty years. I have set up and worked in aquarium stores for many years. I am very happy that I found this website.

I read the posts about getting rid of Aptasias and they are great suggestions however the Aptasias in my tank are everywhere even growing out of the sand. I have some prize pulsating Xenia that are doing great. I have tried a file fish that the people at the store had marked as "Aptasias eating file fish" and they did eat the Aptasias but they also ate my Zenias. After moving my file fish to another tank my Xenias recovered but unfortunately so did the Aptasias. I tried Peppermint Shrimp they went after the smaller Aptasias but had my Christmas tree rock worms as a snack and started after my Xenias. I even tried adding the Aptasias eating Berghia Nudibranch which vanished before eating the Aptasias. I am at wits end! Please someone help me.

Thanks so much,
Merlin Stone
 
What size tank do you have? Sorry to hear you have been struggling so much with these pests!
 
Reason I asked about the tank size was potentially using a butterfly. Really surpised your file fish didn't work. The butterfly should leave the softies alone but I suppose there are no guarntees.
 
im having a really rough time with aptasia as well, i was thinking or a copperband but its risky because of there nipping tendency. and i did calcium hydroxide powder in a tester tank, did wonders! but i cant reach to do that in the 90, any other ideas?
 
How many aptasia are we talking about?
 
When I start a few years back, I also had aptasia issues. Every time they get touched, they shoot out a lot of "eggs". In the end they ended up spreading even faster. Fortunately for me, the only grow I had was coraline, so I basically left the rocks outside. After a day in 90+degrees, I hosed them down, scrubbed, and let it sit again. I was so frustrated at this point, that I did it for about a week long. Might have been overkill, but I'm happy to say I no longer have aptasias!
 
I have a 350 gal reef tank. At one time I had a problem with aiptasia and tried many different sollutions. None worked until I tried a serenge full of fresh sqeezed lemon juice. Using a very small needle, I squirted a small amount of lemon juice in each one. They dissapeared. That was over a year ago. You have to strain the lemon juice through cotton ball or cheese cloth. I got the serenge and needle at the farm and home supply. It depends on how large your tank is on how carefull you need to be. Possible to make water on the acidic side. You can add a small amount of baking soda to equalize if needed.
 
I have a 90 gallon mixed reef and had an outbreak of aptasia about a year and a half ago. They were everywhere!!! I have a couple different types of xenia along with many other small polyp coral. I bought 4 pepermint shrimp and thought it was a bust at first as well, but after about a month I could tell they were starting to make headway. After about 2 months they were completely gone and have not seen any since. The shrimp have never bothered any of my other coral. You may have an individual that has a taste for coral??? Or your xenia was on the decline and the shrimp was just doing its job keeping the tank clean??? Maybe your LFS will swap out your shrimp for new individuals to see if you just got a bad apple??? If you can catch them of course! Also, stay on top of your water changes(RO/DI water) to keep nutrients in check.
 
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