Reefing Experiences: Aiptasia Control

[Tek]

Reefing Experiences: Aiptasia Control

What has worked and what has not?

 

[MattSG]

I gotten really good at targeting them with a kalkwasser slurry by using one of those small, 3ml liquid medicine doses I get from my vet when the cats are sick. Best when lights are off or low and my softies are still deflated. If I can’t get them with the kalkwasser then I use the 2 part epoxy and cover them up. Works good when they are on an edge of the rock.

 

[Tek]

I gotten really good at targeting them with a kalkwasser slurry by using one of those small, 3ml liquid medicine doses I get from my vet when the cats are sick. Best when lights are off or low and my softies are still deflated. If I can’t get them with the kalkwasser then I use the 2 part epoxy and cover them up. Works good when they are on an edge of the rock.

It’s the ones I can’t reach which worry me. I have so many now it is time consuming to target each one.

I tried 3 peppermint shrimps last week and they seem to all be missing. My leopard wrasse may have made a quick meal of them.

 

[basement reefer]

I started with superglue, I'm back to using superglue.

AiptasiaX, kalkwasser and hot water basting can work in ideal conditions with a few large ones, I rely on the glue to really seal them in.

I think I caused my current infestation because I scrubbed some rock with a brush without realisizg I had aiptasia on there. This resulted in some getting in the overflow and sump. I had to break down and completely clean the overflow and sump. Now I am gluing the polyps in the display tank as I see them start to grow.
It sucked because I only noticed them in the sump with a flashlight, the same day I added $500 worth of SPS frags lol.

I am winning the battle but will have to clean the sump and overflow at least one more time after I stop seeing them in the display.

I'm not even sure where they came from, it was quite a long time between when I added anything before I noticed them.

Going forward I will have to get a little QT setup again. I may not have it running all the time, just something I can toss a seeded sponge in with some frags and frequent water changes.

 

[Mical]

Of all the things I've tried - ORA aiptasia eating filefish. It takes up to two weeks (in my experience) to see aiptasia vanish. One note - filefish eat them at night - so one day you'll have aiptasia everywhere next day aiptasia gone, filefish fat and happy.

 

[pecan2phat]

So I've tried all the paste like products and even the Majano Wand but they all come back.
I find that natural predation works well like Peppermint shrimps and Copperband butterflies but again, once the fish or shrimps are gone, the aiptasia slowly reappears.
So going with natural predation, the peps always seem to disappear eventually in my tanks and the Copperband is 50/50 also because if you try to find one that is eating frozen well, he might not go after aiptasia. If he is an aiptasia devourer, then he might not do well after all the aiptasia is eaten.

 

[basement reefer]

Of all the things I've tried - ORA aiptasia eating filefish. It takes up to two weeks (in my experience) to see aiptasia vanish. One note - filefish eat them at night - so one day you'll have aiptasia everywhere next day aiptasia gone, filefish fat and happy.

Not to be a stickler, but this is not a solution.

Most may not want another fish. Some cannot keep another fish. You may have to possibly supplement food to the filefish or give it away after. Filefish do not fit into pipes, overflows and sumps. You may as well just baste them with hot RODI water, it won't take 2 weeks.

Superglue is your best chance to kill a polyp and not have it spread. IME. This assumes you can access the rock. If you have a big tank you will have to try and use the glue underwater I guess. I've been taking the rock right out of the water to apply the glue.

 

[Swoody]

Berghia Nudibrachs

 

[Katrina71]

+1 Nudis

 

[Mical]

Not to be a stickler, but this is not a solution.

Most may not want another fish. Some cannot keep another fish. You may have to possibly supplement food to the filefish or give it away after. Filefish do not fit into pipes, overflows and sumps. You may as well just baste them with hot RODI water, it won't take 2 weeks.

Superglue is your best chance to kill a polyp and not have it spread. IME. This assumes you can access the rock. If you have a big tank you will have to try and use the glue underwater I guess. I've been taking the rock right out of the water to apply the glue.

Problem with aiptasia they are a form of anemone - if your hot water, super glue, aiptasiaX, majano wand doesn't get them to the core they multiply... ask me how I know. I battled them for months until adding filefish. After aiptasia is gone they gladly eat pellet food or frozen and they've been model citizens since. Granted they don't fit down overflows etc - if I spot aiptasia in overflow or sump I scoop it out and dump into display as treat for filefish.