Aiptasia Erradication

[Jwheld]

As you can see below (pictures don’t do a justice) I have an aiptasia problem. I’ve been letting it go far too long and they are so overgrown that they are irritating my corals to the point of killing parts. So... I bought some reinforcements!! I’ve only read good things so I’m giving Berghia a try for the first time! I will let everyone know the progress that is made.

 

[Tahoe61]

Go Troops of Berghia!!!!!

Let us know how it goes for you. It's hard to eradicate Aiptasia to say the least.

 

[Ryan420r6]

Holy moly that is a lot of aiptasia! Looks like you got a nice little platoon in that beaker. How many did you get and how big is your tank?

 

[Jwheld]

Holy moly that is a lot of aiptasia! Looks like you got a nice little platoon in that beaker. How many did you get and how big is your tank?

I got 16 medium (1/2”) nudis for my 40B. Should be plenty. I’m not looking at wiping them out overnight. From what I’ve read, it’ll probably still take a couple months. Especially with my infestation.

 

[Mike Reef Addict]

Say hello to my little frien....

 

[Cherub]

hopefully you don't have wrasses! that aiptasia looks like what i had going on a couple of tanks ago. I almost quit lol. I bought nudi's, put them in and never seen the nudi's again lol

 

[711reefer]

just be careful you dont have tank mates that eat the berghias. my solution was captive bred file fish

 

[Jwheld]

hopefully you don't have wrasses! that aiptasia looks like what i had going on a couple of tanks ago. I almost quit lol. I bought nudi's, put them in and never seen the nudi's again lol

No wrasses here! I hope they don’t disappear. Haha

 

[Jwheld]

just be careful you dont have tank mates that eat the berghias. my solution was captive bred file fish

I was thinking filefish, but heard mixed reviews on being reef safe.

 

[Mike Reef Addict]

I was thinking filefish, but heard mixed reviews on being reef safe.

LuLz my LFS calls them "Apstaia" file fish! Peppermint shrimp take care on the small new ones, the bigger ones I nuke with Kalwasser residue from the bottom of my mixing jug.

 

[jd371]

Where did you get the Nudis from? I just put some in my tank last night. In my case I was trying to kill them with Aptasia-X and did a good job on the big ones and the ones out in the open, but the ones in the crevices and holes not so much and all it did was cause them to multiply and spread now my tank looks like yours.
I was reluctant to try Nudis because of the price for them and I have a Melanurus that's a savage. The Nudis are nocturnal and my Melanurus is buried under the sand an hour before the lights shut off so I don't think they'll cross paths. I was also reassured by someone familiar with Nudis that they hide deep in the rocks during the day so a fish getting to them is very unlikely and the only thing to worry about is if I had Peppermint shrimp in the tank which I don't. Crossing my fingers and taking a chance and will know in a couple of months.

 

[Jwheld]

Where did you get the Nudis from? I just put some in my tank last night. In my case I was trying to kill them with Aptasia-X and did a good job on the big ones and the ones out in the open, but the ones in the crevices and holes not so much and all it did was cause them to multiply and spread now my tank looks like yours.
I was reluctant to try Nudis because of the price for them and I have a Melanurus that's a savage. The Nudis are nocturnal and my Melanurus is buried under the sand an hour before the lights shut off so I don't think they'll cross paths. I was also reassured by someone familiar with Nudis that they hide deep in the rocks during the day so a fish getting to them is very unlikely and the only thing to worry about is if I had Peppermint shrimp in the tank which I don't. Crossing my fingers and taking a chance and will know in a couple of months.

Good luck!!

I got mine from M2O reef on eBay. Very well packaged and all alive.

 

[Jwheld]

Well.... night one they were busy doing something!

 

[looneywun]

they should take care of it. I used them in my tank and they took care of all the aptasia

 

[declanisadog]

holy crap that's a lot of aptasia!! Good Luck to the little guys

 

[Jeff_H]

Wow, that’s a ton of Aiptasia!

Now I know where my tank was headed if I didn’t do something when I did. I released a small platoon of Berghia (25) two weeks ago and they appear to have cleared one rock already.

Good luck!

 

[jasonrusso]

Where did you get the Nudis from? I just put some in my tank last night. In my case I was trying to kill them with Aptasia-X and did a good job on the big ones and the ones out in the open, but the ones in the crevices and holes not so much and all it did was cause them to multiply and spread now my tank looks like yours.
I was reluctant to try Nudis because of the price for them and I have a Melanurus that's a savage. The Nudis are nocturnal and my Melanurus is buried under the sand an hour before the lights shut off so I don't think they'll cross paths. I was also reassured by someone familiar with Nudis that they hide deep in the rocks during the day so a fish getting to them is very unlikely and the only thing to worry about is if I had Peppermint shrimp in the tank which I don't. Crossing my fingers and taking a chance and will know in a couple of months.

Don't use aiptasia X while you have nudis in there. If you don't kill the aiptasia completely and the nudis go after it, it will poison them.

I used nudis several times, buy they never fully cured my problem. There was always one or 2 left behind (in my overflows, sump, etc) then they came back.

What finally cured my problem was a mistake. I dosed chloroquine Phosphate in my DT, it kind of nuked the tank but it did kill the aiptasia. I pulled the plug after 3 days but the aiptasia was gone!

 

[Sleepydoc]

I had a similar problem and got some Bergies several months ago - those guys (gals?) are awesome! Don't be surprised if you can't find them after putting them in the tank, and have patience. It took about a month and a half for me. At first I keep looking to see if I could tell they were eating them and I never could, so I eventually forgot about it. Then one day about 4-6 weeks later I looked in my tank and couldn't find a single aiptasia!

 

[jd371]

Don't use aiptasia X while you have nudis in there. If you don't kill the aiptasia completely and the nudis go after it, it will poison them.

I used nudis several times, buy they never fully cured my problem. There was always one or 2 left behind (in my overflows, sump, etc) then they came back.

What finally cured my problem was a mistake. I dosed chloroquine Phosphate in my DT, it kind of nuked the tank but it did kill the aiptasia. I pulled the plug after 3 days but the aiptasia was gone!

Aptasia-X got me into this mess, so I don't plan on using it again.

I had a similar problem and got some Bergies several months ago - those guys (gals?) are awesome! Don't be surprised if you can't find them after putting them in the tank, and have patience. It took about a month and a half for me. At first I keep looking to see if I could tell they were eating them and I never could, so I eventually forgot about it. Then one day about 4-6 weeks later I looked in my tank and couldn't find a single aiptasia!

That's what I've been told. After you put them in you won't see them for a while because they are eating the Aptasia that's under the rock or deep inside crevices and once they take care of those they start venturing out. What size tank do you have and how many did you add?

 

[robosworld]

YES I HAD A BAD PROBLEM AND APTASIA-X HELPED SPRED THE PROBLEM.. I COMPLETELY PULLED OUT ALL OF THE ROCK AND BLEACHED THEM ..THE CORALS I TRIED TO ZAP AND TREAT IN SEPARATE CONTAINERS. I GOT MOST OF THE ROCK CLEARED FROM THE AIPTASIA BUT IT HAS COME BACK MAINLY ON MY CORALS. I TRIED FILE FISH AND THEY DIDN'T EVEN LOOK AT THE AIPTASIA.. TRIED A COPPERBAND AND IT WAS DEAD IN 4 DAYS. MY THING IS TO TAKE THE CORALS OUT 1 AT A TIME AND NULE THEM OUTSIDE OF TANK AND HOPE I CAN CLEAR THEM UP AGAIN...