Aiptasia Kryptonite?

Dburr1014 · May 23, 2023

mak5487 said:
An update on this theory. I had an explosion of Aiptasia in my sump. I decided this would be an easy place to test out the bubbles theory. I started air stones yesterday around noon and by 8 am this morning half of them in the targeted area are no longer extended/gone. I am assuming they are no longer extended. I plan on leaving the air stones going through this weekend and determining the impact on Monday.

Just a thought, they can be mobile. Could they have just released in hopes of finding a better spot to hunker down?

mak5487 · May 23, 2023

Dburr1014 said:
Just a thought, they can be mobile. Could they have just released in hopes of finding a better spot to hunker down?

100%. They could have relocated into my cheato. When the bubbles were going through my main tank, it seemed like they died off. Once the bubbles stopped, there was only a handful left and only a few of them were large. I am starting on the left side of the sump and will work my way to the right. Even if they are released, eventually there will be nowhere to go except into the main display tank. My plan is eventually to put the airstones in my return pump and fill my display tank with a bunch of bubbles for a week or so.

Dburr1014 · May 23, 2023

mak5487 said:
100%. They could have relocated into my cheato. When the bubbles were going through my main tank, it seemed like they died off. Once the bubbles stopped, there was only a handful left and only a few of them were large. I am starting on the left side of the sump and will work my way to the right. Even if they are released, eventually there will be nowhere to go except into the main display tank. My plan is eventually to put the airstones in my return pump and fill my display tank with a bunch of bubbles for a week or so.

Okay, so your trying to make an air curtain in hopes to contain them?
Good luck with that.

Jim Gomoll · May 23, 2023

Aiptasia eating Peppermint Shrimp was my solution. Spent a year messing with different chemicals spot treatment which did kill them but they kept popping up. Got 3 shrimp and haven't seen one since.

mak5487 · May 23, 2023

Dburr1014 said:
Okay, so your trying to make an air curtain in hopes to contain them?
Good luck with that.

Sort of. I am using the champers of the sump to help as well. I may have to buy another air pump to ensure I get a wide enough air curtain to make sure they don't get back to the "treated" side. Just an experiment. The good thing is I don't have a huge problem with them in my display tank at this time. So I figure I have some time to destroy them in the sump before I attack the display again.

mak5487 · May 23, 2023

Jim Gomoll said:
Aiptasia eating Peppermint Shrimp was my solution. Spent a year messing with different chemicals spot treatment which did kill them but they kept popping up. Got 3 shrimp and haven't seen one since.

I have a mating pair of clowns that lay eggs on the side of my aquarium almost weekly. My daughter likes watching them. I figure the peppermint shrimp would end up eating the eggs.

rainsong · May 24, 2023

Very interesting thread!

I have a 150 gal with 40 gal sump. I have a TON of aiptasia (small and large) in my DT and overflow (none in sump ... yet). I tried Joe's stuff for a while but it was a losing battle. I recently (a month ago) purchased a CBB from Dr Reef. CBB has not shown any interest in aiptasia yet.

I am going to try the "wooden air diffuser in front of return pump" thing. Plan is to run it only at nights ... for now.

I hope it works ...