Aiptasia Outbreak!!

[RouJr]

arent all zoas and palys toxic

 

[Blutspitze]

I've had great success with a high concentration calcium hydroxide solution. I use Kalkwasser in my top off, so always have some around. I'll use ~1 teaspoon in ~half a baster filled with tank water, mix well, and put into a syringe with a needle (buyable on Amazon, if that's an option). Inject the heads and they'll not only die instantly, but it prevents the spawning problem you had. Plus it'll raise your pH, if anything, so win win. I still get one or two popping up on occasion, but they're rare and easily dealt with.

 

[TheGreatWave]

I've had great success with a high concentration calcium hydroxide solution. I use Kalkwasser in my top off, so always have some around. I'll use ~1 teaspoon in ~half a baster filled with tank water, mix well, and put into a syringe with a needle (buyable on Amazon, if that's an option). Inject the heads and they'll not only die instantly, but it prevents the spawning problem you had. Plus it'll raise your pH, if anything, so win win. I still get one or two popping up on occasion, but they're rare and easily dealt with.

Just so we are clear here, you did not solve the problem. It's not really a "win win" when you could add kalkwasser without the aiptasia.

It does not prevent the spawning heads from popping up because admittedly you "still get one or two popping up on occasion". If left unchecked the population would explode. Plus there is at least 2 or 3 really large ones in your rockwork that you can't even see.

For lime, kalk or aiptasia X to work, (actually eliminate aiptasia) you have to cover the whole anemone first time, within a reasonably short period from introduction to the tank.

 

[Blutspitze]

Just so we are clear here, you did not solve the problem. It's not really a "win win" when you could add kalkwasser without the aiptasia.

It does not prevent the spawning heads from popping up because admittedly you "still get one or two popping up on occasion". If left unchecked the population would explode. Plus there is at least 2 or 3 really large ones in your rockwork that you can't even see.

For lime, kalk or aiptasia X to work, (actually eliminate aiptasia) you have to cover the whole anemone first time, within a reasonably short period from introduction to the tank.

True, they're not all gone, but having 1 pop up every 2 or 3 months (admittedly, that I see) is preferred to a mass outbreak covering the whole thing.

 

[gmneil]

Berghia nudis. Not cheap but works amazingly well

https://reeftown.com

i second the berghia nudi's they work great you only need a couple as they will breed in your tank also.

 

[Reef_A_Lot]

F-Aiptasia works great! I’d highly recommend that. If that doesn’t do it for you then Berghia nudis are another alternative but that are expensive for sure.

 

[Rich Klein]

I had quite a few growing in my 165 gallon. I added Peppermint Shrimp and Berghia nudis, then used Aptasia-X to kill the larger ones. It took a few months, but I can't find any in my tank now. You have to be careful, if you try to kill them manually you can actually make them worse as then can propagate when stressed.

 

[JoeJoesonoma]

I've always had great success with using kalkwasser paste in a eye dropper. Once you see them put some on the center of them and they will not come back for sure.

 

[bsn_rn_cen]

I had some in a relatively new tank. The rock didn't have anything on it yet so I took it out and hit all the aiptasia with boiling water. Don't know if it is feasible for your tank but it worked great.

 

[TheGreatWave]

I had some in a relatively new tank. The rock didn't have anything on it yet so I took it out and hit all the aiptasia with boiling water. Don't know if it is feasible for your tank but it worked great.

Removing the rock is good advice, except I would use something other then boiling water due to safety concerns especially with the potential for palytoxin.

 

[ScottR]

Please read for better understanding. By the way I have a massive colony of these that I can't remove from main rock until I decide to remove the whole rock from the display one day. I don't mess with mine and they don't mess with me, all is well but if I could go back to when I onlyhad a few like you, I'd take more action and probably toss the whole rock in the back yard under a lot of dirt.

https://reefs.com/2015/09/14/the-dangers-and-myths-of-zoa-toxicity-part-1/

Great article. +1

 

[ScottR]

I was hoping the peppermint shrimp would have at least helped. But I have more now than what I started with when I brought them home.

There are different types of peppermint shrimps. I believe the one that eats aiptasia is referred to as a US peppermint. And supposedly they’re quite hard to find at the moment. I personally don’t know how to tell them apart. But some do eat corals. So I’m not going there.

 

[satiger]

I have used Red sea Aiptasia-X Eliminator. Works well, didn't cause harm to any corals I have.

There were few Aiptasia left where I couldn't reach. After my ich treatments (see my post) all those were gone !!! (added bonus )

 

[Ferrell]

Berghia work well but take time. Get the large ones as they breed quicker and will multiply fast enough to get the job done. Mine took about 2 months before A holes were gone.
I tried all the methods mentioned above with the exception of f aptasia and for the most part they all failed.

 

[Proteus Meep]

Unleash the Berghia of War

Berghia are the only solution that offers 100% eradication all other methods only control them with differing degrees of effectiveness

 

[psirex]

Get a matted filefish and be done with them. Takes a few weeks to get acclimated to the surroundings them boom they will be gone....

 

[vetteguy53081]

best unknown secret- Kleini Butterfly !!! YES
I tried CBB, File, peppermint, etc and the one that truly eats them is Kleini, and after theyre gone, the Kleini eats all fish foods eagerly. Doesn't bother ANY of my corals. I have one in 2 of 3 tanks !!

 

[Chad Augustine]

Mix up some thick kalk, " into a paste" and shoot it with a syringe onto the aptsaia and it will die instantly!!

 

[lbiminiblue]

I had a really nasty outbreak a while ago. I started with the usual, aipX which did nothing, I tried Berghia nudibranchs, but my rockwork is really spaced apart, and they would die before they could find the next batch of anemones. Peppermint shrimp did a fantastic job for me. They eradicated everything except the biggest ones.

Here’s where my methods are a little different. I bought a 2 watt blue laser, and have been using that sucker to melt aiptasia for a long time now. The thing I love is that it’s less intrusive and less involved than injecting stuff in. Its also insanely satisfying watching them melt and shrivel. Haven’t had any incidents with them ejecting spores with the laser approach, and it’s my go-to now. Just make sure you wear eye protection. If you catch a reflection to your eye you will definitely feel it.

 

[Ulee]

By the way the aiptasia is growing I would say it was already seeded in the live rock u bought.
Peppermint shrimp...