Aiptasia-tank move

[dirtdobber06]

I'm going to be either moving my tank or starting over next spring. I have aiptasia in my tank. I have managed it with file fish and nudibranches over the years but it gets old. Is it possible to completely get rid of them with a tank transfer method or should I just start over by drying everything out and getting new corals? I only have a few lps corals but nothing super expensive. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[blaxsun]

At first I thought that was hair algae in spots - then I zoomed in... yikes! You have some very nice LPS corals there - it would be great if you could somehow save them.

 

[Fish Think Pink]

I'm going to be either moving my tank or starting over next spring. I have aiptasia in my tank. I have managed it with file fish and nudibranches over the years but it gets old. Is it possible to completely get rid of them with a tank transfer method or should I just start over by drying everything out and getting new corals? I only have a few lps corals but nothing super expensive. Thanks for your thoughts.

Vote theoretically possible but doubtful... and keep in mind they got in there initially so what will you do to keep aiptasia out aka stop RE-introduction after you go thru all that work.

I feel your pain - DFW metroplex feels like ground zero for aiptasia (what - they're in the wild?! feels like they live inland Texas just great... LOL) ... and you're my eastern neighbor ...

F-Aiptasia but *must* be used very proactively when they appear. You probably know this but depending species each one is dropping perhaps 2-5 a week... and god help us if they get 'scrubbed' during cleaning...

Instead, I'd suggest taking a more aggressive approach to what you already have. You can't do all of them all at once given quantity because it is too much acid and may impact your tank negatively overall. Maybe focus on a rock at a time, lift it out, put it in a bin of water and do them all there... let it setup for an hour or so and put it back into tank... next day get another one and do it same... and on the rocks 'done' if they pop up (again) on there be sure to re-zap

Advantage to lifting out of water and back into water (aside from slight acid reduction when we're talking multiple bottles of F-Aiptasia to be used) those L and XL and XXL tend to shrink up reducing the amount of F-Aiptasia needed to cover them

Yes it feels futile but there can be an end to it all if you just keep at it... its what I'm trying to convince myself anyhow...

Good luck to you! (and me! and everyone!!! ... but death to aiptasias!!)

 

[Hurricane Aquatics]

Had this exact thing happen in my small cube. I had about 20 or so in my tank and bought nudibranchs. They cleared them out in about 3 or 4 months.

As soon as the nudis died off, the aiptasia came back with a vengeance! They covered everything in the tank and the return.

I broke it down, threw everything away, and started new. No way I was putting anything in the new tank that had ever had aiptasia on it. Lesson for me, be SUPER selective of Coral frags you buy.

My aiptasia came from WWC on 20 frags I bought. I even scrubbed them, dipped them, etc before putting them in. I suggest breaking the Coral off the plug and gluing to a fresh new plug in the future. Or here's my plan, buy only from ORA directly.

 

[dirtdobber06]

Is a truly aiptasia free tank even possible?

 

[Sebastiancrab]

Yes. Attack them manually as they appear rock by rock out of the tank. I use reef safe super glue after scraping them.

 

[i cant think]

I'm going to be either moving my tank or starting over next spring. I have aiptasia in my tank. I have managed it with file fish and nudibranches over the years but it gets old. Is it possible to completely get rid of them with a tank transfer method or should I just start over by drying everything out and getting new corals? I only have a few lps corals but nothing super expensive. Thanks for your thoughts.

The only way I’ve found that effectively eradicates Aptaisia is through hitting every one you find with something like Aiptasia-X.
I did this in my Nano tank (both my current nano tank and my previous nano tank). I will say I have a CBB in my 4’ tank which if I have a mass-outbreak of aiptasia, he gets an early Christmas dinner. Now, I used my CBB along with attacking them with aiptasia-X and after a long fight for Atleast 2 months, I had an almost completely aiptasia free tank. Now, even if you zoom into photos of my nano, you won’t spot the aiptasia.

 

[i cant think]

Another way I’ve used in my 4’ tank in the past was using a sting more powerful than an anemone sting… Torch Corals.
I know it sounds ridiculous however, I used to move my colony or torch around the tank until all of the aiptasia was gone (This was Atleast 2 months before the CBB went into the tank and I realised I actually needed aiptasia to get him feeding vigorously). I now only have aiptasia in my back chambers and sump which provides a wonderful food source for my CBB.

 

[anthonygf]

Try sucking out as much as you can with this home made tool. A stainless steel straw and hose, about 1/4 inch diameter, you can use the straw to scrape the nems off the rock. When lights out use your skimmer or another method and get lots of micro bubbles into your display, since I have been doing this the aiptasia numbers have been dropping, I think the micro bubbles are toxic to them. I also have a Filefish and he helps but there are areas he can't get to. Honestly, I have been doing this for several months and does work. The micro bubbles also help polish the water, the bubbles attach to small particles and keeps them in the water column so the filter has a better chance of catching them.

 

[steveschuerger]

I have two well behaved peppermint shrimp that I had gotten in February for a small break-out that occurred with live rock introduction. Worked very quickly, and no return engagements of aiptasia

 

[dirtdobber06]

Does drying things like the overflow and sump kill them?

 

[anthonygf]

I tried restarting my reef setup when I had first aiptasia explosion a few years ago. Killed and sterilized everything, fragged all corals to remove aips. Still came back, I am okay with them now that they are not multiplying as they usually do I think because of the Filefish and micro bubbles.