Aiptasia

4FordFamily · Nov 9, 2015

twilliard said:
Still no matter the size superglue will rid of them never to be seen again.

Oh and they absolutely hate hot water temps

What do you do when you have 1500 of them? Almost literally...

Jlobes · Nov 9, 2015

twilliard said:
Why would we doom an animal for our own gain?
These guys are not that hard to rid of and can personally be done in under a week.
Unless you don't want to move rockwork
Sorry not a fan of animals to solve a pest problem

berghia are the best solution for aiptasia, as it is their only food source. They will seek out and consume aiptasia, and have worked wonders on many tanks. Not sure why youre not a fan, but a proven solution is the one I go with. Im not trying to squirt super glue in every crevice of my rockwork and hope it works. also, not wanting to move rockwork isnt the difficulty, some of us CANT move our rocks. as they are built/cemented together.

cameronh · Nov 9, 2015

3FordFamily said:
What do you do when you have 1500 of them? Almost literally...

Set the tank on fire

4FordFamily · Nov 9, 2015

Duke4Life said:
I'm feeding at the opposite end of where the mother colony in the pic is.

I am too, now. It's a lost cause though these things are going to break the glass and kill me in my sleep.

vic5hands · Nov 9, 2015

Berghaus are ok unless you have peppermint shrimp which will eat the Berghaus

Duke4Life · Nov 9, 2015

Glad I got off early and brought this topic up. On the iPad in front of my tank, while doing house chores of course lol

4FordFamily · Nov 9, 2015

Jlobes said:
berghia are the best solution for aiptasia, as it is their only food source. They will seek out and consume aiptasia, and have worked wonders on many tanks. Not sure why youre not a fan, but a proven solution is the one I go with. Im not trying to squirt super glue in every crevice of my rockwork and hope it works. also, not wanting to move rockwork isnt the difficulty, some of us CANT move our rocks. as they are built/cemented together.

I bought a few of these in the past and they did nothing.

I would need probably 30 LOL

Duke4Life · Nov 9, 2015

vic5hands said:
Berghaus are ok unless you have peppermint shrimp which will eat the Berghaus

I can catch those, night time creatures they be.

Jlobes · Nov 9, 2015

3FordFamily said:
I bought a few of these in the past and they did nothing.

I would need probably 30 LOL

you do need quite a few. depending on the size of tank and amount of infestation, but they DO work.

twilliard · Nov 9, 2015

3FordFamily said:
What do you do when you have 1500 of them? Almost literally...

Oh wow!
Now that is what I would call a ton of work!

arman · Nov 9, 2015

Hi friends.Ive no idea what is this creature is it good or bad?

twilliard · Nov 9, 2015

arman said:
Hi friends.Ive no idea what is this creature is it good or bad?

The aiptasia?
Well its not harmful but can grow to numbers in a way it will sting corals

Duke4Life · Nov 9, 2015

arman said:
Hi friends.Ive no idea what is this creature is it good or bad?

More of a pest and nuisance.

Duke4Life · Feb 17, 2016

Just had an idea, Would the suction on a shop vac be good enough to pull these off? Was vacuuming while ago and got to thinking.

SteveSTL · Feb 17, 2016

Any little bit left behind regrows so you're just going to have them come back. I live near Salty Underground and just got 7 Bergia for my massive infestation. It's going to take months but they'll breed, make more, and more will eat the Aiptasia until they're all gone. After that, you can either try and catch them and pass them on to someone else or they'll just die off in your tank.

dbl · Feb 17, 2016

I didn't read this whole thread, so forgive me if this was brought up, but have you tried a Copperband Butterfly? I had an outbreak, tried all the "juices" and couldn't reach spots to apply the superglue method. I ended up finding a CBB that was eating frozen at the LFS. Put it in QT and it continued to eat during that time. So in the display it went. It did take it about three weeks to discover it's appetite for the Aiptasia; but I haven't seen another Aiptasia in months. I've been lucky the CBB hasn't developed an appetite for corals....yet!!!

Just a suggestion, take it for what it's worth.

Duke4Life · Feb 17, 2016

dbl said:
I didn't read this whole thread, so forgive me if this was brought up, but have you tried a Copperband Butterfly? I had an outbreak, tried all the "juices" and couldn't reach spots to apply the superglue method. I ended up finding a CBB that was eating frozen at the LFS. Put it in QT and it continued to eat during that time. So in the display it went. It did take it about three weeks to discover it's appetite for the Aiptasia; but I haven't seen another Aiptasia in months. I've been lucky the CBB hasn't developed an appetite for corals....yet!!!

Just a suggestion, take it for what it's worth.

Not yet. I'm trying to work on some water parameters before anymore fish (can't believe I'm saying this lol). Those are on my short list and don't mind how they look and my wife likes the butterfly name. Nudibranches are also a possibility, as I know someone else with the same issue just not as bad.