Aiptasia?

[Neil Cohen]

New to reef keeping. Suddenly, I have a few new residents. Assumed they were aiptasia and picked up a few nudis. They have been going by these anemonies but don't seem to be eating them. Am I wrong about what they are? Note: pic enlarged, they are about hte size of a pencil eraser

TIA

IMG_1829

• Neil Cohen
• May 11, 2018

 

[Maggie321]

Try again on posting pic. I can't see it.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

I can't either...

 

[DLHDesign]

Yup; looks like aiptasia.
What sort of nudis did you add in?

 

[Neil Cohen]

Berghia. Only been in there a few days. Don't know how long it takes for them to eat them

 

[DLHDesign]

Longer than that, unfortunately. :-(

Berghia are "pack hunters" - their colony size must be large enough to overwhelm the aiptasia that they eat. If you just added in some, then what you've done is started your colony. The ones in the tank now have the job of reproducing, basically - not ridding your tank of aiptasia. As the colony grows, they will begin eating away at the aiptasia you can't see (the ones hidden in the rocks). As the colony grows larger, they will eat that supply and move on to swarming the outer (generally larger) ones that you can see.

That process can take months. It'll work, but (like most things in this hobby), it takes patience. You could very well go weeks without seeing a single nudi doing anything; but so long as you seeded enough in originally for them to find each other and procreate, they are still there.

 

[Neil Cohen]

Thanks. There are 4 in a 54 g tank. Every night I watch all four gather at the rock with the Aiptasia but they don't seem to stay long. More concerned they would starve. Does it make sense to to cut off the aiptasia or remove the rock they are on?

 

[Deereefer]

Use a syringe or dropper and inject pure vinegar to it.

 

[DLHDesign]

Sounds like they are hunting out the smaller pieces that they can overwhelm. If they are moving, they aren't starving.

Does it make sense to to cut off the aiptasia or remove the rock they are on?

Unless something dramatic changes, my advice is to just let them do their thing. It will take time. Patience.
The more you do to disrupt the process of the Berghia colony establishing itself in your tank, the less likely it will work as desired - which includes them being a long-term solution. Short of tearing the tank down and restarting it, there's not much you can do to 100% eliminate aiptasia from your tank (it'll hide deep in the rocks, etc.). At this point, my vote for your best bet is to establish a self-sustaining colony of Berghia that will keep them under control in the long-term.

 

[Jesterrace]

Do not mess with the aiptasia or they will spread like wildfire. Leave them be and let the Berghia do their thing.