Aptasia on Zoas

Maobea · Oct 23, 2018

Hey guys,

So I bought an Orange Bam Bam Zoa frag at my LFS a few weeks ago and I just noticed a tiny Aptasia growing on it and it's keeping my Zoas unhappy. I've been looking on how to get rid of it now that's small so that it doesn't get out of control. I read somewhere about using lemon juice concentrate and a needle to poke it with. Would this be a good solution? Could I just squeeze a lemon and apply that or does it have to be the concentrate you buy at the store? Would this have an effect on the Zoas it is growing on? I certainly don't want to hurt my Zoas!

I'd be interested to see what other natural treatments you guys have to deal with aptasia. I know lemon juice is acidic and could affect the ph of my tank (it's a 70 gal tank), but since it's just one aptasia and it's pretty small, I wouldn't think i'd need a whole lot of it.

Please share your experience on what other treatments I could employ to rid of this little pest.

Thank you all so much!

Mauricio.

kashman100 · Oct 23, 2018

Super glue over the area with the aptasia if you just have 1 works good

Maobea · Oct 23, 2018

kashman100 said:
Super glue over the area with the aptasia if you just have 1 works good

Funny thing is I actually put some super glue on it yesterday and it just came out the other side. I might try that again, but I have to be careful cause I dont want to cover the Zoas. I only have like 6 polyps.

DSC reef · Oct 23, 2018

The only thing that worked for me was manual removal. I bought a hobby knife/scalpel and while my wife held a bright flashlight I cut carefully and removed every bit of tissue. Tried kalk, glue, lemon juice, etc, all just made them spread or they just came back. Fortunately our colonies were easy to remove from the tank. I'd use eyewear and be very careful if you try this procedure. Many ways to try and battle the infamous aptasia.

Dr. Reef · Oct 23, 2018

advise i would give you is that whatever remedy you use do it outside the tank rinse well then back in tank.
Most likely when you try to kill it it knows and it spawns and it spreads across the tank.
I like burning them with torch lighter as flame is sharp and pointed and easy to manage in small areas but seems like in your case it may not be possible due to very close to zoa.
Another thing you can do is take rock out and heat up a sharp metal object like a ice pick and make it real hot and burn the sucker deep into the cave its in. rinse well and back into the tank. rinse rinse rinse with saltwater.
in my 25+ yrs of experience everything out there is a hit and miss except burning.
good luck

Coralreefer1 · Oct 23, 2018

Just be careful with the heating and burning around Zoanthids and Palythoas as some of these contain the second most deadly toxin in the World... (PALYTOXIN)!
Vinegar, lemon juice, Joe’s Juice, a paste of Kalkwasser, tooth pick, glue or plaque remover will work. Only downsize to using the liquids is potential to alter water parameters if you use too much.

Maobea · Oct 23, 2018

Thank you all so much! this wouldnt be so hard if the sucker wasnt stuck right between two zoa polyps. I really dont wanna hurt the zoas. The one closest to it is already closing up

luckyazn6 · Oct 23, 2018

Cut one or two zoas and put on new frag play leave that aptasia on the garbage

michael giordano · Oct 23, 2018

I would not risk it, cut off a small zoa frag and discard the rest. Battling a full tank aptasia take over to save one coral never makes sense. Trust me cut and discard the disc and remount the coral you could save

Dr. Reef · Oct 23, 2018

if i have to sacrifice a zoa or two i would rather do that than letting aiptasia take over sooner of later. once it starts to spread there will be a forest of it and nothing else will survive. i agree with above statements. either take the healthy zoas and re home them and discard the infected rest or sacrifice the 1 or 2 zoa trying to kill the aiptasia but do not let the sucker grow and reproduce. it will be a lost battle then.

Maobea · Oct 23, 2018

As much as it hurts, I believe that'll be the best thing to do. Best way to get rid of the sucker is to throw it in the trash...Knowing Aptasia they'll take over the trash. I shall perform surgery tomorrow ;Nailbiting

ciscomania · Oct 23, 2018

I would just get rid of the rock that it's on and call it a day. I went through this fiasco of trying to get rid of one aptasia from zoa frag to basically starting the tank over cuz I ignored the same advice that was given to me then to try to save few zoas that were even worth much.

tiggs · Oct 24, 2018

It's not quite a natural treatment, but I've always had good luck with AiptasiaX, going back maybe 10 years or so for small outbreaks. The key with this stuff is to administer it properly. A lot of folks just cover the aiptasia with the stuff after it closes up, but you have to get it to actually ingest it. Ideally, you sneak the syringe right up to the disk and release a very small amount, so the tentacles close around the needle, then release a healthy portion right into the "mouth". Once the aiptasia closes up, I cover the whole thing with another decent portion and make sure it's completely covered.

The tricky part is if you don't get the aiptasia to ingest the fluid before covering it, it'll release spores as soon as it's threatened. If that happens, the aiptasia you targeted will still probably die, but you'll start to see more pop up.