Aptasia saved my tank

[MACHO]

Hey guys I haven’t been on here in a while. I just wanted to share my journey that I’ve had throughout the past year. Starting off I bought a Red Sea 750xxl back in July of 2020 so the tank is almost 2 years old. It started off really good I had a whole plethora of corals and fish and then it started going downhill. I transferred all of my fish from my 65 gallon.

which was 2 clowns some cardinals and a yellow tang. Anyways I wanted a bigger tank for the tang so I ended up buying a 200 gallon Red Sea 750xxl

Everyone was happy and healthy and I started buying coral. Well starting that I went to my lfs I don’t go there anymore. Because as I was fairly new to the hobby I didn’t know much so they sold me what they said was a Torch coral( it wasn’t) ended up stinging all my other coral then I bought a xenia which is still in the tank to this day. Every other coral I bought has died due to aptasia. Now I know y’all can hate me or whatever but I honestly didn’t know what it was and didn’t know what to do. It was brought in from a coral I bought from the same fish store. Anyways this is what the tank looks like today

So currently I’m working with an aptasia problem very severe but this was due to about 4 months of neglect. I literally just fed them and refilled there ato. No water changes no dosing I didn’t even have the skimmer running or the apex it was disconnected from the Wi-Fi. Well back in December my mom gave me an ultimatum. Either sell the tank or do something about it. And I seriously considered getting out of the hobby all together. But I saw how happy the fish still were and how beautiful the tank is even with all the aptasia. So I decided to keep it and work on it. Now I kinda slacked on starting the rebirth of this tank and finally I bought 2 filefish. Did absolutely nothing lol. Then I figured we’ll what’s next and my mom told me about berghia nudibranch I heard about it but never thought about using them. I needed up buying them because there was really no other options. The aptasia was too much to handle. So I ordered them and had to weeks to prepare.Well to get ready for these nudibranch that Ipurchased which was about 7 of them.

I have been doing weekly water changes ( about 60 gallons)for the past month done weekly water testing which I’m putting into the apex and finally I’m feeling the love for this tank again. Literally I’m sitting here writing this right by the tank watching the chateo that I bought and copepods because it’s so fascinating to me. Oh and also just placed the berghia in yesterday they were very reluctant to leave there container I placed on the rock but none are in there now so I believe all of them left which is very good.Idk that’s my long essay on how I truly feel that aptasia saved this tank. Thanks for reading if you got this far.

 

[blaxsun]

So you decided to embrace Aiptasia and go for it?

 

[CanuckReefer]

Hey guys I haven’t been on here in a while. I just wanted to share my journey that I’ve had throughout the past year. Starting off I bought a Red Sea 750xxl back in July of 2020 so the tank is almost 2 years old. It started off really good I had a whole plethora of corals and fish and then it started going downhill. I transferred all of my fish from my 65 gallon.

which was 2 clowns some cardinals and a yellow tang. Anyways I wanted a bigger tank for the tang so I ended up buying a 200 gallon Red Sea 750xxl

Everyone was happy and healthy and I started buying coral. Well starting that I went to my lfs I don’t go there anymore. Because as I was fairly new to the hobby I didn’t know much so they sold me what they said was a Torch coral( it wasn’t) ended up stinging all my other coral then I bought a xenia which is still in the tank to this day. Every other coral I bought has died due to aptasia. Now I know y’all can hate me or whatever but I honestly didn’t know what it was and didn’t know what to do. It was brought in from a coral I bought from the same fish store. Anyways this is what the tank looks like today

So currently I’m working with an aptasia problem very severe but this was due to about 4 months of neglect. I literally just fed them and refilled there ato. No water changes no dosing I didn’t even have the skimmer running or the apex it was disconnected from the Wi-Fi. Well back in December my mom gave me an ultimatum. Either sell the tank or do something about it. And I seriously considered getting out of the hobby all together. But I saw how happy the fish still were and how beautiful the tank is even with all the aptasia. So I decided to keep it and work on it. Now I kinda slacked on starting the rebirth of this tank and finally I bought 2 filefish. Did absolutely nothing lol. Then I figured we’ll what’s next and my mom told me about berghia nudibranch I heard about it but never thought about using them. I needed up buying them because there was really no other options. The aptasia was too much to handle. So I ordered them and had to weeks to prepare.Well to get ready for these nudibranch that Ipurchased which was about 7 of them.

I have been doing weekly water changes ( about 60 gallons)for the past month done weekly water testing which I’m putting into the apex and finally I’m feeling the love for this tank again. Literally I’m sitting here writing this right by the tank watching the chateo that I bought and copepods because it’s so fascinating to me. Oh and also just placed the berghia in yesterday they were very reluctant to leave there container I placed on the rock but none are in there now so I believe all of them left which is very good.Idk that’s my long essay on how I truly feel that aptasia saved this tank. Thanks for reading if you got this far.

Patience with the Berghia.... it'll take them a bit but the little heros should do their job in my experience...

 

[davidcalgary29]

The title of this thread sounds like a lurid '50s pulp film. Aiptasia Saved my Tank! or, in some markets, Aiptasia was a Communist Spy in my Tank!

All jokes aside, aiptasia is an excellent nutrient exporter in immature tanks. In the absence of mature coral colonies, macro, or a mature microbial biome, something's going to take up the excess nutrients from the food you put in your tank.

 

[MACHO]

So you decided to embrace Aiptasia and go for it?

Not necessarily I’m still trying to get rid of them my point was that apraxia gave me a new motivation in the hobby.

 

[Miami Reef]

I’m actually going to say that the aiptasia ruined your tank (killing corals, looking ugly) but your MOM saved the tank by giving you the idea of doing something.

Moms are the best!

 

[Lavey29]

I’m actually going to say that the aiptasia ruined your tank (killing corals, looking ugly) but your MOM saved the tank by giving you the idea of doing something.

Moms are the best!

Wish mine was still around to see my tank. She has been gone 16 years this week.

 

[vpierce3]

Also have patience with the file fish. I had an infestation of aiptasia after I hit a couple that were hidden while cleaning my sand. They spit out all their babies. Anyway the file fish didn’t even look at them. But after a few weeks, I notice less of them. And now, after a month and a half, the aiptasia are completely gone. It’s funny too because to this day I have not seen the fish eat a single one. Also you have to make sure you get the right fish; the Mottled File Fish. The radials and pygmies won’t eat aiptasia from what I’ve researched.

 

[Stackrat]

Aiptasia do not "spit out babies"

 

[i cant think]

Aptaisia is a pain to get rid of, I hated it in my Nano I dread to think of how annoying it would be to get rid of in a larger tank. I just leave aptaisia to my CBB and Foxface, they love it. It’s just a shame my Mini Maxi can’t reproduce without the younger ones being eaten.

 

[Aiptaisia anemone]

Nice

 

[vpierce3]

Aiptasia do not "spit out babies"

It’s just vernacular. Aiptasia are well known to release many planulae when attacked which spread throughout the aquarium. That’s what happened to me.