Aptasia, what really eats them?

Leslie88 · May 13, 2017

ok, so who's had luck with anything that actually eats aptasia? I have so many from tiny to monsters, that if my acros didn't grow so well I'd replace all my rock. He acros are the only thing keeping me from stripping the tank.

It's only a 65 gallon. Copperband maybe? I've tried peppermints in the past. I find they never live long enough to do the job.

Interested in hearing what everyone has had success with?

akarusso · May 13, 2017

I have the same problem. File fish did not work. Peppermint shrimp same thing. Aptsisa x for bigger ones. I went to lFs to buy copperband and I asked them to feed it. It was not eating so I passed.

Sm51498 · May 13, 2017

Berghia nudibranches. They are obligate aiptasia eaters.

jcdeng · May 13, 2017

peppermints worked for me. I just put them in qt and feed them aiptasia that are attached to small rock rubbles and after 2 weeks I put them into dt and they went to town on the aiptasias

Halimi Hassan · May 13, 2017

Having the same problem too. Rock infested by aiptasia put into separate tank....copperband,file fish doesn't work for me...peppermint haven't try yet.

4FordFamily · May 13, 2017

The only thing that worked for me was firefish and the odd pearlscale butterfly which would die of uronemia or an infection after a few months seemingly every time. It seems like 1/3 - 2/3 of the aiptasia eating (matted) tilefish dig in to mojanos and aiptasia. Unfortunately, half of them would get a taste for other corals. Fortunately, they're very easy to trap in a fish trap or remove with a net when they're sleeping.

Confuse · May 14, 2017

I currently have a Klein's butterfly that has almost eradicated all visible aiptasia from my tank. Surprisingly, it has left my hammers, chalices and acans alone. It will try to get a taste for it the first time I put new corals, then he loses interest and leaves them alone.

flexiblewater · May 14, 2017

Berghia worked for me but just make sure you don't have fish/shrimp that will eat them before they can work their magic

Leslie88 · May 18, 2017

Thanks for the info, so today I put in a Klein's, Copperband and a filefish. I killed what I could using 3 jars of joes juice. Hopefully the fish will keep it in check!

Travis Stewart · May 18, 2017

+1 on peppermint shrimp. I took a rock with aiptasia on it to the Lfs and watched them eat it first.

Chiefmaster30 · May 18, 2017

I'm having the same issue.

Waboss · May 18, 2017

I had great success with Berghia nudibranches. You just have to be patient. Took about 3-4 weeks, and to start out, it looks like nothing is happening, but once they really started up, all my aptasia was gone.

cracker · May 18, 2017

I have had great luck with several CopperBands over the years.

Eric Tang · May 19, 2017

super glue, don't give them a chance to reproduce. I even tried copper when I had a live rock in a fish only tank and they are not harmed.

Arvin0677 · May 19, 2017

I took a laser to mine.

Confuse · May 20, 2017

Leslie88 said:
Thanks for the info, so today I put in a Klein's, Copperband and a filefish. I killed what I could using 3 jars of joes juice. Hopefully the fish will keep it in check!

Leslie, let us know how that process go. I must warn you though, when I introduced a copperband in my tank, my Klein's wouldn't leave it alone and the copperband eventually perished (even though it was eating when I put it in the tank). So be prepared to rehome one, if necessary.

A week ago, I have added a few acans, a welso and a chalice, and my Klein's still has shown no interest in it. It began picking at the chalice when I first introduced it, but it left it alone since.

Good luck!

FLSharkvictim · May 20, 2017

@Leslie88 Let me share my experience on this topic b.c there is only 1 true way of getting rid of this pest. They are called Berghia Nudibranch's AND They are very expensive but they are 100% guaranteed to work and they are REEF SAFE! What every you do dont buy a copper band butterfly fish b/c they dont work. Also, you will be lucky if you are able to keep him alive for a few months. There are a few places to get them but I would only recommend buying them from one company and one company only. The company is called Salty Underground! I tried every fish on the market that's supposed to eat Aiptasia and some fish will eat it and some will not but the problem with the fish, they only eat part of the pest. Ones that happens they even spread faster. Peppermint shrimp do work but you must have the correct one since there are a bunch of different kinds peppermint shrimp on the market and none of your local fish stores normally can tell which ones they have since they all look very much alike. So that's why you hear a lot of people saying that they did not have any luck with the Peppermint shrimp and the reason why is b/c the ones they got don't eat Aiptasia. See you have to keep in mind that some individual of the Peppermint Shrimp are better at managing Aiptasia while others may not be interested in Aiptasia at all. Peppermint Shrimp is sometimes confused with its Pacific cousin, Rhynchocinetes durbanensis... So with that being said, The TRUE Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata wurdemanni) is the real Aiptasia eater BUT THEY ARE NOT REFF SAFE AND WILL WITHOUT A DOUBT EAT YOUR CORAL - THAT'S A FACT, if you bought some and they did not, you did not buy the Lysmata wurdemann. I WOULD HIGHLY suggest doing your homework before you go out and buying some peppermint shrimp to eat your Aiptasia especially if you have Coral. That's why I went with a dozen of the Berghia Nudibranch's to wipe of hundreds of Aiptasia's I had all over every single rock I had in my tank. It took them about a 2 months before they were able to wipe out the entire colony of Aiptasia in my 120Mixed Reef... If you do go with the Berghia Nudibranch's you have to be very careful with acclimation since they are so tiny... I am currently pest free...

Cliffsreef · Aug 9, 2017

Arvin0677 said:
I took a laser to mine.

What kind of laser and where did you get it?

jd371 · Aug 10, 2017

My Copper Band has taken care of my Aptasia problem. I used to see a lot of baby Aptasia, now I don't see any at all. The only Aptasia I see now are one or two big ones from time to time that I think the CBB can't get to so they grow, I finish them off with Aptasia-X. I had to use Aptasia-X every week before the CBB, now it's maybe once a month.

cpvince · Aug 10, 2017

I've tried copper bands but none of them have taken care of my Aptasia problem before. I let loose 6 peppermint and they decimated the aptasia population within a couple months. The problem was they started picking on my shrooms after