Best way to kill aiptasia

[Travis Stewart]

Hi Travis, my tank is also full of Aiptasia. I bought 4 peppermint shrimps. But 4 days passed, they almost don’t touch Aiptasia. Will it take more days that they start their job? Thanks!

Yes it took mine 2+ weeks. Just wait. Also, make sure they don’t get any food when feeding fish.

 

[Travis Stewart]

Peppermint also munch on acans so must be watched

Ya they do. I took my last one out for this very reason. Keep eyes on them.

 

[Nopy117]

Irritate it to close then cover it in super glue

 

[JamesZ]

Yes it took mine 2+ weeks. Just wait. Also, make sure they don’t get any food when feeding fish.

Thank you!! I keep patient...

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Irritate it to close then cover it in super glue

I do this if it's on a rock I can pull out of the tank. If not then I use AptasiaX or a laser.

 

[FLSharkvictim]

So aiptasia x just made everything way worse. Spreads them all over the tank. I even turned off pumps and siphoned them out during a water change. I have two peppermint shrimp that aren’t touching them. I’ve heard boiling hot water works in the mouth and of course the other types like nudibranch and file fish. Anyone else have any special methods for removal!

@Travis Stewart - There is only 1 true way of eliminating Aiptasia out of your tank so it will not grow back! They are called - Berghia Nudibranchs and they will 100% work guranteed.
Let's put this way, it took 8 #Nudibranchs to take care of alll of my Aiptasia

Berghia Nudibranchs

The best natural defense against Aiptasia is Berghia (Berghia Nudibranchs), as their sole diet is Aiptasia anemones. Berghia are non-toxic to corals and fish and are considered to be completely reef safe.

Reeftown recommends at least 1 Berghia per 10 gallons, but NEVER less than 3 Medium Berghia. Berghia need each other to Hunt, Feed & Breed. If you're not sure, it's best to overestimate rather than underestimate. Read more about selecting the right number of Berghia for your aquarium on our Estimating Needs page.

Reeftown recommends the Medium Berghia (Click Here) that lay eggs frequently and are available in greater quantities.



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Before picture with Apitasia thats covering all of my Live rock.

4 weeks after adding the a half of dozen Berghia Nudibranchs:

FYI - Nothing on the market works, Joes Juice, JUNK / Aiptasia X junk as well or any other product on the market...I tried them all in the 25 years I have been a reef keeper and the only think that works are Berghia Nudibranchs or the correct Peppermint Shrimp (Lysmata wurdemanni) will do the trick as well..

 

[Porpoise Hork]

Sadly I cannot run nudibranchs. My 6 line and canary wrasse would gobble them up before they had a chance to do anything.

 

[Subsea]

Sadly I cannot run nudibranchs. My 6 line and canary wrasse would gobble them up before they had a chance to do anything.

That’s why I took Melananarius Wrasse out of 25 year tank. He eat my detrivore crew

 

[Gary Grise]

Gary,
Have you witnessed a broad application of hydrogen peroxide into an Aptasia infected tank. At what concentration of hydrogen peroxide did you dose tank. Please explain.

I regularly use hydrogen peroxide on corals & rocks at a 10% solution as a 10 minute dip on the outside of the tank. It is an indiscriminate oxidizer. I have 35% concentrate and it will eat through human skin. Whoever said that Aptasia could not be killed on outside of tank missed the mark. A drop of concentrate applied directly to flesh will bubble it away in seconds. Even 3.5% of the shelf will produce the same results with more peroxide used. If the Aptasia is big, I flush with excess peroxide to completely dissolve organic biomass.

In tank application:

The slime coat on corals & Aptasia inhibit peroxide oxidation. The easiest application is with a tooth brush dipped in concentrate and brushed against offenders. Brush vigorously and reapply peroxide every 30 seconds. Once slime coat is pierced, peroxide will completely oxidize Aptasia. Obviously, if allowed to achieve high density, dissolving Aptasia biomass adds organics into water column.

PS: For algae eradication, hydrogen peroxide is the bomb. When you scrub that Aptasia off the rock, you will have also bleached all algae and pink coralline algae returns or I have taken algae coated rock and brushed or sprayed on with windex bottle and allowed to set for one hour, then flushed off with tank water than returned to display.

I applied 12% hydrogen peroxide directly into cavities where aptasia were in the tank. I kept the cavity flooded with the 12% solution. Noticed strong bubbling. The aptasia was gone the following day however by a week later I had a significant uptick in aptasia. I do not see this with aptasia X. I think pieces of the aptasia were floating up with the bubbles. I have successfully used to eliminate algae on coral so there it was effective though the coral was also affected but no where as much as the algae.

 

[debees5]

I’ve tried several mega shipments of Berghia, Joe’s juice, kalkwasser paste, real lemon juice (w/o lemon oil) and quite a while with aiptasia X. Finally got 8 true peppermint shrimp - put one in the rear circ chamber, one in the sump and six in the DT. I nuked the aiptasia (all twenty five of them) with Aiptasia X in all three places the day after I put the shrimp in. It’s been awhile and I don’t see any aiptasia anywhere. Fingers crossed after a 12 month battle....

 

[msnyder2000]

Can anyone with first hand experience tell me if berghia nudis will also eat my large Rose Bubble Nem?

 

[msnyder2000]

Can anyone with first hand experience tell me if berghia nudis will also eat my large Rose Bubble Nem?

 

[lou dog420]

CBB works for me.

 

[Seamore2001]

+1 Kalkpaste. A super Kalkwaser solution is the trick. The effect is immediate. Unless you're running a nano or your injecting dozens at a time, you're not going to knock your parameters out of whack.

 

[Lasse]

As I said before - Aiptasia had start to grow in my aquaria. Probably because I have not seen my pepparmints for a while. I could easily count around 15 aiptasia allaround my DT.

I add 6 cm of this - around 2 grams monday afternoon

​

Today - I can only find 6 smaller aiptasia´s in small cavities - the large is gone

Sincerely Lasse

 

[DSC reef]

As I said before - Aiptasia had start to griow in my aquaria. Probably because I have not seen my pepparmints for a while. I could easily count around 15 aiptasia allaround my DT.

I add 6 cm of this - around 2 grams monday afternoon

​

Today - I can only find 6 smaller aiptasia´s in small cavities - the large is gone

Sincerely Lasse

Nice picture Lasse. We loved our file fish, it would eat from our hand. Would've kept him forever but he started liking coral to much, lol. He did do a great job.

 

[Belgian Anthias]

Peppermint shrimp! The species L. wurdemanni has undergone reclassification and has been divided into four distinct species – L. wurdemanni, L. ankeri, L. bahia and L. boggessii.
It is unclear all of these species will eat Aiptasia.

 

[Lasse]

Nice picture Lasse. We loved our file fish, it would eat from our hand. Would've kept him forever but he started liking coral to much, lol. He did do a great job.

I´m aware of the fact that they can change diet (and they do - sooner or later) - but IMO - it is the easiest fish to remove from a running reeftank

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Orko]

I was never a believer in lemon juice till on here a few people talked about it FROM NOW ON THAT IS THE ONLY WAY I WILL TREAT AIPTASIA'S.... fresh lemon juice like from the lemon not from a bottle. Squeeze it and get a syringe with a needle a sharp one drag up the lemon juice turn off all pumps inject the Aiptasia in the center of the disk if you can u will see the body sell a bit and change color slightly then the Aiptasia will retract quick! after you jab a few turn on pumps you will see the Aiptasia's that u injected out and flopping dead by the next morning the body are normally gone. FREAKING amazing! I have tried all the other stuff Aiptasia-X Joe's Juice nun of that works like good old lemon juice in my opinion
the Kalk method works to if you have n open space if they are in and around live coral you ill kill it.

 

[slowngreen]

For me, Joes, Aptasia X and lemon juice all seemed to work but then Id have an outbreak soon after. White vinegar is what I've noticed the most success with.

 

[Ace6090]

I have a tricolor wrasse in a 90 gallon. Does anyone know if it will eat nudibranch? I would like to try berghia nudibranch but not sure if the wrasse will eat them or the eggs.