Hi, new here... did something stupid.... advise?

[Shannan]

Hello!!

I'm not new to reef keeping however I am new here, long time lurker, first time posting!

So, I'm usually VERY good about dipping, quarantining, overly neurotic about my tank, etc. Unfortunately I was rushing and did the unthinkable last week.

I stuck a large rock of blue Xenia in my display tank without quarantining it. Upon turning off the blower today I found at the VERY minimum 6 aiptasia!!!!! (and this is just what I can see easily!)
I didn't even dip the rock because the guy bragged so much about how clean his tank it

I know most will think my big mistake was putting Xenia in my tank period was the mistake however, I have never been able to keep the stuff alive and do truly like it.

I do not have peppermint shrimp in my tank and would prefer not to toss the Xenia (and its been a week so tossing may not work). My quarantine tank lights are out so I don't think thats an option either.

Any advise? Should I try to reef putty them? (out of super glue but I can make a quick grocery store run!) How fast do these things spread? Would tossing the rock in my quarantine do any good at this point or is it already to late?

Lets not even think about what else may have been in that rock!!

Thank you all so much in advance!!

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

Welcome! Glad you joined. I used a peppermint shrimp. There is also the boiling ro water in a syringe trick. Keep us posted

 

[Justfebreezeit]

You might be ok.
I'd take the rock out and either inject them with lemon juice, or kalwasser paste. If they are to small to do that then cover them up with super glue.

 

[Auquanut]

Welcome aboard! I've had pretty good results with peppermint shrimp. Kalkwaser or aptaisia-x also works to a certain extent. I get some aptaisia from time to time, but as long as I keep up with it, it doesn't get out of hand. More of a pain in the a... neck than anything. You just got to make sure you don't let it get ahead of you.

 

[Mal11224]

Welcome to R2R.. Well, that sucks but could be worse. I’ve used aiptasia X but that became an ongoing battle. They do spread pretty fast in the right conditions. The one that that worked for me was using nudibranchs. It did not happen over night but after several weeks, I was rid of them and I had quite a few. Super glue works as well. Hopefully that is all the rick had on it.

 

[Shannan]

Thanks @Justfebreezeit and @Skynyrd Fish!


I'm calling around right now trying to find a peppermint shrimp. Considering a file fish as well but I don't think they're 100% reef friendly. Looks like 1 of them is pretty big, the others are small so I think I can do super glue on those and maybe boiling water on the big one (this is only what I can see though so there may be more. I moved the rock from lower in the back of the tank yesterday to a very high flow/ light spot because they weren't looking good (I kill Xenia like its going out of style!). It was when I came home this evening that the Xenia looks even worse that I turned the blower off and BAM! There they were!!

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Welcome to the group. Everyone has already hit all the good methods. So glad your here.

 

[Hemmdog]

Welcome.

 

[Mal11224]

Thanks @Justfebreezeit and @Skynyrd Fish!


I'm calling around right now trying to find a peppermint shrimp. Considering a file fish as well but I don't think they're 100% reef friendly. Looks like 1 of them is pretty big, the others are small so I think I can do super glue on those and maybe boiling water on the big one (this is only what I can see though so there may be more. I moved the rock from lower in the back of the tank yesterday to a very high flow/ light spot because they weren't looking good (I kill Xenia like its going out of style!). It was when I came home this evening that the Xenia looks even worse that I turned the blower off and BAM! There they were!!

Just remember, when you kill aiptasia, it is possible for the flow to carry pieces of it to other parts of your tank. That is how they spread the fastest. Have to be careful how you kill them. Best to turn the flow off while you kill them. They are relentless.

 

[reef lover]

Welcome to r2r !

 

[Fiesty]

If your tank is large enough u could add an aptasia eating filefish or a pyramid or zosters butterflyfish. The butterfly fish will probably eat or keep in check the xenia also which u may decide is a good thang.

 

[Brett S]

If it’s only been in there a week I think the best thing to do is get that rock out of there immediately. I think there’s a good chance that you could get lucky and it hasn’t spread off of that rock within a week.

Put it in a quarantine tank or a 5 gallon bucket or a tote or something, but get it out of your DT now.

Then once it’s isolated from your DT you can work on getting rid of the aiptasia. If you try to do it while it’s in the DT you might miss one or you could damage one and cause it to spread very easily.

But really before you look at getting peppermint shrimp or filefish or anything I would pull the rock and wait and watch carefully to see if you see any starting to grow in your DT.

 

[Shannan]

Just remember, when you kill aiptasia, it is possible for the flow to carry pieces of it to other parts of your tank. That is how they spread the fastest. Have to be careful how you kill them. Best to turn the flow off while you kill them. They are relentless.

Thanks @Brett S

Thankfully the rock is VERY easy for me to get to and pull completely out of the tank. I just ran up and grabbed 2 bottles of super glue gel and am about to pull it out and start glueing/ boiling.

Fingers crossed!!

 

[Brett S]

Thanks @Brett S

Thankfully the rock is VERY easy for me to get to and pull completely out of the tank. I just ran up and grabbed 2 bottles of super glue gel and am about to pull it out and start glueing/ boiling.

Fingers crossed!!

Good luck. Definitely don’t put it back in your tank after the battle, though, because it’s quite possible that you’ll miss a piece of one or something and that could definitely cause it to spread. Wait until you’re 100% certain that there are none left before you put it back in the DT.

 

[Erica-Renee]

Welcome to the Forums and i agree with everyone above. It seems not one solution is best for everyone.. I had a issue with them a few years back in a 180 gallon tank connected to nearly 500 gallons on the system.. i bought 15 pepermint shrimp two Copper band Butter fly fish and used aptasia x.. In a few weeks and to this day not one of the pest exist..


GOOD Luck

 

[sfin52]

dont worry ive had aptasia make through a dip.

 

[siggy]

Hey there

 

[Flippers4pups]

From my experience, peppermint shrimp can be destructive to LPS coral. Some people have had no problems with them and others, including myself have witnessed first hand them shredding their tissue. Use caution with them.

As others have suggested, using aptasia removal methods such as aptasia x, lemon juice, hot fresh water, kalk paste..... In tank, all flow off. As the aptasia starts to melt, vacuum the dieing tissue out of the tank.

Super glue/reef safe putty can be hit or miss. Any small opening in the super glue/putty, they will just go around it.

Manually removing them is the toughest. As with kalk paste, lemon juice.....etc, any tissue left be hind can cause them to multiply throughout the tank.

@Shannan, welcome to reef2reef!

 

[Shannan]

Good luck. Definitely don’t put it back in your tank after the battle, though, because it’s quite possible that you’ll miss a piece of one or something and that could definitely cause it to spread. Wait until you’re 100% certain that there are none left before you put it back in the DT.

I did put it back into the DT after a massive super glueing fest....
My lights aren't working on my QT so I have no where else to put it right now

 

[Shannan]

Welcome to the Forums and i agree with everyone above. It seems not one solution is best for everyone.. I had a issue with them a few years back in a 180 gallon tank connected to nearly 500 gallons on the system.. i bought 15 pepermint shrimp two Copper band Butter fly fish and used aptasia x.. In a few weeks and to this day not one of the pest exist..


GOOD Luck

Thats where I'm at right now, 170 with 50gal sump and about to flip thinking this will spread!!!
I did find a place with peppermint shrimp. I'm going to watch closely and if needed tomorrow I'll be adding a few!