How to kill Aiptasia (preferably under water)?

[potatocouch]

I'm losing confident in Aiptasia X and wonder why this thing is still on the market... surely not everyone has bad taste about it?

 

[potatocouch]

And those who use the boiling water method (with syringe) .. what sort of syringe do you use?

I assume the normal plastic syringe may not be best suited for boiling water?

 

[nashorn]

File fish did all work for me but they also eat zoa too.
boiling water -I used a turkey juice syringe with the tip cut off. Works for the kalk paste too.

 

[potatocouch]

File fish did all work for me but they also eat zoa too.
boiling water -I used a turkey juice syringe with the tip cut off. Works for the kalk paste too.

Boiling water hey ... do you push all the way per Aiptasia or slow release? I assume 1 blast? because slow release will only makes it detract?

 

[Reefs anonymous]

Best way for me is to turn off all the water movement, then fill a 1ml syringe with vinegar and stick it into the same hole as the aptasia and slowly inject the vinegar into it. The aptasia dies instantly and the vinegar is reef safe.

 

[rosshamsandwich]

We had a pretty sizable outbreak when we introduced some live rock last September. We used lemon juice in a 1mL syringe / needle. Inject right in the center and give each one a few drops of lemon juice. They immediately recoil and never recover... very satisfying. We're 6 months since then and haven't had any more issues.

i use vinegar.

 

[Ryan420r6]

The problem with injection is not the mixture but the technique. You have to have a very steady hand and get a good clean squirt into the mouth before the aiptasia retracts into the rock. I was pretty successful with killing the larger ones but not the small ones as they would retract too fast. When I did miss I would see more pop up pretty soon after. I got really tired of the cat and mouse so I picked up half a dozen peps (90 gal w/~6 aiptasia) and a week later I was aiptasia free (or so I thought). Aiptasia are smart pests bc 2 of them went kamikaze and actually flushed themselves down my overflow to live in the sump. I sucked 1 out last week and now found another one that is getting a little too cozy on my return pump.

 

[henrycavin]

put the underwater lighter right next to the aiptasia and turn that thing on to cook it!

best cricket game

 

[Dburr1014]

Why am I hearing bad things about Red Sea Aiptasia X causing them to spread instead eliminating them?

The thing is you have to get it all. 1 cell left untouched will grow a new one.

 

[jd371]

The problem with injection is not the mixture but the technique. You have to have a very steady hand and get a good clean squirt into the mouth before the aiptasia retracts into the rock. I was pretty successful with killing the larger ones but not the small ones as they would retract too fast. When I did miss I would see more pop up pretty soon after. I got really tired of the cat and mouse so I picked up half a dozen peps (90 gal w/~6 aiptasia) and a week later I was aiptasia free (or so I thought). Aiptasia are smart pests bc 2 of them went kamikaze and actually flushed themselves down my overflow to live in the sump. I sucked 1 out last week and now found another one that is getting a little too cozy on my return pump.

Basically this is what happened to me because of using Aptasia-X on the ones in the holes and crevices. I couldn't get the whole Aptasia because of their location and they bounced back in numbers. I added 10 Berghia Nudibranchs to the tank last night... crossing my fingers.

 

[barista7105]

Vinegar, never failed me. Aim to inject the vinegar on its mouth

 

[Dburr1014]

i use vinegar.

So this works? I me a couple outcrops in my tank and I took the rock out and cut the infected areas out. I don't want to throw away the rock so it's in ro/vinegar solution.
Kalk slurry only killed the 1 and multiplied 10 fold. I may have a few left but tombing them in epoxy sounds like a great idea.

 

[Aqua 59]

• Peppermint shrimp doesn't seem to work (I put in 3 small one yesterday and I don't see them anymore LOL .... let alone them fixing my Aiptasia).
  • I had a bigger Peppermint shrimp earlier this year and it seems to work on those Aiptasia but shame, I think it gets eaten by the BTA; perhaps what I need is a bigger Peppermint Shrimp?
• Prefer to fix underwater (don't need to take rock out if I can).
• (Information if it matters) Inhabitants inside: BTAs, Zoanthids, Euphyllias, Scolly, Rics, Morphs, Acans & 2 Clownfish.

Question: What is the best method in killing these Aiptasia (some is quite big; total of 3 approximately at the moment)?

Picture below is just reference and doesn't depict the real Aiptasia in the tank.

A good way to rid your aquarium of aiptasia is Berghia sea slugs. They eat only aiptasia, and are completely reef-safe. Their small size allows them to fit into tiny crevices to get stray aiptasias. They will lay eggs in your aquarium and continue to reproduce.
You can purchase Berghia sea slugs on Ebay, or from Among the Reef. com. They are very common.

Good luck!