Is this aiptasia?

[Tangs-A-Lot]

Yes I have seen the stripeys around and like the look of them. But not sure my tank is big enough (60g)

I am of the thought that I’ll get what I want and if it outgrows the tank pass it along to someone else, even if I have to give it away for free. I understand not everyone can afford that (I am not at all wealthy, but a recently retired police officer) and also the fact that many of us become attached to our fishies. If your case is the latter, then you can look forward to upsizing a few years later.

 

[DeanoL]

I think I might have killed my trachy.....

I am guessing it did not like the hot water - maybe I did something wrong? It's not looking great. 3/4 of it looks like it has been bleached (is all white).....one section still looks OK.

Not a great photo, but you can see the section circled on the right still looks normal and fleshy but the rest does not.

Is it a goner? Is there anything I can do to help it? I'm so annoyed!

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I think I might have killed my trachy.....

I am guessing it did not like the hot water - maybe I did something wrong? It's not looking great. 3/4 of it looks like it has been bleached (is all white).....one section still looks OK.

Not a great photo, but you can see the section circled on the right still looks normal and fleshy but the rest does not.

Is it a goner? Is there anything I can do to help it? I'm so annoyed!

That doesn't look bleached to me, it looks like the skeleton is exposed. I would not expect it to survive, unfortunately

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Fwiw, when people use hot water, lemon juice, aiptasia-x, etc, they are injecting it into the nem's mouth... kind of tube feeding it. The nem ingests it and then dies. Squirting any of those products on the nem won't really do anything (except, as you found, make it detach from a rock...) and will probably damage any coral that's also exposed.

 

[Someshmuk]

That sucks man. Hopefully it pulls through.

For aptasia control, I use RODI mixed with citric acid in an insulin syringe. Inject it directly into the aptasia, wait for it to die/let go and suck it up with a pipette to ensure non-contamination. It only works if you can reach it but it kills it like f-aptasia w/o the risk of getting the chemical on your corals as it kinda comes out like a gel mixture.

Berghias are the gold standard.

Peppermint shrimps are hit or miss as there are like 6 variant species sold as peppermint shrimps and only 1-2 of them actually hunt for aptasia. I steer clear from peppermints as in my case, they stole food out of corals actively harming the corals to get to the food.

I've heard filefish as a recommendation but have also heard they can get an appetite for corals.

I wouldn't recommend a dip for aptasia as thats more for other kinds of pests like flatworms.

 

[DeanoL]

That doesn't look bleached to me, it looks like the skeleton is exposed. I would not expect it to survive, unfortunately

Bugger I was worried about that. I only had it out of the water for a minute while doing the hot water for the aiptasia. Was that too long?

It did come into contact with a tea towel as well while I was doing it so maybe it didn't like that?

I guess I'll just wait and see...and learn for next time

 

[DeanoL]

Fwiw, when people use hot water, lemon juice, aiptasia-x, etc, they are injecting it into the nem's mouth... kind of tube feeding it. The nem ingests it and then dies. Squirting any of those products on the nem won't really do anything (except, as you found, make it detach from a rock...) and will probably damage any coral that's also exposed.

Thanks that's good to know.

The difficulty I had was that when I removed it from the water the aiptasia sucked back in so it was impossible to squirt into the mouth as it wasn't open if that makes any sense??

 

[Tangs-A-Lot]

I think I found my first Aiptasia the other day. Set up for about 6 months. I had received 3 bigger fish than my others and the addition must have spooked my Christmas Rock worms, as they were not coming out. So, I picked up the rock to inspect it and shake a little bit of sand off it. When I turned it over to shake the sand off I noticed what looked exactly like an Aiptasia anemone. I thought that was weird, because it was on the underside of the rock, I have never seen any in the tank before and the rock had been in the tank for about 3 months.

I took the rock out and used a lighter and burned the Aiptasia.

Are there any people who have had medical problems handing them like that ?? I swear I didn’t touch any Zoanthida that day (I have no Palys) and I ended up having my heart racing a few hours later.

 

[Someshmuk]

I think I found my first Aiptasia the other day. Set up for about 6 months. I had received 3 bigger fish than my others and the addition must have spooked my Christmas Rock worms, as they were not coming out. So, I picked up the rock to inspect it and shake a little bit of sand off it. When I turned it over to shake the sand off I noticed what looked exactly like an Aiptasia anemone. I thought that was weird, because it was on the underside of the rock, I have never seen any in the tank before and the rock had been in the tank for about 3 months.

I took the rock out and used a lighter and burned the Aiptasia.

Are there any people who have had medical problems handing them like that ?? I swear I didn’t touch any Zoanthida that day (I have no Palys) and I ended up having my heart racing a few hours later.

Zoanthids aren't the only thing in the tank that can hurt you. Osteopsis dinoflagellates release toxins when killed and they're hard to identify from other dinoflagellates without the use of a microscope.

I would not recommend any sort of reef treatment that can aerosolize whatever its trying to treat. No boiling water, no fire.

Alternatively, you could also have an allergic reaction to something in your tank that became airborne during treatment.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Bugger I was worried about that. I only had it out of the water for a minute while doing the hot water for the aiptasia. Was that too long?

It did come into contact with a tea towel as well while I was doing it so maybe it didn't like that?

I guess I'll just wait and see...and learn for next time

I hope I'm wrong and the coral recovers. Being out of the water wouldn't have hurt it but I thought you said some of the hot water got on the coral flesh...

And yes, aiptasia are hard to target when out of the water. Anything but the large ones can be hard to treat regardless. Another option for a small one that's very close to a coral is to let it retract and then super glue over that part of the rock.

 

[Briansreef]

Tried all of these over and over. For small easy to reach Aptasia on frags superglue is the fastest most efficient and IMO best way to eradicate it early. I always remove the frag plugs they come on as well and use fresh ones or none at all. I too have harmed near by corals with boiling water and Kalk paste. Pull it out superglue over the effected areas and some. I have had to them crawl out from under epoxy too many times to bother with that anymore.

 

[Dburr1014]

I like using lemon juice outside the tank.
If you know where the pest is, squit the area and it should release its foot. They hate lemon juice.

Sorry about losing that coral op.

 

[DeanoL]

I hope I'm wrong and the coral recovers. Being out of the water wouldn't have hurt it but I thought you said some of the hot water got on the coral flesh...

And yes, aiptasia are hard to target when out of the water. Anything but the large ones can be hard to treat regardless. Another option for a small one that's very close to a coral is to let it retract and then super glue over that part of the rock.

Yes thanks it would have been easy to super glue over it so I'll definitely do that next time.....I guess you're always learning in this hobby aren't you.

 

[DeanoL]

Tried all of these over and over. For small easy to reach Aptasia on frags superglue is the fastest most efficient and IMO best way to eradicate it early. I always remove the frag plugs they come on as well and use fresh ones or none at all. I too have harmed near by corals with boiling water and Kalk paste. Pull it out superglue over the effected areas and some. I have had to them crawl out from under epoxy too many times to bother with that anymore.

Thanks, makes me feel better that it's not just me!