My first Aiptasia bloom

[jy808]

My tank is about 2 months in, started with 2 clowns and a snail. I'll be adding 3 more snails today to help with the diatom and algae that's starting to come along.

I have notice some Aiptasia also starting to come in, 4 in total.
Just today I noticed a NEW one forming (that's 5!). From my research I know these can be a pest.

Although I do not have an outbreak yet, I want to get ahead of this (would-be) problem.

What is best?

Peppermint Shrimp? Copperband Butterfly? or should I just pick them out (after taking the live rock out of the tank)?

What are the care required for each? and will it be bad with my clowns?

 

[pcon]

How large is the tank? and what kind of corals are you most interested in? I am a big proponent of butterflyfish as biological control of aiptasia and other pests. But they can be a risk to corals. and some like the copperband can be quite difficult to care for. I personally prefer the Roaops butterflies for this as they are a bit hardier than the copperband, and take to prepared foods better in my experience. If you don't have wrasses and the tank is small then I recommend berghia nudibranch as they will eat aiptasia and not anything else. I don't like peppermint shrimp as the risk to corals is too high for the benefit they bring to the tank in my opinion, though others have good experience with them.

 

[Red Leader]

Get Aiptasia-x or Ultra Life's Aiptasia and Majano Remover. Kills them almost instantly and they even let go of the rock and float around. You feed that stuff directly on the mouths of each one. Dead in seconds.

 

[pcon]

I forgot to mention that at this stage manual removal may be a better option, super glue over, or squirt kalk paste or one of the many products for aiptasia removal on them with only 4 or 5 may be excellent at eliminating the problem.

 

[adromero]

File fish work well but may be a threat to corals. They are a good looking fish. I had one for a year and he was no problem. Then he started going after corals. Gave him to my LFS. For an outbreak that small, I would use Aptasia-X. I would treat right away, aptasia can get out of hand quick.

 

[jy808]

Yes I understand it isn't a big issue yet, and my next CUC was going to be some kind of a shrimp.
I guess it would't hurt getting a peppermint shrimp as my next purchase? Are there any other real negatives with the peppermint shrimp?

I have a 160 Litre (42Gallon) tank with plenty of live rock. As I said I had only just started my tank and currently have 4 snails with 2 clowns in it.

Feeding the 2 clowns can be such a pain as the tank is SO big for the 2 clowns the food would wander off elsewhere in the tank uneaten. I thought this would be great for the peppermint shrimp to eat all those leftovers that have gone floating around.

Thoughts?

 

[AZMSGT]

Yes I understand it isn't a big issue yet, and my next CUC was going to be some kind of a shrimp.
I guess it would't hurt getting a peppermint shrimp as my next purchase? Are there any other real negatives with the peppermint shrimp?

I have a 160 Litre (42Gallon) tank with plenty of live rock. As I said I had only just started my tank and currently have 4 snails with 2 clowns in it.

Feeding the 2 clowns can be such a pain as the tank is SO big for the 2 clowns the food would wander off elsewhere in the tank uneaten. I thought this would be great for the peppermint shrimp to eat all those leftovers that have gone floating around.

Thoughts?

Don't waste time kill those NOW. I used F-Aptasia on two I had and they are long gone. Touching them and trying to remove them manually can cause them to release spores, then you are up the creek. The longer you wait the worse they will get.

Peppermint shrimp are no promise, sometimes they will eat them sometimes they won't.

If they are all on 1 or two pieces of rock I would pull out the rock and never use that rock again. (assuming you have allot of rock)

No I'm not kidding. Better to wipe it out now than messing around over and over again later.

 

[jy808]

Don't waste time kill those NOW. I used F-Aptasia on two I had and they are long gone. Touching them and trying to remove them manually can cause them to release spores, then you are up the creek. The longer you wait the worse they will get.

Peppermint shrimp are no promise, sometimes they will eat them sometimes they won't.

If they are all on 1 or two pieces of rock I would pull out the rock and never use that rock again. (assuming you have allot of rock)

No I'm not kidding. Better to wipe it out now than messing around over and over again later.

Thanks, I have decided to get Aiptasia-X as my LFS stocks these. Have just watched a few videos on youtube regarding the application of Aiptasia-X directly into the mouth. What happens after application? would it be best to try and remove as much as possible from the tank?

 

[pcon]

Yes I understand it isn't a big issue yet, and my next CUC was going to be some kind of a shrimp.
I guess it would't hurt getting a peppermint shrimp as my next purchase? Are there any other real negatives with the peppermint shrimp?

I have a 160 Litre (42Gallon) tank with plenty of live rock. As I said I had only just started my tank and currently have 4 snails with 2 clowns in it.

Feeding the 2 clowns can be such a pain as the tank is SO big for the 2 clowns the food would wander off elsewhere in the tank uneaten. I thought this would be great for the peppermint shrimp to eat all those leftovers that have gone floating around.

Thoughts?

I agree with @AZMSGT 's advice pull the rocks if you can. Faiptasi is a great product for eliminating it. Peppermint shrimp aren't a guaranteed cure to it, and they can go after corals, is the downside. Unfortunately all the biological controls except berghia have some propensity to go after corals.

Thanks, I have decided to get Aiptasia-X as my LFS stocks these. Have just watched a few videos on youtube regarding the application of Aiptasia-X directly into the mouth. What happens after application? would it be best to try and remove as much as possible from the tank?

Aiptasia-x can be highly effective, I would not try to remove the aiptasia manually, you can simply squirt the Aiptasia-x into the aiptasia and leave it be, the aiptasia will disintegrate.