My heart stopped for a while....

[Jedi1199]

As some of you know, I have been fighting a battle against Aiptasia for a while now (and losing)

I had a couple growing near one of my beloved Rock Flower Anemones. While treating with Aiptasia X, I accidently dosed my RFA. It IMMEDIATELY went into convulsions!! I thought for sure I had just killed off one of my prized pieces. I got out the baster and blasted as much as I could off the RFA but it curled up into a ball and appeared like it was at deaths door.

Just my luck I thought.. This stuff does nothing to kill the Aiptasia, but it will kill my RFA in a heartbeat!!??? Well fortunately for me, my heart stopped beating.. It took an hour or so, but the RFA is starting to open up a bit now, although it is still obviously unhappy with me. Only time will tell if it recovers.. Hopefully this junk is as worthless at killing RFA's as it is at killing Aiptasia. *fingers crossed*

 

[Fishy888]

As some of you know, I have been fighting a battle against Aiptasia for a while now (and losing)

I had a couple growing near one of my beloved Rock Flower Anemones. While treating with Aiptasia X, I accidently dosed my RFA. It IMMEDIATELY went into convulsions!! I thought for sure I had just killed off one of my prized pieces. I got out the baster and blasted as much as I could off the RFA but it curled up into a ball and appeared like it was at deaths door.

Just my luck I thought.. This stuff does nothing to kill the Aiptasia, but it will kill my RFA in a heartbeat!!??? Well fortunately for me, my heart stopped beating.. It took an hour or so, but the RFA is starting to open up a bit now, although it is still obviously unhappy with me. Only time will tell if it recovers.. Hopefully this junk is as worthless at killing RFA's as it is at killing Aiptasia. *fingers crossed*

I hope so too. I’ve found kalk paste to work great on majanos but aiptasia spook easily so I never have luck with injecting them.

I had two aiptasia and I got some Lysmata Bogessi. The morning after I added them the aiptasia were gone, never to be seen again. They’re my go to now.

 

[Jedi1199]

I hope so too. I’ve found kalk paste to work great on majanos but aiptasia spook easily so I never have luck with injecting them.

I had two aiptasia and I got some Lysmata Bogessi. The morning after I added them the aiptasia were gone, never to be seen again. They’re my go to now.

I have been trying to get some of them for a while now. They are out of season according to my LFS guy. I was told to check with him in November. Since I need to head over there tomorrow for food anyway, I will check and see if there are any updates.

As a side note, when using Latin names, The second half is never capitalized.

 

[Fishy888]

I have been trying to get some of them for a while now. They are out of season according to my LFS guy. I was told to check with him in November. Since I need to head over there tomorrow for food anyway, I will check and see if there are any updates.

As a side note, when using Latin names, The second half is never capitalized.

Good catch. If you do get Lysmata shrimp make sure they’re bogessi and not wirdemanni.

I hope they can get you some. I need to replenish my stock soon come to think of it. I’m going to try breeding them. I’ve had success, though limited, in breeding and raising ghost shrimp. I’d expect breeding any Lysmata shrimp to be the same as for ghost shrimp since they also have a planktonic stage.

 

[Jedi1199]

I am about ready to move all of my fish into a couple Brute cans and then add in a couple dozen Berghia nudibranchs. My understanding is that the Nudi's eat nothing but Aiptasia (and boy do I have some Aiptasia).

I have read that even the Aiptasia eating shrimp do not always eradicate the issue fully. Even a discarded tentacle will spawn new ones!! I want this infestation GONE!!!

Once I get it under control, I will add in a couple of the Peppermints to hopefully stop any future introductions before it can get out of hand like it is now.

 

[Jedi1199]

Here is the beauty I nearly killed... ugghhh I am still praying it recovers...

It's the one on the right which is actually much more orange than the photo shows.

 

[Fishy888]

Here is the beauty I nearly killed... ugghhh I am still praying it recovers...

It's the one on the right which is actually much more orange than the photo shows.

It is a beauty for sure. How is it looking today?

 

[Jedi1199]

Here are a couple shots from tonight

 

[Fishy888]

Here are a couple shots from tonight

It looks like it has a decent chance. It’s beautiful for sure!

 

[bakbay]

I’ve tried almost everything — kalk paste, peppermint shrimps, filefish, nudibranch, etc. with little/no success. Finally, @vetteguy53081 referred me to a Kleini butterfly and it eradicated all my aiptasias. Yes, there are a few aiptasias left (less than 10) but I know that they won’t get out of control since I have a natural predator. As a bonus, the Kleini is such a beautiful fish!

Good luck with your battle — understand that it’s very frustrating! I’ve been there.

 

[Cell]

Peppermint shrimp from @AlgaeBarn were effective for me.

 

[bakbay]

Peppermint shrimp from @AlgaeBarn were effective for me.

True, they worked but partially for me — I bought 16 of them but ended up being an expensive dinner for some other fish. Mine didn’t venture out to aquarium wall, return nozzles, frag racks — where all the aiptasias were hanging out. Likely because there were other predators around? Well, they all died. I’m now on Vetteguy’s camp. I’ll try to find one for every tank. Price is very reasonable as well — believe it was only $26? I’ve spent at least 10x that via other means.

 

[Jedi1199]

Much to my relief, my beautiful RFA appears to be recovered. Apparently that Aiptasia X is worthless at killing RFA's as it is with Aiptasia.

I'm glad I didn't kill my RFA, but I will be VERY glad when I can finally rid my tank of this Aiptasia.

Talked to my LFS guy today about when Peppermint shrimp will be available and he said most likely 3-6 weeks.

 

[Fishy888]

Much to my relief, my beautiful RFA appears to be recovered. Apparently that Aiptasia X is worthless at killing RFA's as it is with Aiptasia.

I'm glad I didn't kill my RFA, but I will be VERY glad when I can finally rid my tank of this Aiptasia.

Talked to my LFS guy today about when Peppermint shrimp will be available and he said most likely 3-6 weeks.

That’s awesome news! Let us know how the peppermints work out.

 

[Jedi1199]

Will do

 

[Sticker shock]

Glad your Rock Flower is doing good. I've had some of mine react to Aiptasia-x as well, but usually nothing more than closing up for a minute or two. What I found works best for aiptasia irradication is a combination of berghia and aiptasia-x. When you hit the aiptasia with a dose, the berghia come running like you just rang the dinner bell.

 

[Jedi1199]

Here is a picture of the RFA that I was worried about. Took this just a few minutes ago... if you look carefully at the top right you can see the same Aiptasia growing back that I was trying to get when this started....