Suffocating Aiptasia?

[ReeferBud]

I have a major Aiptasia problem in my overflows!

there are literally hundreds in the top 3 inches of the inside of the overflow box.

one idea I have is to drop the water level in the overflow box to below where the Aiptasia are and suffocate them.

would this work? Or would they just drop down to where there’s water before they die?

another idea is to cover the overflow with something so that there’s no light penetration, which would presumably kill them over time? Not sure...

Any ideas appreciated!!!

 

[Jekyl]

Drop a peppermint shrimp in there

 

[Cole.mormon]

no

 

[ReeferBud]

no

you’ve tried this and it didn’t work?

 

[ReeferBud]

Drop a peppermint shrimp in there

the Aiptasia are pretty large and there’s probably a hundred or more. Would a peppermint shrimp be able to handle that?

I once bought 2 shrimp and never saw them again...

 

[Jekyl]

the Aiptasia are pretty large and there’s probably a hundred or more. Would a peppermint shrimp be able to handle that?

I once bought 2 shrimp and never saw them again...

Couldn't hurt

 

[Cole.mormon]

mine got sucked down the overflow...

 

[ReeferBud]

mine got sucked down the overflow...

interesting! Perhaps the filter socks would catch them.

 

[Cole.mormon]

i have no sock was eaten by what ever is living down there
maybe an arrow crab?

 

[ReeferBud]

In any case, would rather have them in my sump where I could get to them vs my overflow which is impossible to access without a major effort.

will give a try!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Peppermint shrimp wont be the answer nor berghia.
You will need to shut down water flow and as much of a pain as it is, mix kalkwasser powder with tank water and lemon juice into a toothpaste like consistency and using a syringe- inject into the CENTER CORE of each one. This will take repetition but you will suddenly see them diminish. I assume theyre also in the plumbing and by return pump area.
Other options are :
For each method you should turn your flow OFF for 5 mins. before and during the treatment and wait 15 mins. before turning it back ON after the the treatment, including the return pump.

• Lemon Juice - Instead of reaching for your bottle of lemon juice to enhance your glass of water or cup of tea, maybe try it as an Aiptasia exterminator. While wearing gloves, fill a syringe with pure lemon juice and inject it directly into the Aiptasia. Make sure to move slowly to prevent scarring the anemone into its hole.
• Hydrogen Peroxide - Just like with the lemon juice, fill a syringe and carefully inject a small amount of the solution directly into the disk of the Aiptasia. Be extra careful to not release any hydrogen peroxide into the tank. Not the safest way.
• Kalkwasser - Also known as Calcium hydroxide - kalkwasser is capable of killing Aiptasia. However, I don’t recommend this extermination tactic. In order to work, you must precisely fill the Aiptasia with a concentrated dose. If you try killing too many in this way, you can inadvertently raise your tank pH level, which is no good.
• Other Methods - Some of the other methods commonly used to eradicate Aiptasia include boiling water, vinegar, electricity and even super glue. If you’re considering these methods, there’s a better way that’s less dangerous to you, your tank and your bank account.

 

[ReeferBud]

Peppermint shrimp wont be the answer nor berghia.
You will need to shut down water flow and as much of a pain as it is, mix kalkwasser powder with tank water and lemon juice into a toothpaste like consistency and using a syringe- inject into the CENTER CORE of each one. This will take repetition but you will suddenly see them diminish. I assume theyre also in the plumbing and by return pump area.
Other options are :
For each method you should turn your flow OFF for 5 mins. before and during the treatment and wait 15 mins. before turning it back ON after the the treatment, including the return pump.

• Lemon Juice - Instead of reaching for your bottle of lemon juice to enhance your glass of water or cup of tea, maybe try it as an Aiptasia exterminator. While wearing gloves, fill a syringe with pure lemon juice and inject it directly into the Aiptasia. Make sure to move slowly to prevent scarring the anemone into its hole.
• Hydrogen Peroxide - Just like with the lemon juice, fill a syringe and carefully inject a small amount of the solution directly into the disk of the Aiptasia. Be extra careful to not release any hydrogen peroxide into the tank. Not the safest way.
• Kalkwasser - Also known as Calcium Hydroxide, kalkwasser is capable of killing Aiptasia. However, I don’t recommend this extermination tactic. In order to work, you must precisely fill the Aiptasia with a concentrated dose. If you try killing too many in this way, you can inadvertently raise your tank pH level, which is no good.
• Other Methods - Some of the other methods commonly used to eradicate Aiptasia include boiling water, vinegar, electricity and even super glue. If you’re considering these methods, there’s a better way that’s less dangerous to you, your tank and your bank account.

thanks!

I’ve used these methods to control the Aiptasia inside the tank but ones that are in the overflow are almost impossible for me to get to.

I took one out the other day and it was lying on the eurobracing of the tank and dried out and died, so it got me thinking about trying to accomplish the same thing by dropping the water level in the overflow... but doesn’t seem there’s a lot of optimism around that idea

 

[Darren in Tacoma]

You can watch some videos on blue laser removal and see if that would work for you.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

I don't think blocking the light will help but drying them out could. But I would want to somehow remove them once dead

 

[Dburr1014]

My ocd once let me plug the drain and fill the overflow with bleach. It worked, I don't recommend it. Had zero losses.
Just have to catch all the bleach before the sump and also all the rinsing/flushing I had to do.

 

[trout]

I can confidently tell you that nothing will work, even though somehow you get rid of them from your overflow. They will bounce back at some point in time. People always argue with me on this point on different forums. So, I am used to it if someone disagrees with me again.

I have the same issue, but use aiptasia to my advantage. I use this pest anemone as CUC aka aiptasia scrubber. No uneaten food ever reaches to my sump.

 

[Mikosreef]

Heres an idea.

Lower the flow rate to the sump where its safe enough for berghia OR just insert an airstone into the overflow and stop water flow into the sump for a few days.

Get a bunch of berghia and release them into the sump (not into the tentacles of the aiptasia) the more berghia the better (you could use less but will take longer).

 

[ReeferBud]

I can confidently tell you that nothing will work, even though somehow you get rid of them from your overflow. They will bounce back at some point in time. People always argue with me on this point on different forums. So, I am used to it if someone disagrees with me again.

I have the same issue, but use aiptasia to my advantage. I use this pest anemone as CUC aka aiptasia scrubber. No uneaten food ever reaches to my sump.

this looks just like my overflow!

Ive also thought that they could be considered a type of CUC filter organism if constrained to the overflow only.

my concern is that they’re so resilient that they’ll eventually run over my tank, although they are under control for now inside the aquarium.

 

[ReeferBud]

Heres an idea.

Lower the flow rate to the sump where its safe enough for berghia OR just insert an airstone into the overflow and stop water flow into the sump for a few days.

Get a bunch of berghia and release them into the sump (not into the tentacles of the aiptasia) the more berghia the better (you could use less but will take longer).

thanks!

what does the airstone in the overflow accomplish?

 

[Mikosreef]

thanks!

what does the airstone in the overflow accomplish?

Airstone in the overflow is if you decide to stop running your return pump. The airstone will keep the water circulating just enough to keep the berghia alive.

Berghia is your only solution to truly get rid of aiptasia in an established tank.

If you want to make it easy/less work for the berghia, you can shut off the return pumps. Disconnect the drain or run it to a bucket instead of your sump and scrape off the aiptasia using a glass scraper. The. Add water to flush down any of the aiptasia that you unglued from the glass. Then add the berghia to finish off what you could not get.

At the end you will probably have a whole lot of berghia, that you can give away to fellow reefers to help them out with their aiptasia problems. They only eat aiptasia so it doesnt make sense to give it or sell it to stores as they will just die of starvation.