What worked for your aiptasia?

[Miami Reef]

Requirements: cannot pick/eat acropora/clams.

I don’t have a major aiptasia problem. I just have 1 with a lot of babies around it. It’s only a matter of time until it gets out of control though and I am aiming to treat this BEFORE it becomes crazy unmanageable issue.

Someone (fish behaviorist that used to frequent this forum) recommended me pyramid butterflies. He told me that he’s had great success with them eating aiptasia and that they will eat xenia/anthellia.

I thought, “great, I’ll get 3!”

1.5 months later…nada. Aiptasia still there.

One of the suggestions is to pick one day out of the week and not feed the fish. He said that would encourage them to seek out the aiptasia. I don’t feel comfortable with that method. Maybe it’ll be fine, but I just don’t feel comfortable.

What have you tried that you found success with? I might listen to his advice, but my pyramids are not ready to go on a 1 day hunger strike per week since they are relatively new from QT.

 

[Bladezz]

How big is the rock that they are on? Remove the rock if at all possible and stop the spread before it becomes a pandemic.

 

[LeannaBanana]

Personally, my peppermint shrimp (I got 2) are aces. They ate the ____ out of my aiptasia, leave my softies alone, and I've not had any issues. BUT to be fair, I searched around town at 4 different LFS until I found the exact species of shrimp I wanted/read up on that was successful.

To date, my Peppermints are delights to have in the tank. Still dancing around, and when I target feed my nem, duncan, goby, etc they waits for their turn and latch onto the turkey baster

 

[DE FISH]

I’ve been using aiptasia x but more seem to be appearing I’d add some nudis but I have an invasive sponge so plan on breaking the tank down and setting up a nano to get rid of the sponge and hopefully the aiptasia too no more adding frags without qt for me

nudis are the way if you don’t have other issues in the tank

 

[MoshJosh]

I have had good luck with peppermints, but other have not. I also had good luck with an aptasia eating file fish, others have not.

Note that there are a few varieties of "peppermint shrimp" some will eat aptasia and other will not.

 

[bblumberg]

Top choice is remove the rock and use a torch lighter to incinerate the aiptasia. 2nd choice for me is copperbanded butterfly. Most of those are good aiptasia eaters. I have one in every tank (4). Klein's butterfly and aiptasia eating filefish have also worked off and on for me. They can get to accessible aiptasia, but only copperbands can get down into the rocks with their long snouts. Peppermints and berghia are not possible for me because wrasses eat them.

 

[Han]

I battled a fairly bad infestation for a few years and kept buying berghia nudibranches yet saw no reduction in the aiptasia population. Then my melanurus wrasse passed away, and suddenly the aiptasia started disappearing. So in my experience as long as you don’t have anything that will eat the nudis they can work, I still have to add a new batch (3-4 nudis) every couple months (60 gallon tank).

 

[Miami Reef]

How big is the rock that they are on? Remove the rock if at all possible and stop the spread before it becomes a pandemic.

They are all on a lobophyllia coral.

I actually had this coral in QT. It kept popping with aiptasia and I kept gluing them shut. Eventually I just glued the entire skeletal base shut with glue. I got every spot with glue…or so I thought!

They popped back!

 

[Bladezz]

Top choice is remove the rock and use a torch lighter to incinerate the aiptasia. 2nd choice for me is copperbanded butterfly. Most of those are good aiptasia eaters. I have one in every tank (4). Klein's butterfly and aiptasia eating filefish have also worked off and on for me. They can get to accessible aiptasia, but only copperbands can get down into the rocks with their long snouts. Peppermints and berghia are not possible for me because wrasses eat them.

I had a 7'x2'x2' tank with full of these pests. I tried all the methods that we talk about here and on the web. The only thing that worked was the Copperband. Like an angle my Copperband ate all of those ______ in like two weeks.

You can see here he had a buffet. lol

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

They are all on a lobophyllia coral.

I actually had this coral in QT. It kept popping with aiptasia and I kept gluing them shut. Eventually I just glued the entire skeletal base shut with glue. I got every spot with glue…or so I thought!

They popped back!

Can you put the coral back in QT and add a peppermint shrimp there?

 

[Miami Reef]

Can you put the coral back in QT and add a peppermint shrimp there?

I can try that…OR!!

I can boil some RO/DI water and use a syringe to burn everything from the base. Then for good measure I’ll get a Copperband. Lol.

 

[52728299]

Requirements: cannot pick/eat acropora/clams.

I don’t have a major aiptasia problem. I just have 1 with a lot of babies around it. It’s only a matter of time until it gets out of control though and I am aiming to treat this BEFORE it becomes crazy unmanageable issue.

Someone (fish behaviorist that used to frequent this forum) recommended me pyramid butterflies. He told me that he’s had great success with them eating aiptasia and that they will eat xenia/anthellia.

I thought, “great, I’ll get 3!”

1.5 months later…nada. Aiptasia still there.

One of the suggestions is to pick one day out of the week and not feed the fish. He said that would encourage them to seek out the aiptasia. I don’t feel comfortable with that method. Maybe it’ll be fine, but I just don’t feel comfortable.

What have you tried that you found success with? I might listen to his advice, but my pyramids are not ready to go on a 1 day hunger strike per week since they are relatively new from QT.

Glue worked for me I only had 1. O since you tried that sounds like a good excuse to get a copperband if you can care for it

 

[CoralB]

Personally, my peppermint shrimp (I got 2) are aces. They ate the ____ out of my aiptasia, leave my softies alone, and I've not had any issues. BUT to be fair, I searched around town at 4 different LFS until I found the exact species of shrimp I wanted/read up on that was successful.

To date, my Peppermints are delights to have in the tank. Still dancing around, and when I target feed my nem, duncan, goby, etc they waits for their turn and latch onto the turkey baster

This is what I would have said but you do have to have a true peppermint shrimp. Stores do sell non peppermint shrimp as the real deal . Do your home work . There are places in this club that guaranty true peppermint shrimp and that they eat aptasia . I could be wrong but I think algae barn might be one of them

 

[Garf]

Kalk slurry made with a sodium hydroxide kills everything.

 

[jhuntstl]

What is the consensus on peppermints in high flow, bare bottom SPS dominant tanks? Can they get around well enough to be effective? I got 12 little guys from Reeftopia a couple weeks ago. I have them in my frag tank until they get bigger. I also bought a small Copperband Butterfly today for the display. I am admittedly a bit desperate. =)

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Kalk slurry made with a sodium hydroxide kills everything.

+1 to this or Aiptasia -X

 

[gbroadbridge]

Requirements: cannot pick/eat acropora/clams.

I don’t have a major aiptasia problem. I just have 1 with a lot of babies around it. It’s only a matter of time until it gets out of control though and I am aiming to treat this BEFORE it becomes crazy unmanageable issue.

Someone (fish behaviorist that used to frequent this forum) recommended me pyramid butterflies. He told me that he’s had great success with them eating aiptasia and that they will eat xenia/anthellia.

I thought, “great, I’ll get 3!”

1.5 months later…nada. Aiptasia still there.

One of the suggestions is to pick one day out of the week and not feed the fish. He said that would encourage them to seek out the aiptasia. I don’t feel comfortable with that method. Maybe it’ll be fine, but I just don’t feel comfortable.

What have you tried that you found success with? I might listen to his advice, but my pyramids are not ready to go on a 1 day hunger strike per week since they are relatively new from QT.

3M solution of Sodium Hydroxide into their mouth fixes them right up.

It is Aiptasia X but much stronger.

 

[CoralB]

Kalk slurry made with a sodium hydroxide kills everything.

How does that work for surrounding coral ??? Sodium hydroxide is lye . Seems highly caustic.

 

[kingoftheHiLLpeople]

@Miami Reef i had great success with nudis. It takes awhile but one by one theyd disappear. I’m not sure how theyd do with just a few aiptasia. I had around ~ 40 visible aiptasia (rough estimate). They did a number over a few months time.

 

[Bladezz]

I can try that…OR!!

I can boil some RO/DI water and use a syringe to burn everything from the base. Then for good measure I’ll get a Copperband. Lol.

Any boiling water that you suck up into a syringe will be lukewarm by the time you get it to the target. Assuming you get it to the target hot any living tissue that is left will regenerate multiply your problem 10 fold.