What's your experience with Aiptasia KILLERS?

[davidcalgary29]

Aiptasia-X has been very effective of ridding my builds...of majanos and colonial hydroids. I think it's an effective control of aiptasia, but probably won't help you eradicate them without some other mechanism.

 

[jskoms]

A few weeks back, got a zoa frag and a few days later noticed a small aptasia popping out. Got a peppermint and the aptiasia is gone. A tank I had years ago had a few popping out here and there, the hot lemon juice injection seemed to work.

 

[davidcalgary29]

Being careful to not introduce them is a better option than having to find the right predator. I had an invasion come in on a Pipeorgan coral colony. I looked but didn’t notice them at first.
I got some shrimp that my wrasse ate after he finished the nudibranch. So I got a filefish who seemed uninterested in them and so I began pulling the Pipeorgan and removed 2 monsters from that, and hit 3 or 5 more on the rocks I could remove and I still had a few small ones I could not get to. Then I noticed that those were missing and I’m going to keep the Filefish since he does eat the little ones.

Hard to do that at times, though. I had several of them hitchhike in on large chunks of coral that I bought from other reefers. They weren't visible at all when I put them in my tanks, but, sure enough, one or two polyps popped up a couple of months later. I find that a LOT of other enthusiasts (even very experienced ones) are pretty casual about having pests in their tanks, and often will not care to tell you about what they have in their systems when they sell you things from it. I've bought a lot of livestock from other reefers in northern Alberta in the past three months, and during that time, only one has told me exactly what was in his tank. I've just assumed that the rest carried some risk, and planned accordingly.

 

[Theulli]

 

[Jekyl]

I added a peppermint shrimp and never saw an aiptasia again.

 

[Stuartmercer]

I've been very lucky with pests, not once have I had aptasia in almost 4 years of this hobby, and for 2 of those years I didnt dip...

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Count me among the lucky people who had success with Peppermint Shrimps. Got a pair from Algae Barn and they had my aiptasia wiped out in about a week. Prior to that I'd tried JoesJuice but the aiptasia would just pop up in a different spot. I watched one of the peppermints take on an aiptasia one evening and it was crazy to watch. The little guy went to war with it. Haven't seen any aiptasia since.

 

[DH78]

The only time I have seen aptasia in my tank was in my sump on a biobrick. I just tossed the entire brick. I haven't seen anything other than the one in more than a year.

 

[fryman]

I have tried manual removal, kalk paste, covering with epoxy or superglue, aiptaisia-X, and berghia nudibranchs.

Only treatment that worked was the berghia.

 

[Ta2oodfreak]

I had a ton of aiptasia in the 180g tank I took over. Spot treatment with aiptasia X and a peppermint shrimp worked for me. Not a single one to be found currently.

 

[Jonas Bergkvist]

I use some rock cement and plug the hole they are in. It seems to work so far. I still have a few Aiptaisa that needs to be put in prison and hopefully they won't spread. Did anyone else try to cement them in their hole? I heard this trick from BRS TV. It's worth a try......

 

[Jack Ravensbergen]

Sometimes one aiptasia in the thank , the overflow however is filled with those b.st.r.ds...
Those i leave alone , all the offspring of them come in the main tank , and that's perfect food for my copperband

 

[Jonas Bergkvist]

Sometimes one aiptasia in the thank , the overflow however is filled with those b.st.r.ds...
Those i leave alone , all the offspring of them come in the main tank , and that's perfect food for my copperband

Is that a Favia? I have one small frag that i had for like two months and it's not doing well. What PAR do you keep yours? I have mine in about 200 PAR (sorry i don't want to derail the thread but your coral looks really nice!)

 

[jrb1021]

Aiptasia X did absolutely nothing. VERY expensive Berghias have done nothing as well after months. I have a bristletail filefish currently in quarantine--fingers crossed. Too many that are too inaccessible for me to manually remove.

 

[stephen wyard]

I used nudis and they are gone.Only put two in my 70 gal .It took about 3 weeks and that was it.They breed very fast and will take care of the pest.

 

[ScottReefer]

I’m a fan of live rock so it will always be something I have to deal with. Worth it if you have the means to treat for them.


1. What has been the BEST and most effective "tool" that you have used to get rid of aiptasia in your aquarium?

A Copperband was the final solution.

2. What are all the ways that have worked and have not worked?

Tried Aiptasia-X and F-Aiptasia but neither seem to completely stop it. It’s just monthly maintenance to get in and mow them back with that method, for me. A CBB was the hammer that knocked them out.

 

[jwt1603]

I used super glue and aiptasia X to get the ones I could reach. The two peppermints took care of the rest and haven't seen one in a couple of years now.

 

[Eyedogtor]

Peppermint Shrimp always work for me - and they can stay around in the tank after you are set, ready for the next challenge....

 

[Exiled]

This guy eats all he can reach, so I have a few in little caves, but nothing on show

 

[Sam Hanson]

Aiptasia anemones are a pest to the nth degree! They almost seemingly appear from nowhere and seem to breed in epic proportions. They are a pain to say the least. So in order to be a good steward of our reef aquarium it is up to us to "eliminate" them. But there are so many different ways that claim to get this job done and knowing what works and what doesn't work can be a challenge. There are aiptasia killing wands, aiptasia killing nudis, aiptasia killing juice, aiptasia killing fish and so on and so forth. So today I would like to ask you about your experience with Aiptasia killers!

1. What has been the BEST and most effective "tool" that you have used to get rid of aiptasia in your aquarium?

2. What are all the ways that have worked and have not worked?

berghia nudis eating aiptasia from this zoanthid colony: image via www.saltyunderground.com

F Aptasia has worked but is spendy. Peppermint Shrimp worked. Aptasia X was like fertilizer. Lemon Juice works the best for the money