Any other way to get rid of these things?

[Kelso]

I got a bunch of these little enemones growing everywhere in my tank. At first it was fine, there werent enough of them to cause any problems. Now they are growing on my coral, in my sump, I even got one inside my featherduster. He dosent seem to mind as it dosent stop him from coming out. I was wondering if there was an easy way to rid my tank of them before I start plucking away? There are so many I may be picking at rock for weeks

 

[redneckgearhead]

Some have had luck with peppermint shrimp. Just make certain its a true peppermint shrimp, I believe theres another one that looks like a peppermint....(maybe called a camel shrimp) that doesnt eat the apstasia. There is other ways to get rid of them but with the amount you have it would take awhile. I wouldnt recommend plucking them off either I believe that will cause them to spread. Do a search on here for them.

 

[mr_X]

peppermint shrimp aren't going to take down that colony! do you have a syringe? one that you can remove the steel tip from?
the best method i have found was using kalkwasser. kalkwasser can be purchased at the LFS for a lot less than the aptasia cures at the LFS.
all you do is mix it up into a thick paste, almost like toothpaste. suck it up in a syringe(without the steel tip) and squirt a generous glob on the mouth of each anemone. when they close up and shrivel down, squirt another glob on the shriveled leftovers. i would turn off all flow while you are doing this.

i would do about 10 anemones every few days, until they are gone. a large amount of kalkwasser in the tank can effect parameters.

redneck is correct, ripping them off of the rocks will exacerbate the problem.

 

[mr_X]

btw, what is that brilliant red stuff in the 3rd pic?

 

[Kelso]

Thats what I thought, picking them wasnt the right choice. Im going to try the kalkwasser. Though I do not have a syringe. Where can I get one of these your talking about, with the removable tip? Would something like a spot feeder work? Maybe with a modified thin tip?

That is a red ridge sponge. I was amazed with the color and how well he faired through shipment. There avalible through reefs2go.com, not sure how many they have left. Hes aclimating very well getting a more robust red everyday

 

[melosu58]

FantasyReef Databases-Viewing item "Aiptasia Removal Methods"

 

[ezy33]

IMO peppermint shrimp will eat the small ones, the bigger ones are probably too tough. After taking down all the one's you can see, you may find more behind and under your rocks.

 

[mr_X]

i could mail you a syringe. pm me your mailing address. otherwise you can find them online very easily, on medical supply sites or even fosters and smith i believe.
also, what i was thinking of trying was an aptasia eating filefish. a "so ugly it's amazing" type of creature....

 

[mfdrookie516]

would a meat injector do the trick... without the steel tip? Those are like $3 at grocery stores

 

[cmor1701d]

Or you can order some Joe's Juice. It's about $8 and comes with the syringe. Works great.

 

[Kelso]

What type of fish is that, and is it reef safe? Im going to look into this Joes juice, can you tell me a little more it sounds like the perfect answer. Also I couldn't view that thread, for methods of getting rid of aiptasia, I'm not sure why.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

I got a syringe at a medical supply store and used lemon juice (not from concentrate) and injected into the stem (about 1 mL) and it was gone in 2 days. You have to catch it while it's extended and move fast, it retracts rather quickly when you stab it.

 

[cmor1701d]

Joe`s Juice at Marine Depot

 

[Jaybird]

The aptaisia eating filefish is getting fairly popular in my area. I know of three store that have had them and can get them.

i could mail you a syringe. pm me your mailing address. otherwise you can find them online very easily, on medical supply sites or even fosters and smith i believe.
also, what i was thinking of trying was an aptasia eating filefish. a "so ugly it's amazing" type of creature....

 

[Kelso]

Can you tell me these stores, and are they online? Also what is the name of that fish? I want to add one more fish to my tank, and if I can get my hands on one of them that would be it.

 

[redneckgearhead]

Walmart has the syringes with the turkey basters. For injecting flavors into meat.

 

[mr_X]

this is where i got that image from....they say they have them in stock-
Aiptasia Eating Filefish - Acreichthys tomentosus

 

[Jaybird]

Kelso:

I'm in Canada, so they won't ship to the States. It is also the same shipping from the States to here. You need a special permit to import the fish and corals. I'm sure that there are lots of places in the States that can ship to you.

 

[jcarlilesiu]

We have had good luck with aptasiaX.

The important thing to remember is that manual attempts at removal usually makes it worse. When aptasia are attacked, many times they release spores that create new anenomes.

Best bet is to shoot this aptasiaX right into their mouth. They usually close up and never return.

 

[Kelso]

Thank you, I'm going to try injecting them. Lets hope everything goes good.