Aiptasia or not?

[speckrb]

I purchased this gorgeous piece of live rock at my LFS and there were a couple soft corrals I can't identify. I got it for the advaced Corraline algae growth not because of the "others" they were just a bonus. There is one thing in the forground I am unsure if it is aptasia or not. I have taken the rock out twice and dipped it into lemon juice for 15 seconds. Rinsedwith salt water and put back in the tank. He didn't like it and I thought I killed itbut it came back. I don't see anything else like it on the rock and the LFS said it was not aiptasia. I think it is. I would hate in infect my tank as my goal is a FOWLR. I would love to keep the others alive but can't afford to go crazy in the process.

This is a 40gallon with 2 clowns, 2 damsals, 1 lawnmower blenny and 2 red legged hermits

I have a syringe and HCL and cleaned soldering iron standing by

Thanks for any input or advice

 

[mr_X]

the bottom one is aptasia for sure. the soft coral you are talking about on top appear to be majano anemones to me.
that said, aptasia isn't going to hurt anything in a FOWLR tank.
as far as lemon juice, you would need to put that in a syringe and inject the anemone- i never had any luck with this. the next day after injecting one, i always had 3 or 4 in it's place.
i like kalkwasser paste best. if you don't mind removing the rock, take it out and use a cigarette lighter and burn the thing off.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

That is definitely Aptasia. Dipping it in lemon juice won't do much I don't think. You need to inject it.

Try getting a syringe from a Walgreens or medical supply store or something, and then get some RealLemon (not from concentrate) and inject about 0.5 to 1mL. I got the little bottle that looks like a lemon (make sure it's the brand name one), shook it, squeezed some in the cap, and sucked it up with the syringe, then poked the needle into the base while it was out (this is tricky) and injected the juice until I saw a 'poof', which means you filled it up.

I've also just jabbed at it (after it receded) while pushing the plunger. The point it to get the juice inside it.

Also I think Mr. X has suggested boiling water in a post on another thread (he just beat me to the post!!), same thing, or at least get one of those tooth-socket irrigation syringes and use that to squirt it with the hot water. All the better if you can remove the rock from the tank and do it, since you don't have any expensive stuff attached to it.

 

[mr_X]

(he just beat me to the post!!)

i'm laid off every winter...i do a lot of sitting in front of the pc.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Dude...no wonder you're the top poster by like 220 posts.

 

[speckrb]

Thanks for confirming.

I soaked it in the REAL LEMON juice and would prefer obviously to not use acid. I have a needle syringe waiting and if you say the injecting the juice is different than soaking it I will try that and then torch the SOB. I can easily take it out but it makes it harder to find it. I am also worried about seeding my tank with "spores". I know in the wild it's a natural defense.

Thanks a bunch for the input. I long for the days that I was laid off all winter and could ice fish for 3 months at a crack. **** those were the good old days. Now I work so I can do things like play with an expensive 40 gallon box of water.

 

[ShMacKDizZLe]

I honestly stick with letting peppermint shrimp eat my aptasia! I just buy 2 and throw em in and the problem is solved in a night or two no chemicals or lemon juice necessary! Supposedly it's hit or miss but it's worked for me 3 separate times already (I kept getting aptasia from new live rock from the LFS)

 

[Jnam]

i use aptaisa-x it works on both the glass anemones on teh bottom right of that rock and the majano anemones on the top. thats just me though

 

[speckrb]

Thanks guys. Good points. I thought about the peps but I only have 1 hitchhiker and if I can single him out without having to add animals and $ I think that makes some sense. If for some reason he multiplies and I get a explosion, I will definately get some peps. Thanks.

 

[mr_X]

you have 3 hitch hikers on that rock in the picture- the aptasia and the 2 majano anemones. all of them are pests.

 

[speckrb]

I guess I have some research to do. I didn't know majano were pests. I know they walk all over the rock. That's cool. What and why are they a negative impact in a closed ecosystem or in a FOWLR tank. I can go mid evil on them too if need be.

 

[mr_X]

lol @ medieval.
well, other than just spreading all over the place, there isn't much of a negative impact on a fish only tank, but then either is the aptasia.
if you are going to consider killing the aptasia, you might as well be thorough.

 

[Hinds04]

at least they look better than the aptasia

 

[PrettyFishies]

What else do peppermint shrimp eat?

Are they ok w coral banded and cleaner shrimp?

 

[mr_X]

peppermint shrimp eat left over food. they are scavengers. they are ok with cleaner shrimp, but i've read mixed reviews about the coral banded. i've had a few that were fine, but some say they have been aggressive as they got older.

 

[ShMacKDizZLe]

They scavenge for the most part at night but will eat pretty much anything you feed your fish mysis, brine, pellets etc. They're good at fending for themselves and I have had very good results with them eating aptasia. And they should for the most part be good with your cleaner shrimp but the coral banded shrimp could possibly be an issue

 

[ShMacKDizZLe]

I think it mostly depends on the size of the coral banded shrimp compared to the other inverts