Glass anemone take over

[Madreefer420]

Ok so my tank is slowly being consumed by aptaisia iv tryed aptisa x and peppermint shrimp short of ordering bergiua nudi's I'm at a loss and really feelin downed by theses aptisa also I have a 160 reef with mixed corals from Kenya trees to sps

 

[kdpuffer]

You could try a copperband butterfly or file fish. Be cautious though, they may nip at corals and butterfly fish are finicky eaters and very sensitive.

 

[MacDracor]

The berghia are your best bet. While peppermint shrimp will sometimes eat them, they can be messy eaters, leaving behind bits of aiptasia that will grow into new anemones. But the berghia are obligate aiptasia eaters (cannot eat anything else) and will eat them down to the last cell, leaving nothing left to grow into new ones. That being said, when they finally do kill all the aiptasia, they will starve. So you should then collect them and pass them on to someone else with an infestation.
They really are the best way to do it. I know it's not convenient, but any other method leaves you open to reinfestation.

 

[Madreefer420]

I wish I could find some one toward the end of there clearing cause the only place I can find them is online and I don't know anyone else with aptisa problems

 

[Wy Renegade]

Mix up your own Kalk paste and take em out. Get ahold of some pickling lime, mix it with saltwater till you have a paste just wet enough to suck up with an eye dropper. Then start squirting the paste into the "mouth" of the aiptasia. They take it in and it kills them. Only do a percentage of your tank in one day as the kalk paste can have an impact on pH. Takes patience and dedication, but if you stay after it, you can kill them off.

 

[Madreefer420]

Mix up your own Kalk paste and take em out. Get ahold of some pickling lime, mix it with saltwater till you have a paste just wet enough to suck up with an eye dropper. Then start squirting the paste into the "mouth" of the aiptasia. They take it in and it kills them. Only do a percentage of your tank in one day as the kalk paste can have an impact on pH. Takes patience and dedication, but if you stay after it, you can kill them off.

What is this paste you speak of

 

[Wy Renegade]

Mix up your own Kalk paste and take em out. Get ahold of some pickling lime, mix it with saltwater till you have a paste just wet enough to suck up with an eye dropper. Then start squirting the paste into the "mouth" of the aiptasia. They take it in and it kills them. Only do a percentage of your tank in one day as the kalk paste can have an impact on pH. Takes patience and dedication, but if you stay after it, you can kill them off.

What is this paste you speak of

Its a paste-like substance you make yourself by mixing Pickling Lime and saltwater from your tank. Pickling lime is commonly available in grocery stored during the canning season. You can make the same stuff using Kalkwasser powder (or Calcium Hydroxide). Hence why it is called Kalk paste. It is basically a very concentrated basic substance similar to what is in Aptasia X but more concentrated and thus more effective. It is a substance that can be uptaken and used by the corals, so it won't hurt you corals (unless you dump a bunch on them), but can effect the pH if you use too much in one setting and thus is can harm the corals by causing a swing in pH.

 

[Madreefer420]

So how exactly do I make this as I have never used kalkwrasser

 

[Wy Renegade]

So how exactly do I make this as I have never used kalkwrasser

It is really simple. Go to your local market and pick up a container of Pickling Lime (usually in the canning section) or to your local LFS and pick up a container of Kalkwasser powder (or Calcium Hydroxide). Both substances are a dry white powder.

Once you have the powder, mix it with saltwater from your tank till you have a paste just wet enough to suck up with an eye dropper. I usually just mix up a very small container at a time. Then use the eye dropper to start squirting the paste into the "mouth" or oral disc of the aiptasia.