aiptasia

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

orion5221

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
25
Location
Long island
Hello, after reading another post I realized that I have aiptasia on one of my live rocks. 8O now, I have been checking out some websites and basically the negatives seem worse if you have a reef tank ( I don't) So.. Do I go out and buy a peppermint shrimp ( I think the radiant lion and or small snow flake eel will eat him, correct?) ( in that case I would not get the shrimp) DO I remove the rock and try the other methods described?
Help please.
Thank you :D
also what are the negatives from aiptasia ( maybe I'm missing something)
 
the real negative about aiptasia is that they multiply rather quickly and that they sting corals and such. Otherwise, I have seen them in FO aquariums and not present any danger. They are kind of ugly though; all brown and such...

I would get rid of them anyway...you really wouldn't want them to get out of hand.

From what I have seen, you can get some Kalk and a syringe and inject them with it and it will kill them...Another wild idea I have seen is, take the rock out and burn it with a bic lighter...that will kill it :mrgreen:
 
timbo2 is on the money. They will cover your LR keeping your fish from grazing. I would inject them with kalk until gone. No need to remove the rock, that would be counter productive since they will suck back into the rock when you remove it from the water. Do a few at a time so you don't spike your pH. Keep at it. Persistance pays off.
 
i killed one using a syringe full of very hot water, but this method does not always work. kalk would be best should you have it.
 
On some of the LR that I brought back from NY, there was a pretty good colony of aiptasia. I have been knocking off a few each day with the syringe and VERY hot water method. So far, it seems to be working well. I guess time will tell how effective it is.
Logan J
 
I've been told Copperband Butterflies work well and they look good too as long as you don't have corals.
 
The only aptasia I've ever gotten was sold to me as a curly-que anemone. DUH. I was new. The LFS guy made it right when I brought him a pic. The girl was misinformed. I've never gotten any on LR. I buy some LR from the LFS and 3 times I've bought 45 pound boxes. There used to be some in the LFS coral tank, but after I told the guy I wasn't buying anything connected to these pests, he got rid of them. My advice, look closely before buying.
 
Around here it's about the same. $5.49 for Fiji and $8.49 for what the LFS guy called Brazilian. The Brazilian is really nice. It's very porus and you get some nice sizes that don't weigh much. All I buy is cured. I use another store about 50 miles away when I want to get the 45 pound boxes (getting another in 2 weeks). He charges me $200 for cured premium Fiji rock. It's tank ready as soon as I swish it around in a 10 with salt water to get the "crumbs" off it. He makes $20 on it, but I don't have to wait on shipping or use my credit card on the internet. He orders it, gets it right off the plane and calls me. within 2 hours of it getting to Bradley International, it's in my tank. I think I'll call and ask him for a price on Marshall Island rock, right now!
 
It can be had near here for $2.99/lb for mediocre LR. How good is the stuff you're looking at? If it is covered with life (coraline, feather dusters, worms, bits of coral, critters, etc) then it would be worth it to get a few pieces at $9.99/lb to seed the cheap stuff. It can be had online for around $2.50-$3 including shipping (last time I looked).
 
I have gotten it from 5.99- 18.99 :!: It seems like a picked up this nasty little bugger on the cheaper rock :( Thanks for all your suggestions!
 
my aptasia came on some lr that was in some fellows reef. i'm assuming this was his baserock, and he probably didn't have acces to the little pests.
 
The only aptasia I've ever gotten was sold to me as a curly-que anemone.

Curly Ques are not to be confused with Aiptasia....They are not the same thing. Yes they are anenomes, but rather sought after ones... I have never seen Aiptaia that looked like a Curly Que other than the main body that attaches to the rock.
 
Back
Top Bottom