Aiptaisia

[benter]

hi again ..one of the live rocks i'm curing for my son has, I'm assuming aiptaisia, I say assuming because every picture I've seen of aiptisia is kind of brown..Well these are very clear..they almost look like a feather duster type worm or something..of course I don't have a camera yet..(it's coming).. only reason I think aiptaisia is because of how many there are..must be hundreds on one rock..the tentacles are not long and stringy instead they open up almost flat as well instead of more tree like if you know what I'm trying to say..at any rate I will try and get a picture up this weekend maybe and see if you guys know for sure before I start trying to get rid of them before I put them in his main tank. and will joes juice work or what is this Kallwasar or something like that..and will all these solutions kill all the(what I know are) small feather dusters also...thanks again :notsure:

 

[darknes]

I'm thinking they may be bristle worms.....are they all one color, or not? Also, if they are really small, they might not have long, stringy tentacles yet. I have an aiptaisia (cannot kill him, tried everything, yet he wont die), and when I first saw it, it was fan shaped, and now it's huge and looks more like aiptaisia with tentacles. See if you can get a pic of them.

 

[psumba]

I think I have the same issue.
I bought a brain coral (which died

) and then I saw what looks to be a baby anemone coming from the leftover rock.
Mine does seem to retract when I moved it.
Well 1 became 3 became at least 10 now. (At least I can grow something)
I know generally people consider them bad, but I would like to know why. And if they are, what creatures do I now have natural food for?
Thanks in advance.

 

[darknes]

If you have a fish only tank, they really aren't that bad...From what I understand, the reason they are so BAD is that they spread like fire. They also can sting other corals if you have any.
They ARE easy to care for (don't need to do anything), and aren't necessarily harmful to a fish only tank.
There is a type of shrimp (i don't know off the top of my head) that you can buy that eats aiptaisia, to help control it.
That is my opinion.:happy:

 

[madysmom]

peppermint shrimps like aptasias

 

[psumba]

Peppermint Shrimp - got it.
They do not conflict with Cleaners do they? I have 2 of those, never had previous luck with Peppermints...maybe now that I have a food source!

 

[bigarn]

Peppermint shrimp aren't natural aiptasia eaters....If they have no other food source they may eat aiptasia, but no guarantees.
Try Joe's Juice. I've heard many people had good results with it.

 

[big slick]

Both will work. I tried injecting with a syringe, and it took care of the big ones. Get yourself a peppermint and he will take care of all the small ones. He will scavenge for uneaten food after that so no worries when all the aptasia is gone. I have yet to have another aptasia breakout since.
Good luck!
PS. When injecting, stick them fast and aim for the stalk. These guys will retract fast and deep into the rock. If they are big enough grab it with your fingers so it can't move....this is much easier said than done.