aiptasia issue!!!

[fishissues]

I got this piece of live rock and it had some mushrooms on it so thats why i got it but then i noticed the colonies of aiptasias. I got 3 peppermint shrimp from my lfs but the didnt do much and i have a 75 gallon aquarium. I thought of the calcium method but that might kill the mushrooms. please help!

 

[rdhanley]

Originally Posted by fishissues
I got this piece of live rock and it had some mushrooms on it so thats why i got it but then i noticed the colonies of aiptasias. I got 3 peppermint shrimp from my lfs but the didnt do much and i have a 75 gallon aquarium. I thought of the calcium method but that might kill the mushrooms. please help!
copperband butterfly or raccoon butterfly

 

[fishissues]

well i have a clown fish, yellow tang, and a snowflake eel about 2 feet, and also some frags and i think im kind of fished out for a 75 gallon also i think i have to many shrimp, i have 1 cleaner, 1 coral banded, 1 fire, and 3 peppermint

 

[mie]

Pep shrimp.also if you just have the one rock I would take the rock out and kill the aiptasia. It is not worth it they will overrun your tank FAST.

 

[fishissues]

Originally Posted by mie
Pep shrimp.also if you just have the one rock I would take the rock out and kill the aiptasia. It is not worth it they will overrun your tank FAST.
yes but that rock has some mushrooms that id like to keep...

 

[mcbdz]

I would first try injecting them with boiling water. You need to injest it right into their mouth. .

 

[florida joe]

Take a shallow container put you dt water in it to just cover the rock and with a tweezers pick off the aptasia or use any other method you like you will have the time to do the job right and the mushrooms will be non the worst for wear NMO

 

[mie]

Imo I would get new mushrooms than have a tank full of aiptaisia . You could frag the mushrooms off the rock than kill the rock. Very easy to do and mushrooms are very hardy. Also if you pick the aiptaisia off they will spread even worse.

 

[miaheatlvr]

Originally Posted by florida joe
Take a shallow container put you dt water in it to just cover the rock and with a tweezers pick off the aptasia or use any other method you like you will have the time to do the job right and the mushrooms will be non the worst for wear NMO
Excellent idea, also it took my peppermint shrimps 3 months to start eating my 2 Aiptasias..

 

[feixjai]

if it does get out of control fast, you can buy Aiptasia Control by Blue Life or Blue Vet. took out the nasty buggers in my tank in seconds. and its totally reef safe

 

[fishissues]

Originally Posted by mie
Imo I would get new mushrooms than have a tank full of aiptaisia . You could frag the mushrooms off the rock than kill the rock. Very easy to do and mushrooms are very hardy. Also if you pick the aiptaisia off they will spread even worse.
well I dont realy know how to frag. i might try the blue life, or just look how to frag.(i just looked up how to frag and it sounds pretty difficult. Do i have to cut the mushroom directly in half? or pizza slices?)

 

[florida joe]

can you get us a pic of the rock

 

[mie]

It depends on how big it is. but if they are say for example quarter size i would cut them off at the base place them in a small tupperware dish with holes in it for water flow put the shrooms on small pieces of rock so they can reattach this takes about a week them put them back in the rock work. Mushrooms a very easy to care for and are pretty hard to kill. I think it was reefkeeprz that put some in a blender and mixed them up like a smoothie and dumped them in his tank and they started to grow everywhere.

 

[seamandrew]

Take it from someone who just battled a terrible Aiptasia infestation in the past few months. THe best product is Joe's Juice (sold at ***********.com). It kills the Aiptasia and if you only have two, they'll be gone before you know it. How do you only have 2 after 3 months? You sure it's Aiptaisa? My Aiptasia went from 1 (before I even know what Aiptaisa was to literally over 500 (at least) in the span of 1 month!!! I couldn't keep Peppermint Shrimp alive for god knows what reason, all my other inverts have thrived in my tank. In fact, I found two smaller peppermint shrimp being consumed by Aiptasia!!! So I finally took a risk got a Copperband (they're known to be rather finicky eaters) and luckily he took to the Aiptasia like you wouldn't believe. Today, about 1.5 months later, my tank has a couple tiny ones from time to time and if the Copperband doesn't get them, I juice them with Joe's Juice!

 

[clownfish4]

i have the same problem only much much much worse.... my tank rock is full of them about every inch. please help

 

[seamandrew]

Clownfish, get joes juice, turn off all your power heads and filters and ask a loved one with long arms to help. It will take a while, but patiently hit them with Joe's Juice and you will see the difference fast! My wife and I would take turns hitting them or do it at the same time on opposite sides of the tank. Today, you can't tell we have Aiptasia and the Butterfly takes care of most of what's left. We have to hit the few he can't reach (that we see). Peppermint shrimp are reputedly voracious eaters of Aiptasia, but hard to acclimate to the tank. You can also get Berhia Nudibranchs (really hard to find), they only eat Aiptasia. I highly recommend buying a Copperband Butterfly as long as it can live with what ever other tankmates you have for it.

 

[saltymac]

Give the pepermint shrimp a chance, dont feed heavy for a few days, they'll find it and it'll be gone....quick. If it gets too big, they wont eat it, but new small ones, tasty snacks. Good luck.

 

[clownfish4]

Originally Posted by seamandrew
Clownfish, get joes juice, turn off all your power heads and filters and ask a loved one with long arms to help. It will take a while, but patiently hit them with Joe's Juice and you will see the difference fast! My wife and I would take turns hitting them or do it at the same time on opposite sides of the tank. Today, you can't tell we have Aiptasia and the Butterfly takes care of most of what's left. We have to hit the few he can't reach (that we see). Peppermint shrimp are reputedly voracious eaters of Aiptasia, but hard to acclimate to the tank. You can also get Berhia Nudibranchs (really hard to find), they only eat Aiptasia. I highly recommend buying a Copperband Butterfly as long as it can live with what ever other tankmates you have for it.

i hate to be mean but joes juice sucks!!!!! i used it and it did s**t

 

[florida joe]

Originally Posted by clownfish4
i hate to be mean but joes juice sucks!!!!! i used it and it did s**t
are you sure its aiptasia

 

[fishissues]

Originally Posted by florida joe
can you get us a pic of the rock
dont got a camera