aptasia ?
- Thread starter clown316
- Start date
m0nk
Active Member
Take a picture if you can, or search the boards for threads with pics of aiptasia - you definitely want to find out if these are aiptasia or just hitchhiker feather dusters (feather dusters are good, aiptasia is bad). If this is in fact what you have in your tank you do want to try and get rid of them for 2 reasons:
1. They spread like crazy, and although they do help with water quality to some extent (they're filter feeders and take excess nutrients from the water) when they start taking over you'll wish you hadn't let them get to that point.
2. If you're keeping coral or other anemones, aiptasia will start to sting these other inhabitants, likely killing them in the end. With the low cost to rid them, it would certainly be a waste of money to let them go and kill your coral.
There are a few ways to get rid of them. You could squirt Joe's Juice or boiling water at them, or if they're small enough you could try a natural method such as getting some peppermint shrimp. There are other fish/inverts that eat them, but peppermint shrimp are cheap and easy to keep.
Hope that helps.
1. They spread like crazy, and although they do help with water quality to some extent (they're filter feeders and take excess nutrients from the water) when they start taking over you'll wish you hadn't let them get to that point.
2. If you're keeping coral or other anemones, aiptasia will start to sting these other inhabitants, likely killing them in the end. With the low cost to rid them, it would certainly be a waste of money to let them go and kill your coral.
There are a few ways to get rid of them. You could squirt Joe's Juice or boiling water at them, or if they're small enough you could try a natural method such as getting some peppermint shrimp. There are other fish/inverts that eat them, but peppermint shrimp are cheap and easy to keep.
Hope that helps.
bronco300
Active Member
feathers doesnt make me think aipstasia..but maybe a feather duster, they also duck into their hole when disturbed...do a search for aipstasia, there should be plenty of pictures.
if it is like mentioned...get rid of them...the longer you put it off the more they will start to infest your tank...i let some of mine go and now have them all over the tank....couple ways i've used to get rid of them were:
boiling water
Kalkwasser and water mix(to a thick creme)
Berghia Nudibranch
if it is like mentioned...get rid of them...the longer you put it off the more they will start to infest your tank...i let some of mine go and now have them all over the tank....couple ways i've used to get rid of them were:
boiling water
Kalkwasser and water mix(to a thick creme)
Berghia Nudibranch
yosemite sam
Active Member
Check out this thread for photos of both aiptasia and feather dusters: https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/163522/hitchhiker-identifications
travis89
Active Member
Originally Posted by big
Sounds to me more like Dusters which are good guys. White things would not be Aipstasia. If they are Aipstasia, I have used hot Lemon juice injected right on them. Kills them real good too.
Here is a shot of a single Aipstasia.
I have seen white/clear aiptasia in my tank.
Sounds to me more like Dusters which are good guys. White things would not be Aipstasia. If they are Aipstasia, I have used hot Lemon juice injected right on them. Kills them real good too.
I have seen white/clear aiptasia in my tank.
big
Active Member
Originally Posted by Travis89
I have seen white/clear aiptasia in my tank.
If they are clear of white would that not be a "Glass Anenome".. Still not a good thing......... I guess still the same family of things we do not want in our tanks...... BTW is there a difference other than the color, I do not know??
I have seen white/clear aiptasia in my tank.
If they are clear of white would that not be a "Glass Anenome".. Still not a good thing......... I guess still the same family of things we do not want in our tanks...... BTW is there a difference other than the color, I do not know??
yosemite sam
Active Member
Does it look like the aiptasia in the hitchhiker post?
abethedog
Member
Check to see if they are two definate parts. A tube worm or duster will retract into a tube. The difference between the duster and the tube will be obvious. The glass and ap look as though they are all one piece. A blob of sorts with the tenticles.
Hope that helps. I can tell that you are frustrated.
Hope that helps. I can tell that you are frustrated.
clown316
Member
Originally Posted by abethedog
Check to see if they are two definate parts. A tube worm or duster will retract into a tube. The difference between the duster and the tube will be obvious. The glass and ap look as though they are all one piece. A blob of sorts with the tenticles.
Hope that helps. I can tell that you are frustrated.
frustrated to say the least... i have come into every problem you can with a tank possible. i am a complete failure at this saltwater thing.. once everything is going good something bad happens. nitrates etc... but they dont have tubes they just seem to go into the rock. but they resemble feather dusters. ugh i just want my tank to run smoothly. i have invested so much into this thing.
Check to see if they are two definate parts. A tube worm or duster will retract into a tube. The difference between the duster and the tube will be obvious. The glass and ap look as though they are all one piece. A blob of sorts with the tenticles.
Hope that helps. I can tell that you are frustrated.
frustrated to say the least... i have come into every problem you can with a tank possible. i am a complete failure at this saltwater thing.. once everything is going good something bad happens. nitrates etc... but they dont have tubes they just seem to go into the rock. but they resemble feather dusters. ugh i just want my tank to run smoothly. i have invested so much into this thing.
clown316
Member
Originally Posted by Bronco300
not a failure...we all run into problems...aipstasia is very common...i think youd know if it was aipstasia, they look like the picture posted above either big or small...all have clear tan skin and tentacles like an anemone...no feathers.
ha thanks. but i am in some deep ka ka for tomorrow. i need to lower my nitrates by tonight as i mentioned in my other post. i dont even think its possible. i have done everything. added circulation... carbon.. replaced bio balls with live rock.. added some chemipure elite.. i dont think there is anything else i can do. i have a package coming from swf.com and need to lower trates.
not a failure...we all run into problems...aipstasia is very common...i think youd know if it was aipstasia, they look like the picture posted above either big or small...all have clear tan skin and tentacles like an anemone...no feathers.
ha thanks. but i am in some deep ka ka for tomorrow. i need to lower my nitrates by tonight as i mentioned in my other post. i dont even think its possible. i have done everything. added circulation... carbon.. replaced bio balls with live rock.. added some chemipure elite.. i dont think there is anything else i can do. i have a package coming from swf.com and need to lower trates.