I need help

[raed yaghnam]

I have a sever aptasia infestation. I have tried everything from Aptasia X, Aptasia Control, Copper Banded Butterfly, Pepermint Shrimp, etc... but nothing seems to work. I have reached a point where I am about to quit the hobby and dismantle the whole system unless I can get help ASAP. I would appreciate any advice I can get. Thanks.

 

[meowzer]

Have you tried Joe's Juice??

 

[raed yaghnam]

By the way my system is a 350 gallon reef tank with a 50 gallon sump. It has been up and running for almost two years now with no problems. I have a collected some great specimens of fish and corals and would hate to lose them or leave the hobby. My water parameters are all where they should be. My equipment include:
A Reed Octopus 200 protien skimmer
2 X 5000 gallon return pumps
2 X UV sterilzers
3000 gallon chiller
4 X 300 gallon wave makers
1 X 750 gallon alternate natural wave maker
6 X 150 metal halide lights (10 k)
3 X 400 metal halide lights

 

[wangotango]

Peppermints, Copperbands, and Berghia nudis are hit or miss. I'm surprised that nothing like Aiptasia X etc is working. Remember the anemones actually have to "eat" the stuff for it to be most effective. You could always make a kalk paste and cover the entire infected are while your pumps are off to really make sure they all get it.

 

[raed yaghnam]

Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3228840
Have you tried Joe's Juice??
yes!! and it seems that whenever I use Joe's Juice or any of the other medications, the aptasia disappears for a couple of days and then comes back with a vengance!! The problen now is that the aptasia is so wide spread that it is practically impossible to treat it with injections!! it has infiltrated the whole system including the pumps, skimmer, sump, wave makers, pipes etc...

 

[raed yaghnam]

I am reaching a point where I think that the only solution is to empty the tank of all corals, fish, live sand, and live rock and run the system on fresh water for a few days. Do you think that that would get rid of them??

 

[anjiro]

Tango gave you some good and effective options, also you can try a matted filefish. If I were you I would get a few peppermints a copperband and a matted filefish as all of these are pretty readily avaliable and its a pretty good size tank so it should be able to handle these guys. If you can get ahold of a berghia nudi get it, it should do the trick I've known a couple of people locally who had the same problem and these were the ultimate solution.

 

[wangotango]

Originally Posted by Raed Yaghnam
http:///forum/post/3228849
I am reaching a point where I think that the only solution is to empty the tank of all corals, fish, live sand, and live rock and run the system on fresh water for a few days. Do you think that that would get rid of them??
They live on the rock, so taking the rock out and rinsing out your tank with freshwater isn't going to do anything. If soaked your rock in fresh water yeah that'd kill them along with all the other organisms on the rock which I think is overly drastic.
Make sure they eat the stuff, then cover the area in a paste.

 

[raed yaghnam]

Originally Posted by WangoTango
http:///forum/post/3228852
They live on the rock, so taking the rock out and rinsing out your tank with freshwater isn't going to do anything. If soaked your rock in fresh water yeah that'd kill them along with all the other organisms on the rock which I think is overly drastic.
Make sure they eat the stuff, then cover the area in a paste.
I was thinking to remove the current live rock and sand and after running the system on fresh water for a couple of days, put in NEW aptasia free live rock and sand...I cannot cover the area with paste since the whole tank is infested...I will try to take a couple of photos tomorrow to show you what I mean.

 

[raed yaghnam]

Originally Posted by Anjiro
http:///forum/post/3228851
Tango gave you some good and effective options, also you can try a matted filefish. If I were you I would get a few peppermints a copperband and a matted filefish as all of these are pretty readily avaliable and its a pretty good size tank so it should be able to handle these guys. If you can get ahold of a berghia nudi get it, it should do the trick I've known a couple of people locally who had the same problem and these were the ultimate solution.
I might try this combo as a last ditch effort before i turn to a more drastic resort as running the system on fresh water. It is just going to be difficult to find all of the above since I live in Dubai and the LFSs here are not as professional as the ones elsewhere. Do you know if Saltwaterfish ships outside the US? or any other store that would for that matter?

 

[hunt]

you could take the coral fragging putty stuff and put it over the aptasia and it will smother them out. I currently have the same problem in my tank and this seems to be working.

 

[jrandolph1]

I was going to ask if an underwater epoxy pasted over the intake valve would do any good?

 

[raed yaghnam]

Originally Posted by Hunt
http:///forum/post/3228873
you could take the coral fragging putty stuff and put it over the aptasia and it will smother them out. I currently have the same problem in my tank and this seems to be working.
I would practically have to cover the whole aquarium with it since the aptasia is all over the place!!! I honestly think that the only option that is left is to trun down the system, run it on fresh water, and start over again with new live rock and live sand.

 

[raed yaghnam]

on another note, if i amgoing to turn down the system I think i will do a few upgrades to some of my equipment. One of which is the lighting system. I have read about the new LED lights and think that I might try them out. My question is would LED quantity: 119pcs x 1 Watt LED (71 White + 48 Blue)
LED configuration: BridgeLux 1w/LED Color: White and Blue mixed, White: 14000K(14000-20000k) be enough or would I need two units instead?

 

[raed yaghnam]

ok here are some pics of the problem:

 

[raed yaghnam]

some more pics

 

[bmkj02]

WOW!!!!! Thats going to take a while and a combination of many things to get that under control. I would says Joe's Juice (worked well for me) and water changes to starve them. Even though your readings are showing good it could because of soooo many aptasia absorbing nitrates it gives you a 0 reading. Cut back on feedings and light. Do water changes and hit them indivdually with some Joe's Juice. It will take time so be patience. Also when you hit them with any meds do it slowly so they can eat it. If you do it too fast they will extract and it wont affect them.

 

[hunt]

well that really clears things up. I have never seen it so bad. I would restart with new live rock.

 

[hunt]

Im not sure what would be more expensive, buying a bunch of berghia nudibranchs or starting over.

 

[raed yaghnam]

Originally Posted by bmkj02
http:///forum/post/3229368
WOW!!!!! Thats going to take a while and a combination of many things to get that under control. I would says Joe's Juice (worked well for me) and water changes to starve them. Even though your readings are showing good it could because of soooo many aptasia absorbing nitrates it gives you a 0 reading. Cut back on feedings and light. Do water changes and hit them indivdually with some Joe's Juice. It will take time so be patience. Also when you hit them with any meds do it slowly so they can eat it. If you do it too fast they will extract and it wont affect them.
The issue is as you can see from the pics, they are in the hundreds and some are impossible to reach and you know with aptasia if you dont get them all, they will come back with a vengence. Plus they have infitlrated the whole system including the pipes, sump, even the skimmer!!!