Killing an Aiptasia
- Thread starter skeez
- Start date
flower
Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by Skeez
http:///forum/post/3281561
I have an Aiptasia growing on a live rock, I know I can kill it with some calcium but where do I get it and will it harm the fish?
Peppermint shrimp, or Aiptasia X, or Joes Juice all work great. Aiptasia are like cockroaches, you see one but the spores are in the hundreds. If your tank can support them…Get some Peppermint shrimp and use the Joes juice to get the big ones.
http:///forum/post/3281561
I have an Aiptasia growing on a live rock, I know I can kill it with some calcium but where do I get it and will it harm the fish?
Peppermint shrimp, or Aiptasia X, or Joes Juice all work great. Aiptasia are like cockroaches, you see one but the spores are in the hundreds. If your tank can support them…Get some Peppermint shrimp and use the Joes juice to get the big ones.
skeez
Member
Originally Posted by Flower
http:///forum/post/3281586
Peppermint shrimp, or Aiptasia X, or Joes Juice all work great. Aiptasia are like cockroaches, you see one but the spores are in the hundreds. If your tank can support them…Get some Peppermint shrimp and use the Joes juice to get the big ones.
Where could I get said items? Why do people want to get rid of them what do they do? Thanks for your help!
http:///forum/post/3281586
Peppermint shrimp, or Aiptasia X, or Joes Juice all work great. Aiptasia are like cockroaches, you see one but the spores are in the hundreds. If your tank can support them…Get some Peppermint shrimp and use the Joes juice to get the big ones.
Where could I get said items? Why do people want to get rid of them what do they do? Thanks for your help!
flower
Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by Skeez
http:///forum/post/3281590
Where could I get said items? Why do people want to get rid of them what do they do? Thanks for your help!
They are a type of pest anemone, they sting coral to death and spread like fire through the tank. Joe's juice or Aiptasia X can be found at most fish stores, and Peppermint shrimp can be ordered right here on this site. Don't mess with it until you are ready to kill it, stressing it will make it give off spores and it will spread faster.
http:///forum/post/3281590
Where could I get said items? Why do people want to get rid of them what do they do? Thanks for your help!
They are a type of pest anemone, they sting coral to death and spread like fire through the tank. Joe's juice or Aiptasia X can be found at most fish stores, and Peppermint shrimp can be ordered right here on this site. Don't mess with it until you are ready to kill it, stressing it will make it give off spores and it will spread faster.
skeez
Member
Originally Posted by Flower
http:///forum/post/3281644
They are a type of pest anemone, they sting coral to death and spread like fire through the tank. Joe's juice or Aiptasia X can be found at most fish stores, and Peppermint shrimp can be ordered right here on this site. Don't mess with it until you are ready to kill it, stressing it will make it give off spores and it will spread faster.
Thanks for that last piece of advice. I was about to smack it with a syphon because I found a new one. I will be going to buy some Joe's juice or Aiptasia X later on today.
http:///forum/post/3281644
They are a type of pest anemone, they sting coral to death and spread like fire through the tank. Joe's juice or Aiptasia X can be found at most fish stores, and Peppermint shrimp can be ordered right here on this site. Don't mess with it until you are ready to kill it, stressing it will make it give off spores and it will spread faster.
Thanks for that last piece of advice. I was about to smack it with a syphon because I found a new one. I will be going to buy some Joe's juice or Aiptasia X later on today.
flower
Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by Skeez
http:///forum/post/3282092
Thanks for that last piece of advice. I was about to smack it with a syphon because I found a new one. I will be going to buy some Joe's juice or Aiptasia X later on today.
...I did something right!
http:///forum/post/3282092
Thanks for that last piece of advice. I was about to smack it with a syphon because I found a new one. I will be going to buy some Joe's juice or Aiptasia X later on today.
speg
Active Member
Originally Posted by scrapman
http:///forum/post/3285532
I read somewhere that you can very simply make your homemade aiptasia killing potion.
Forgot what it was.
Anybody???
Thanks
I've used epoxy or superglue gel right over the little hole they come out of and that works great.
I've also heard that boiling water in a syringe applied to the base.
Also heard something about kalkwasser applied in a similiar way but don't know anything about these last two methods.
http:///forum/post/3285532
I read somewhere that you can very simply make your homemade aiptasia killing potion.
Forgot what it was.
Anybody???
Thanks
I've used epoxy or superglue gel right over the little hole they come out of and that works great.
I've also heard that boiling water in a syringe applied to the base.
Also heard something about kalkwasser applied in a similiar way but don't know anything about these last two methods.
hunt
Active Member
i keep trying aiptasia x and each time about 75% of the aiptasia keep coming back. I did it yesterday in the afternoon and left my tanks pumps and filters off for the rest of the day instead of 30 min so it will hopefully work better. but my overall experience with this product is not very good. Ive killed aiptasia with both lemon or lime juice, but be carefull because these will mess with you ph
J
jstdv8
Guest
How to kill aiptasia with pickling lime or kalkwasser mix
1.) Mix 1tablespoon and 1/2 teaspoon of Mrs. wages pickling lime with 1 1/2 Teaspoons of water to make a nice paste. The paste should not be running, but it also must be thin enough to get injected through the syringe.
2.) turn off powerheads and apply a layer of the paste to the oral disc of the aiptasia. Sometimes you can get them to think its food by teasing their tentacles a little and then injecting the paste onto the oral disc. If they suck back into their hole right away just cover the hole with the paste.
3.) wait 45 minutes to an hour
4.) suck out the paste and the aiptasia with a turkey baster and dispose of them.
If you don't get them in the baster with the first try repeat steps until you do. If you don't get it out of the hole it will just grow back which is where most of these type of application fail.
I bought 100 lbs. worth of live rock from a fellow reefer who was tearing down her tank. The rock was covered with aiptasia (estimating over 300). Some of the rocks also had some corals on them (mushrooms, green star polyps and Kenya trees)
I put the rock on a 55 gallon tank that I used as a holding area while I treated the rock before putting it into my display tank.
I mixed up a small batch of the lime paste and started injecting the aiptasia with the method used above.
I recommend doing only a few at a time as the paste can cause a PH spike in your tank if you do too much. Keep in mind Pickling lime and kalkwasser are similar products that are used for correcting alkalinity and calcium problems and can be used safely if in small doses.
Be sure to cover the whole face of the aiptasia with the paste to ensure that it cannot release its seed into the tank and make more aiptasia later. You also must get it out of the hole as even a small piece of aiptasia can grow into a whole one over time. Do it right the first time.
Other methods that work include Peppermint shrimp, Copper banded butterfly, joe's juice, aiptasia-x, vinegar, boiling water or just leaving the rock out in the open air for a couple of days(killing everything on it.)
Peppermint shrimp work well as long as they don't have a different food source they like better. It is also very important to get the correct shrimp as there is an imposter shrimp that doesn't feed on aiptasia that looks very similar. When you are buying the shrimp ask for L. wurdemanni. Do Not accept the shrimp if it is a L. californica.
Peppermints will also not attack a large aiptasia so these will have to be removed in another way. There is also no guarantee that the aiptasia will not release its seed into the water which they tend to do when in danger. This will cause more to pop up later.
The Copper banded butterfly's require an established tank to safely house one (preferably 6 months or longer). Some for whatever reason don't prefer aiptasia though (the upside here is that these ones are reef safe)
If you choose this method you risk the fish devouring other corals in your tank that you wanted to keep once it has eaten the aiptasia. And again, there is no guarantee that they won't release their seed into the water when attacked.
Aiptasia X is similar to the paste that I described above and it comes in a nifty little syringe with a straight and an angled head for getting at aiptasia in hard to reach places.
The downside here is the cost. At 20 dollars a tube it gets pretty costly, especially if you have a lot of aiptasia to treat. A jar of Mrs. Wages pickling lime costs about $4 at Wal-mart and you will have a lifetime supply.
Boiling water, vinegar and Joe's juice all have been known to work but as with most methods are very hit and miss. While one person says they had great success the next may say it didn't work at all.
Best of luck to you and good hunting!
1.) Mix 1tablespoon and 1/2 teaspoon of Mrs. wages pickling lime with 1 1/2 Teaspoons of water to make a nice paste. The paste should not be running, but it also must be thin enough to get injected through the syringe.
2.) turn off powerheads and apply a layer of the paste to the oral disc of the aiptasia. Sometimes you can get them to think its food by teasing their tentacles a little and then injecting the paste onto the oral disc. If they suck back into their hole right away just cover the hole with the paste.
3.) wait 45 minutes to an hour
4.) suck out the paste and the aiptasia with a turkey baster and dispose of them.
If you don't get them in the baster with the first try repeat steps until you do. If you don't get it out of the hole it will just grow back which is where most of these type of application fail.
I bought 100 lbs. worth of live rock from a fellow reefer who was tearing down her tank. The rock was covered with aiptasia (estimating over 300). Some of the rocks also had some corals on them (mushrooms, green star polyps and Kenya trees)
I put the rock on a 55 gallon tank that I used as a holding area while I treated the rock before putting it into my display tank.
I mixed up a small batch of the lime paste and started injecting the aiptasia with the method used above.
I recommend doing only a few at a time as the paste can cause a PH spike in your tank if you do too much. Keep in mind Pickling lime and kalkwasser are similar products that are used for correcting alkalinity and calcium problems and can be used safely if in small doses.
Be sure to cover the whole face of the aiptasia with the paste to ensure that it cannot release its seed into the tank and make more aiptasia later. You also must get it out of the hole as even a small piece of aiptasia can grow into a whole one over time. Do it right the first time.
Other methods that work include Peppermint shrimp, Copper banded butterfly, joe's juice, aiptasia-x, vinegar, boiling water or just leaving the rock out in the open air for a couple of days(killing everything on it.)
Peppermint shrimp work well as long as they don't have a different food source they like better. It is also very important to get the correct shrimp as there is an imposter shrimp that doesn't feed on aiptasia that looks very similar. When you are buying the shrimp ask for L. wurdemanni. Do Not accept the shrimp if it is a L. californica.
Peppermints will also not attack a large aiptasia so these will have to be removed in another way. There is also no guarantee that the aiptasia will not release its seed into the water which they tend to do when in danger. This will cause more to pop up later.
The Copper banded butterfly's require an established tank to safely house one (preferably 6 months or longer). Some for whatever reason don't prefer aiptasia though (the upside here is that these ones are reef safe)
If you choose this method you risk the fish devouring other corals in your tank that you wanted to keep once it has eaten the aiptasia. And again, there is no guarantee that they won't release their seed into the water when attacked.
Aiptasia X is similar to the paste that I described above and it comes in a nifty little syringe with a straight and an angled head for getting at aiptasia in hard to reach places.
The downside here is the cost. At 20 dollars a tube it gets pretty costly, especially if you have a lot of aiptasia to treat. A jar of Mrs. Wages pickling lime costs about $4 at Wal-mart and you will have a lifetime supply.
Boiling water, vinegar and Joe's juice all have been known to work but as with most methods are very hit and miss. While one person says they had great success the next may say it didn't work at all.
Best of luck to you and good hunting!
ibanez
Member
Originally Posted by Hunt
http:///forum/post/3285573
i keep trying aiptasia x and each time about 75% of the aiptasia keep coming back. I did it yesterday in the afternoon and left my tanks pumps and filters off for the rest of the day instead of 30 min so it will hopefully work better. but my overall experience with this product is not very good. Ive killed aiptasia with both lemon or lime juice, but be carefull because these will mess with you ph
How did you keep your water from going stagnate?
http:///forum/post/3285573
i keep trying aiptasia x and each time about 75% of the aiptasia keep coming back. I did it yesterday in the afternoon and left my tanks pumps and filters off for the rest of the day instead of 30 min so it will hopefully work better. but my overall experience with this product is not very good. Ive killed aiptasia with both lemon or lime juice, but be carefull because these will mess with you ph
How did you keep your water from going stagnate?
hunt
Active Member
Originally Posted by IbanEz
http:///forum/post/3285651
How did you keep your water from going stagnate?
Well, i was only going to leave it off for an hour or two but i got distracted and forgot for about 6-7 hours. But the water did go stagnate. everything is back to normal now and so far i havnt seen any aiptasia.
What could go wrong if the water is stagnate for too long?
http:///forum/post/3285651
How did you keep your water from going stagnate?
Well, i was only going to leave it off for an hour or two but i got distracted and forgot for about 6-7 hours. But the water did go stagnate. everything is back to normal now and so far i havnt seen any aiptasia.
What could go wrong if the water is stagnate for too long?
J
jstdv8
Guest
What did you decide on for an aip killer? any luck?