removing glass anemones? how?

[richarl5]

OK, unfortunately I bought these nice zoo frags that came with a glass anemone

I want to remove it, but it's foot is in a deep hole that it retracts into whenever I try to inject boiling water into it's mouth (plus there are nice looking polyps right next to it that I would like to not squirt).
1. How do I get the anemone to put the squirter in it's mouth?
2. Is there another option?
I definitely do NOT want these little pests to take over my tank!
-Lisa

 

[deadmanschest]

try sucking it up with a turkey baister(spelling?).

 

[fbm]

I didn't think rock anenomes were pests?

 

[armandoc]

In my reading on different posts on the web, I have seen where they have recommended using a stainless steel syringe (the type you use to inject your favorite meats with). Different recommended solutions have been from lemon juice (acidic) to ammonia. Boiling water seems to be a safer alternative if you think about it. I would stick the syringe in as deep as it will go and then squirt slowly. I would repeat this maybe 2 or 3 times during the course of a week to see if it helps.
Let me know your results as I have 1 glass anemone right now that is not in any danger of making an aggressive takeover on anything, so it's ok for now.

 

[richarl5]

Originally Posted by fbm
I didn't think rock anenomes were pests?

Not rock anemones, anemones that come on live rocks that are pests: glass/aiptsia (don't know the correct spelling/probably butchered that word, all I know is that those letters are in the word..lol) anemones.
Here's mine...

 

[reefkprz]

I use a small animal feeding syringe half full of lemon juice (100% pure), squirt a quarter of it onto the anemone so it shrinks then pull out on the plunger sucking the body of the anemone into the tip of the feeding syringe so it gets a full bath in lemonjuice, I wait about a minute then scrape the tip around a little while pulling out on the plunger to remove the body of the anemone.The full on bath helps ensure that any pieces that break loose while removing the pest wont reproduce/regrow. I had some hitchike in on some anthelia and a brain and this has worked for me both times I have needed to do it.
Those are really nice Zoas by the way.

 

[richarl5]

Originally Posted by reefkprZ
I use a small animal feeding syringe half full of lemon juice (100% pure), squirt a quarter of it onto the anemone so it shrinks then pull out on the plunger sucking the body of the anemone into the tip of the feeding syringe so it gets a full bath in lemonjuice, I wait about a minute then scrape the tip around a little while pulling out on the plunger to remove the body of the anemone.The full on bath helps ensure that any pieces that break loose while removing the pest wont reproduce/regrow. I had some hitchike in on some anthelia and a brain and this has worked for me both times I have needed to do it.
Those are really nice Zoas by the way.

Thanks! And thanks for the tip, I will definitely try that..

 

[ninjamini]

Do you really want to introduce lemon to your tank.
Here is what I have done and it works great. Get some kalasswasser (sp) and make a thick paste. As thick as you can and still be able to suck it up with a eye dropper. Get a plastic eye dropper. They come in a lot of test kits. When the pest is extended stick that eye dropper filled with the really thick paste onto its mouth. It will close over the dropper and squeeze. You want to basically mortar the pest with the paste.
Now here is the real trick. This will make a mess in the tank. So have fresh salt water ready, an empty bucket and a length of air line hose. As soon as you mortar the bugger start the suction on the airline hose and start sucking, like a vacuum, the little pieces of calcium. that will float every where and get on everything. Suck them out. The airline hose makes this easy.
Do a big water change. I had a good 30 or so corn anemones and this method worked great. Then get a peppermint shrimp who will eat any babies.

 

[alyssia]

Originally Posted by deadmanschest
try sucking it up with a turkey baister(spelling?).

Trying to manually remove them will cause them to spread.

 

[alyssia]

Originally Posted by ninjamini
Do you really want to introduce lemon to your tank.
Here is what I have done and it works great. Get some kalasswasser (sp) and make a thick paste. As thick as you can and still be able to suck it up with a eye dropper. Get a plastic eye dropper. They come in a lot of test kits. When the pest is extended stick that eye dropper filled with the really thick paste onto its mouth. It will close over the dropper and squeeze. You want to basically mortar the pest with the paste.
Now here is the real trick. This will make a mess in the tank. So have fresh salt water ready, an empty bucket and a length of air line hose. As soon as you mortar the bugger start the suction on the airline hose and start sucking, like a vacuum, the little pieces of calcium. that will float every where and get on everything. Suck them out. The airline hose makes this easy.
Do a big water change. I had a good 30 or so corn anemones and this method worked great. Then get a peppermint shrimp who will eat any babies.
Not all pepps eat aiptasia though. Mine don't.

 

[ninjamini]

Originally Posted by alyssia
Not all pepps eat aiptasia though. Mine don't.

They only touch the small ones. You will have to put kalasswasser on the bigger ones. If there big enough to see then kalasswasser them. It will take several applications to get them all. Heck sometimes they move from under a rock. Sometimes you miss them.

 

[cocoboy821]

i bought pepps to get rid of mine but they didnt even look at them once

my dad bought some joe's juice, and even tho we are still fightin a battle against them, it's definitely working. it will leave a white little powder on where it is (we had them on our buttons & squirting it on them didnt bug the buttons) and the water flow slowin clears it away

 

[catawaba]

I used the kalk trick too. Got a big syringe/needle from work and those lil suckers are history!

 

[freejury]

I've had a lot of luck with a product called "Joe's Juice" dont know if they sell it here or not, and my peppermint shrimp love these little buggers. They keep my 100G Aptasia free. The lemon juice idea sounds like a winner too.

 

[wilsonreef]

I still use the boiling hot water thing works great and costs little. You don't have to squirt the water into its mouth, when it retracts just keep pushing the boiling water into the hole it went in. This works really good and doesn't put anything bad into your aquarium.

 

[taz_12777]

Hot water trick just like wilsonreef said. worked for me every time with no problems.Once it is dead you can suck it out with either the syringe or a baster.