New ways of dealing with Aiptasia?

Cherub

Hey you
M.A.S.C Club Member
#1
Hello, I've been out of the hobby for a while. I am considering getting back in but am just wondering if there have been any advancements in the battle against aiptasia? It's such a huge turn off blah! Makes me nervous to start a tank. Thanks
 

static reef

SCMAS Board Members
S.C.M.A.S BOD
#2
Quarintine everything including corals and "used" CUC (I had one on the back of a trichus from a hobbiest).

If that doesnt work, I found that this works well with no flow in your tank for an hour and a direct injection to the mouth in a thick paste.

 

TheRealChrisBrown

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
ex-officio
#4
People have tried aiptasia lasers, but I believe the success is rather limited. I used the Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime to knock them down a bit and then a copperband to cleanup.
 

jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#5
Peppermints from the Florida Keys will still destroy them.

Mated Filefish will also consume them. ...and maybe some other softies if you don't feed them enough.
 

SynDen

Administrator
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#6
OOO Gabe's got the itch...only a matter of time now..mwahahaha

I've tried just about everything on apstasia too, and the only one that worked solidly for me, was the filefish. He destroyed the infestation I had in about a week or two. He did start picking at my lps some, so he went in the sump, where he is the only resident and eventually will go in the new mangrove tank once its up and running.
 

Cherub

Hey you
M.A.S.C Club Member
#7
SynDen;n669545 said:
OOO Gabe's got the itch...only a matter of time now..mwahahaha

I've tried just about everything on apstasia too, and the only one that worked solidly for me, was the filefish. He destroyed the infestation I had in about a week or two. He did start picking at my lps some, so he went in the sump, where he is the only resident and eventually will go in the new mangrove tank once its up and running.
I do have the itch! lol I moved a month ago and am getting settled into the new house now. I'm spying areas where an aquarium would fit nicely lol
 

projectx

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#8
Its like a black hole,sucks you back in.
I had a problem with aptasia, thew 3 or 4 peps into my 60 gallon cube, They cleaned them out in a short period of time

Welcome back
 

Cherub

Hey you
M.A.S.C Club Member
#9
projectx;n669695 said:
Its like a black hole,sucks you back in.
I had a problem with aptasia, thew 3 or 4 peps into my 60 gallon cube, They cleaned them out in a short period of time

Welcome back
thanks Mr! I guess I will start a build soon. As soon as I get a tank anyway. I'm going to buy everything new to avoid problems
 
#10
Gabe,
I also have the itch, but haven't made the jump yet. I never had an aiptasia problem... actually only ever had 1 or 2 in the 4yrs that I was active.

#1 - QT tank. 5g with a cheap HOB filter. This is biological filtration only. Rinse gunk off the pad in salt water (from a water change) and stuff it back into the HOB filter.

#2 - I always bought dry rock. NEVER buy used rock from a fellow hobbyist UNLESS you plan to dry it out for a year, in the sunlight, and then scrub all the organics off and start fresh. Not worth it, so buy new dry rocks and be patient.

#3 - Dip!! I never got much of a thrill out of fish, so my main interest was corals. I had fish, but not many. Ant time I purchased frags from other poeple or pet stores, I always busted them off the rocks or frag plugs - throw that stuff away. Lugols dip the new frags immediately and drop into QT tank. Let them sit in there until they look healthy. Watch for hitchhikers.

#4 - Aiptasia sighting on rocks in your display tank? Remove rock/critter/shell from tank. Remove any corals and place them in QT tank for observation. If it's attached to a rock (shouldn't be if you followed steps 1-3 above) get a hammer, a few small masonry drill bits 1/8" - 1/4" - 3/8" and a small 1/4" wide chisel. Chisel the aiptasia off the rock at the foot. Take a big ole chunk outta the rock. Make sure you drill, chisel, hammer and gouge into that rock until you're absolutely sure the entire foot and "root" is gone.

Rinse in plenty of tap water or RO water during the process. Dry it off a bit.

Get some superglue and fill the hole you made in the rock. Might take a few layers. Put some in and let it dry for 5 minutes. Put some more in and let it dry. You can buy "accelerator" for this type of glue at Hobby Town. They call is CA (see-ayy) glue. You want CA Accelerator. It cures the glue pretty much instantly. Or.. give it 5 minutes and it'll cure on it's own. Fill the entire hole or divet with CA glue.

Toss it into a curing bucket for a couple months. Helps if you can cure it in a small rubber maid trashcan with a powerhead and a heater. Don't want to contaminate any other rocks you may be curing in a larger tote or container, so try to cure it alone if possible.

I know a bunch of people reading this are going to say I took extreme measures to get rid of a couple aiptasia. You could just toss it and buyy a new rock. That's super easy. My method WAS Extreme. It was labor intensive, and I was cussing and swearing the whole time. :twitch: But It worked and I can honestly say I never sold anybody a frag or coral with a parasite or nasty hitch hiker.
 
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