Aiptasia Invasion

Hey Everyone!

So I've had my reef tank running for over two years now with no big issues, however I now have a Aiptasia problem. I noticed them appearing in my weir over the past few weeks and have now spread into my tank. I have tried adding natural predators (2x Copperband Butterflys) with no success and Im afraid it is beyond squirting each one; they're everywhere. With no real choices left, Im thinking about flushing the whole system and starting again but have a few questions.

In terms of the live rock, how can I clean and rid it of the aiptasia so I can use it again when i restart the system? Boiling fresh water? bleach?

Should I flush the old sand and replace it with new stuff?

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Breed

 

I just bought a coral this weekend, and it had an Aptasia that I did not see until I got home. I had heard that Lemon juice would kill them, so I got a real lemon and squeezed the juice out. Sucked it up in a small syringe, and put the tip right in the mouth. I gave it a good dose, and it literally exploded into a kabillon pieces...It was cool!!!! I mean completely gone. not a sign of it on the rock. I think if you do a few a night, you would eventually win the battle!

 

Don't kill the system until you try peppermint shrimp. I have had problems with those little things a few times and peppermint shrimp have worked every time. How big is your tank? Also, you don't have two copper bands in your tank do you?

 

How about the aptasia eating nudibranches from one of our sponsors. Seems like a cheap and effective solution.

 

I agree... Dont give up yet! We had some in our tank as well but we used some of our supperbuffer mixed with water in a syringe and it just burnt the little suckers ;D... It worked out well..

 

The only issue I had with the peppermint shrimp is that I have a picasso trigger and im not sure he will agree with me about them not being food lol! Plus they are throughout my filtration system. My tank is 75g and no the second one was put in after the first had passed away.

With the juice, there are quite a few that are in awkward positions and im not able to get anywhere near them (including those in the filter system).

In regards to the nudibranches, im in Sydney and haven't seen any LFS who sells them. Also the issue again is with the Aiptasia in the filter system.

 

I'm starting to agree with you now that you explain a little more. I know where your coming from. When they get fully infested there really is no way to get juice to every last one. I also have them living in my filters which I don't mind, because I have peppermints. Boiling water on the rock should do just fine. I have another plan that might be easier for you though. If you have another tank you are planning on putting the fish in while you redo the system just replace your water with freshwater for about a week. This way you don't have to take out any rock or tear apart any filters. This way you will also know none got missed.

 

I feel your pain! I have an infestation myself. It is so bad now that they are coming out of my overflow drain, on my glass and even coming out the sand!

I have a 135g tank and I just bought 20 peppermint shrimp. I too fear that my hawkfish will eat a great majority of them..but it is worth the risk IMO. I am also treating a bunch a night that are visable with kalk injected directly into the mouth of the aptasia with a syringe.

I am looking into the berghai nudi. They are supposed to do a fantastic job with eating them, however I have a high flow in my tank and fear tehy will not do well.

You might want to look into a combination of methods....injecting the ones you see a little at a time, a bunch of peppermint shrimp (place a few in your sump area and some in tank), another healthy copperbanded butterfly (I cant find any place where I live....including the store I work at, that sells healthy copperbands) and a few berghai. Salty Underground is who sells them and they might be able to ship to Sydney. They are expensive investment but might be a way to go?

Good luck