aiptasia

hello everyone i have a 20lb live rock that i have removed from my reef tank and put into quarentine ive benn killing every aiptasia i can see and got all the big ones but still have many small ones ive tried just about everything:
copperband butterfly: ate the food i put in for my other fish.
peppermint shrim: didnt see any difference.
the tiney nudibranch:didnt do anything i think its too small.
chemicals: cant get the small guys.
please help. is there anything i can just run through the system theres no coral or anything just the rock.???

 

As sad as this might sound. In my experience and opinion... Aiptasia will never go away. There are different types of Aiptasia, some can be almost impossible to see. They are great survivors in the worst conditions.

I did the same as you. I put around 15 pounds into a quarantine tank and tried all the methods below.

I know many will disagree with me, but instead of trying to save the LR... I nuke it if the aiptasia infestation is really bad (hiding in holes you cant get to, small enough that you cant see them, or that they are transparent so you cant see them). I've tried everything and read pages and pages on forums, asked lfs and forums.

-blackout (did not work at all, i put the LR in a sealed bucket with no light for 1 month)
-boiled water and syringe (Kills the aiptasia but they always come back with more)
-Pepperments (works, but peppermints dont always go back to the rocks they cleaned. and not all pepperments will eat aiptasia)
-boiled vinegar and syringe(same as boiled water)
-aiptasia x and syringe(works, but not as well as many say. aiptasia comes back stronger. overall i wasted 30 dollars in 3 bottles of this stuff. works the same as boiled water imo)
-copperband butterfly (same results as the pepperments)
-burning them with a lighter (i cant even see them out of the water)
-burning knife and stabing them (didnt work so well)
-Pouring boiling on infected areas (just kills the rock and they survive in holes)

Nuking= all gone
but try all the methods above before deciding to nuke. The cheapest and best killer is the boiled water and syringe.
If you nuke please cure the rock before putting it back. cure for a long time(months).
be aware that nuking lr makes it not live anymore.

I haven't tried an aiptasia zapper yet thou.

 

a turkey baster with boiling hot water does the trick for me..it instantly melt the aptasia..ive never had one come back after it met a blast of 200something degree water..

 

I guess I've been exceedingly lucky with aiptasia. In my last tank I had no peppermints or cbb and had no issues with it in my display. My fuge was infested, but display clear.

Now that I've moved and am setting up a new tank I'm hoping my good fortune continues. My rock has been in a barrel for about a year so I'm pretty sure it's just bacteria at this point.

 

lime water

I know a reefer that buys lime mixes it in water then uses a syringe to direct the lime water on them. Haven't seen any in his tank, but its a tedious process hunting them all down.

 

I got lucky and mine was on a same enough piece of rock that I removed it and soaked it in straight vinger and then sent the rock out to dry which has been out of the tank for a month or so now.

 

Wow! Aptasiax has always done the trick for me!

 

I make my own Kalk paste. worked every time.

BUT, you have to see them and reach them to apply.

 

The lighter doesn't work so well but the torch lighters always worked for me. I would blast until it was smoking hot death. Another trick to consider before nuking it.

 

are the peppermint shrimp tank raised?my LFS had a aptasia problem but uses wild caught ones! they eat it!