Aiptasia Anemone removal question

[tkmak]

1 month old new reef setup with 3yr old, 80lbs of Indo live rock. Got everything assembled and in - system has been running relatively well. Been examining all the hitchhikers and critters that have come along for the ride. Posted a string about bristleworms, but have decided to follow the consensus of leaving them alone.

I do have one other hitchhiker that I am worried about - my opinion based on its appearance compared to online pics - Aiptasia Anemone. Got one that seems to move around a bit, about 1.5" across. Its moved around a bit, but from where I orig found it in the aquarium to where I saw it last - very very inacessable.

I recently lost for unknown reasons - a Sandsifter Goby who seemed incredibly healthy - ate really well, no signs of disease, and one day, just dead. My chem levels have been good, had an outbreak of brown algae that has since gone (posted in the reef chem forum). The Aiptasia is on/near the sand floor and therefore thinking maybe the thing was stung...

Any recommendations on how to rid this pest? Do I need to?

 

[warforged]

Ive never heard of a single Aptasia taking out a fish..

The problems Ive been told about Aptasia is they grow like weeds and end up stinging your corals.

Joes Juice is a white milky Aptasia killer ive used...inject that stuff in the mouth and its insta death.....the thing is I would turn off all your flow making stuff durring the injection...its heavy vs water so it sinks...you want it to go right in the mouth of it.

Its the Round Up for aptasia =)

Another forum member I spoke to said she uses a syringe you can get at feed stores or medical supply...injects scolding hot water directly into the body...

Fish death is hard to explain sometimes... 1 month old reef tank is still very new system.

And you will go through what I am just now passing through for a 3rd tank time....

Maybe an amonia spike + Stress caused his death.... i can't tell you what really killed him. I can only speculate.

Did you acclimate him in slowly?
Did you test the water before he went in? And after?

But to your main issue with Aptasia. Joes Juice is a good product.

warning: Do not try to scrape or rub the thing off the rock...it will cause it to spread fast.


Check this section out for more info:
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84

 

[tkmak]

I've kept aquariums for many many years. I select fish v. carefully, know what to look for as far as disease and whatnot, acclimated him very slowly, both water qualities were the same at introduction and he just seemed Happy for the first week or so. The rock is over 3 yrs old, no ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate spikes. (had .2 phosphate for a little while and got a brown algae bloom), temp was a bit high at 85 for a day or 2 until a chiller was introduced.

I have never dealt with Aptasia before, it hangs in a simlar area as the goby did - just curious about possible interactions.

I have read about Joe's Juice and boiling water, and know about not physically removing them (as it causes the remnants to multiply), but where it hangs out, it is truly inacessible. I am right now thinking of peppermint shrimp, but worried about its interactions with future tank inverts that I want to eventually add.

 

[warforged]

Cool...just sharing data I've gathered on things. And since I dont know your depth of knowledge just covering bases on some things here. Not trying to sound like im talking down to you. I also just try to consider outside readers to the thread using it as a source of info when I reply. Hopefully I didn't come off arrogant.

Peppermint Shrimp I know have a reputation of taking them out. I personally have not seen my shrimp nail one yet...but I have also been fast on the draw to use Joe's Juice soon as I find an intruder on a new rock.

For all I know the Peppermint has kept ones I have not seen in check.

The forums area I linked speaks of Peppermint shrimp in the Aptasia Faq.... it gives you info on what corals they tend to munch on.....

The situation of not being able to reach it kind of forces you to try the peppy route =\.

Your concern of the peppermint shrimps interactions with other inverts can be subdued ...they are nice shrimp... unless your a soft coral that looks delicious =p. Ive never seen them act mean to other things in my tank ever...they are shy and laid back dudes.

I particularly like the cleaner shrimp ...my goby flips over on his side as the shrimp gives him a full body massage =) well in actuality a cleaning^^.

 

[tkmak]

Warforged,

Nah, you didn't come off arrogant, actually reading my response, my response may have been a little abrupt. Sometimes, writing a response comes off different than how it sounds... Sorry if I offended.

I think I may go the shrimp route, unless I hear a better option. Since you have had a good experience w/ them playing nice in the tank, it doen't seem like I can do better providing they do their job at aptasia control.

Thanks for the input - I appreciate it!

 

[Maxx]

tkmak,
I've had to deal w/ aptasia in two tanks. In each case, they started out with a single anemone and became several in short order. With the first one, I tried the boiling water deal. Wound up with ALOT of little ones and one larger one. First I tried 2 peppermint shrimp for my 58 gallon tank. They were completely uninterested in the numerous aptasia in the tank.

After that I used Berghia Nudibranchs. I bought 4 adults. They did a good job, but were in a tank w/ high flow and probably 70 aptasia or so. They take awhile to be effective, but they are guarenteed to eat aptasia, since thats all they will eat.

I used the Berghia to take care of all the aptasia on the rockwork, and then transferred the rockwork over to my new 120. Of course, I missed one.

For this one I used Joes Juice. I went from 1, to 5 aptasia. This is also a high flow tank but the aptasia were scattered throughout the tank, making it difficult for the Berghia to be able to get to all of them before they starved to death. So I decided to give the Peppermint shrimp another try. This time I tried 4 for the 120. I lost one shortly after getting it into the tank, leaving me with 3. Of the remaining three, at least one of them is quite happy eating aptasia, cause the 5 scattered throughout the tank disappeared within a week of the shrimp being introduced.

I have a small Ritteri anemone in the tank (about 7-8 inches in diameter) that is hosting a mated pair of Percula clowns. The clowns could quite easily be defending the anemone from the shrimp....but in any event, they have not bothered the Ritteri.

I would stay away from Joes Juice and would suggest either Berghia Nudis or going with a number of Peppermint shrimp, (at least 4). That way you have a better chance of getting one that will eat aptasia.

Are you sure its aptasia? 1.5 inches is awful large for them. Can you post a pic?

Nick

 

[tkmak]

Thanks Maxx, I like your thinking - two pronged approach. I, too, have heard that some Peppermint Shrimp will not tackle the Aiptasia.

I tried to get a good photo to post, however, as I stated, the Aiptasia is in a very, very, truly, truly inaccessible area and I could not shoot off a good photo. I have a 30" deep aquarium. Like just about anybody, created a couple arches with my rock. Of course, the bugger placed itself towards the back of the deepest arch, near the back of the aquarium. I would truly have to dismantle EVERYTHING to get to him manually.

You asked if I was sure it was Aiptasia - I guess the answer is NO. I looked at photos of them. Its not striped like I see some, but it has the overall appearance of one. It's brown, kinda like a light brown Jellylike color, has long slender tentacles, and is light Sensitive. I first saw it when the rock was in a tub in the garage, opened fully directly at the light source. then it disappeared. Saw it last at night when hunting for bristleworms. At that time, actually shrank back after directing the lightbeam at it. Not a placed organism, definitely a hitchhiker off the rock.

I will look into the Bhergia Nudi's. How reef and Invert friendly are they? How hard are they to care for, and after it goes after my one Aiptasia (probable), how can I sustain it?

Thanks for the input! I really appreciate it!

 

[reeftank1]

Reeftopia peppermints cleaned my 300 within a week. I had 30+ apt. and can't find one for weeks.

 

[Maxx]

www.saltyunderground.com


All the info you need regarding Berghia's....

Nick

 

[Tieg]

This was mentioned by 2 LFS as well as I googled a bit to. Has anyone here tried introducing a Copper Banded Butterfly fish into a tank?

So far the only downfall is all they eat is Aiptasia and that once the food supply dwindles they may starve to death like Berghia's do unless you are lucky enough to get it to eat frozen food.

My plan would be to use it to clear out the tank and if it won't eat anything else then to advertise it on the website for sale, trade, or even rent

Any thoughts or opinions?

 

[RockyHeap]

joes juice all the way....

 

[returnofsid]

Copper Banded Butterfly are not an obligate aiptaisa feeder, meaning they will eat other things. Problem is that sometimes, the other things they eat are your corals. Some CB Butterflies are hard to get eating...some are easy. It's really hit and miss.

Peppermint Shrimp are hit and miss when it comes to aiptaisa control as well. What future inverts are you considering that could possibly be a problem with peppermint shrimp?

If the pest anemone is in an area that you truly cannot get to, you may have to dismantle your rock work in order to rid the tank of it. It is true that it will soon multiply into more. Better to remove it sooner rather than later.

Oh and I VERY HIGHLY doubt that it had anything to do with your fish loss. In all the studies I've done on them, I've NEVER heard of a fish loss being attributed to them.

 

[Maxx]

joes juice all the way....

Yeah, I thought so to.....went from 1 to 50.....

Wont be doing that again....

Nick

 

[mattleycrue76]

I have used peppermint shrimp successfully but it seem like they'll only eat the small ones so For me the best aproach it to nuke the big ones with kalk paste and then use peppermints to control the possible outbreak of small ones. So far so good (knocks on wood)

 

[evansbr]

I used peppermints also... started with a whole lot of 'em. added like 6 peppermints and I never saw them actually eat one. They seem real active at night and dont really see them during the day. Just a nice gradual reduction in aptasia, then one day....... no more aptasia, and haven't seen one in the tank in ..... couple years probably.

 

[mattleycrue76]

Yeah I never actually saw them eat one either. But since at the time the only thing in the tank was rock with aiptaisia and peppermints I don't hesitate to make the connection. They must be doing it at night.