aptasia question

[dudeman]

so i got a zoa frag a few days ago, and its got some aptasia on it. will it help if i just pull them off before they take over, or is there something i have to do to get rid of them. theres only 3 but the zoas havent been opening all the way because of them

 

[jag3534]

oh man, there's a huge amount of stuff out there about these guys. if you pull em off theyll reproduce more where they are. Theres a couple different things thatll get em. Peppermint shrimp eat them, copper banded butterflys; raccoons i think? Or you can squirt kalk paste in their mouths. myteemouse, just covers em in kalk paste, or squirts em with boiling water- thats worked for him. or lemon juice.
But yes you definetly want to get rid of them in there, because they will spread like crazy! we had 1 tiny one, now three months later we have around 13. our fish attacked the peppermint we added. we're thinking we'll try the kalk next!

 

[dudeman]

yea i might have to try that. when we got the zoa rock a few days ago it had like 1 or 2, now theres 4 or 5

 

[Sascha D]

You only have 3 aiptasia right? Forget the comment about buying fish and shrimp to tackle the problem. Go to the drug store, buy an insulin needle or one of the syringes you use to give babies medicine and squirt them with hot boiling water. Make sure you dont get any on the surrounding polyps though.

I prefer the insulin needle for more accuracy.

 

[mfinn]

Don't use a butterfly fish to go after aptasia in a zoanthid colony. They have a tendency to eat zoanthids.
I like to use a kalk paste. Take 2 teaspoons of kalkwasser powder and 2 tablespoons of water, nuke for 40 seconds. To use kalk paste you need a bigger needle than the insulin needle. You can get the bigger ones at most feed stores that sell horse supplies.
Most pharmacies in my area require a prescription to get insulin needles.

 

[dudeman]

well my problem is cured! i moved the zoa colony close to where the peppermint shrimp hangs out, and the next morning all the aptasia was gone. sweet deal!!!

 

[tri_pod_rod]

awesome, i on the other hand have aptasia like crazy my dwarf lion eats peppermints evil lil bastard

 

[dudeman]

lol that sucks