How do I get rid of Aiptasia

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I'm in agreement with DonW here. Using animals as a remedy for nuisance anemones is probably not the best way to go. Syringes with plastic tips work best IMO. No metal. Kalk paste works well also because it's readily available, cheap and easy to use and you're probably dosing with it anyways.

Mix very thick, about one table spoon per 4 OZ or less of water mix well with syringe prior to each application. When the kalkwasser paste comes out let it slowly drip into the anemones mouth. It will retract and eat it, killing it without having to inject it, which can cause exploding tissue to spread to other areas of the tank. If it doesn't completely retract while holding onto the paste give a little nudge and it will ingest it completely. If it doesn't ingest completely it'll just burn the tentacles off and come back..
 
why buy a peppermint shrimp if you think there is a chance of him getting eaten? That is not what they are for. I use a shrimp because I like having him around as a general tank inhabitant. I would follow don's and reeferdudes advice unless you want to change your setup to shrimp friendly and try to find one that works.

Tim
 
we also use kalk paste....u just get the needle out of the box,inject it with the paste,and then squirt it on em...it melts them right away.......you can get them at your local saltwater fish store...and it comes with the needle
 
Arrow Crabs....will eat aptasia, Brisstle and flat worms....These crabs are reef safe....
 
i had them real bad once... a copperband butterfly destroyed them quickly. he mowed them all down in a week or two. unfortunately, then he decided to eat the scallop...and the clam. oh well. he's still pretty.

i tried the pepermint shrimp... twice. both times there was apparently some sort of war between them and the cleaner shrimp. there were no survivors either time. so i would go with the butterfly, just know that he may nip at or eat other inverts.
 
I had a few on a new piece of lr so i bought a peppermint shrimp. It took about a week but the shrimp rid my tank of all of them. Haven't had any since.
 
i have a plauge...like 40% of my surface of rock!~!!! i have 3 pepperment shrimp and got a copperband butterfly fish today so we'll see. i'll call the lfs and get a arrow crab tomorrow.
 
i have a plauge...like 40% of my surface of rock!~!!! i have 3 pepperment shrimp and got a copperband butterfly fish today so we'll see. i'll call the lfs and get a arrow crab tomorrow.

Careful on the CBB, he may or may not eat the aiptasia and after they are gone he may or may not eat anything but aiptasia hehe. Arrow crab are cool but they need a big tank and I have heard of them eatting small fish at night.

I've used peppermint shrimp, but I noticed they dont eat the big ones. Mine ate all the little ones and then disappeared for 8 months, only to show up one night like 3 times bigger.

The best thing I've used is kinda bad for your tank depending on the volume. I used alittle Rid Ich, injected into the head with an insulin needle. Its deadly for inverts, scaleless fish and corals, but you dont use enough to make a difference anyway.
 
he is eating good... made sure before i got him. he is doing good. has already ate shrimp from me and is pecking the rocks. yea i think i'm gonna skip out on the arrow crab.
 

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