Aiptasia Control
I have noticed a number of posters touting the benefit of Aiptasia X by Red Sea. I read some things about this method that I thought I would share. I have done way to much reading on Aiptasia and will share a little of what I have gleaned so far. I am no expert and if I misspeak please don’t hesitate to correct me.
First and foremost I have learned that all methods have their pros and cons, and what works GREAT for one person doesn’t work at all for another. Also, opinions differ and while one person may post that a particular method works, someone else will tell you all the reasons not to use it. Keeping this in mind, here is what I have learned so far.
Natural predators:
Copperband or Racoon Butterflyfish: They may or may not eat the aips and some people have issues with them nibbling at corals.
Peppermint Shrimp: First only true peppermints will eat aips, and there appears to be a problem with some e-sellers selling camelbacks or other shrimp as peppermints. Peppermints will usually not go after truly large Aips, only the smaller ones. They also don’t play well with Coral Banded shrimp.
Nudibranchs, Berghia verrucicornis: Results with Nudis may not be instantaneous and reports that they do not like systems with high flow, but in general seem to be effective with few drawbacks. Cons are they are expensive and seeing as they only eat Aips, they will die once all the Aiptasia are gone. New live rock with new Aip spores will result in having to reintroduce new Nudis. Using all three of the above at once is not recommended as peppermint shrimp will eat Nudibranchs.
Other predators reported to eat Aiptasia include puffers, Queen angels, and hermits but evidence is sketchy for these.
Chemical means:
Kalk paste, Sodium Hydroxide, Joes Juice, Aiptasia-X, lemon juice, boiling water, and others. These are generally applied with a pipette or syringe and either released into the face of the Aip or injected into the stem. Good luck injecting, lol. All of these methods have their proponents, people will swear that they work great, but they also have their downsides. Most of these destroy the Oral Disc and body column but will not completely eliminate the pedal disc. The problem is that when attacked in this manner they will immediately release spores which float away and become many more Aiptasia. There are also reports that using this method is harmful to other corals nearby, and it can be hard to reach in nooks and crannies of the tank.
Control:
Keep water parameters good, phosphates low, QT everything before placing in DT including LR. Some people use an Aiptasia tank, a separate tank to move LR to while it is being treated for Aiptasia. As a last resort, take the rock out and nuke it. Bleach and a few weeks sitting in the sun will eliminate all your Aiptasia worries lol.
Bottom line is that it appears to be a matter of preference and what may work well for you may not for others. If at first you don’t succeed drop back, punt, and try another method, just give method 1 time to work before calling it quits. Good Luck and happy Reefing
