What I Did to Beat Aptasia

[erikharrison]

I had a few pieces of aptasia in my tank, hopefully there are none left!

This is what I did to treat the problem...
I used a small kids syringe for giving them medicine (the non-needle type syringe) and filled it with lime from a squeeze bottle which I had in my fridge. I forced it into the aptasia's mouth and depressed the syringe, releasing the lime right into it.
That took care of alot of it....
The rest, I just used kalk paste and buried the remainder that I could not inject. Again I used the medicine syringe to do this.

It's been about a week and I have yet to see a recurrence.
:)

[jessinator752]

did you put the lime in your tank or did you take the rock out into a qt? i've been trying everything for aptasia and i still have it really bad. i get rid of it for a few days then i start to see it come back. i've tried the aptasia control, kalk, lemon juice, someone said to burn them, and yet they keep coming back. do peppermint shrimp really help control it? i have a 29 gal so most of the fish are out for me.

[erikharrison]

I did burn some with success. I did not have alot, so I used the LW in the tank.

[tony]

do peppermint shrimp really help control it?

mine didnt

i got a raccoon butterfly that eradicated mine but ive also heard that is hit or miss

[mattymalcolm]

I put 4 peppermint shrimp in one tank that had aptasia everywhere and they knocked out the problem completely. I also have another tank that has like three or four peppermint shrimp in it that has three aptasias and they wont touch them. So peppermint shrimp do work but it depends on the individual peppermint shrimp and how much other food they have to eat atleast in my expierences.

[erikharrison]

I would probably bet that it also has to do with the size of the aptasia in relation to the shrimp. I can't put in any shrimp as it quickly becomes food for fishies. :)

[caferacermike]

I found that just doing a good job of injecting Kalk paste directly into the mouth or cover the anemones works wonders. I've read horror stories of using citric acid as it can cuause your PH to crash if you are not careful.

[erikharrison]

I found that just doing a good job of injecting Kalk paste directly into the mouth or cover the anemones works wonders. I've read horror stories of using citric acid as it can cuause your PH to crash if you are not careful.

Most definitely.

[crossxfire2]

I don't think peppermint shrimp EVER go for the big heads of aptasia, but don't quote me.

[Bill S]

Yeah, my CBBs have left a handful of true trophy aptasia.

[Richard]

I put 4 peppermint shrimp in one tank that had aptasia everywhere and they knocked out the problem completely. I also have another tank that has like three or four peppermint shrimp in it that has three aptasias and they wont touch them. So peppermint shrimp do work but it depends on the individual peppermint shrimp and how much other food they have to eat atleast in my expierences.

It's always hit or miss with the wild caught peps. There are several different species that are hard to distinguish and there might even be a difference in their appetite for aiptasia depending on where they are collected. I got some ORA aquacultured peppermint shrimp. They went right for aiptasia (3 different tanks). So ORA's seem to be good aiptasia eaters. I'd be interested to know if anyone else gets some of theirs and has the same results. It would be nice to have a source for known aiptasia eating peps.

[apedroza]

I've used the joe's juice with some pretty good results!!

[caferacermike]

Hey Anthony it's hotly debated but most think Joe's is pure Kalk. Save yourself a buck and just buy Pickling Lime from Walmart at $3 for 2 lbs.

[copperband]

i used a syringe that had no needle and filled it with hot water that did the trick for me