Aiptasia Eaters!

[betiuminside]

I am having an outbreak and I need a solution for this... I have PLENTY!!!
Let me know what you have!

Thanks,
Alberto

[Gseclipse02]

try peppermint shrimp

[Double-O-Zilch]

Sounds like a good excuse to head down south and hit the jetties for peps! My sister and brother in law went this last weekend and brought me all kinds of goodies. You could also ask the local fish stores if they have any file fish. I know the one on 46 off 281 still has two in stock. It's called Birddog Catfish.

[Europhyllia]

if it's just on one rock I'd take the whole rock out if it was me. relying on a critter to solve my pest problems hasn't worked much for me in the past.

[ramsey]

I'm battling the same thing at the moment. It's not terrible but it's time to do something. I ordered some Berghia nudibranches from berghia.net. I've heard that peppermints will only shred up the aiptasia to get to it's gastric cavity (?) and eat that. It won't eat the actual aiptasia and will cause it to spread. I've tried Aiptasia-X and I may as well have just feed them mysis. I think the nudi's are the way to go (from my reading) but there is a serious consideration. The diet of the nudi's consist of aiptasia. They don'y eat anything else. In other words, it's possible to get rid of the aiptasia and have all the nudi's die. I had a long talk with Larry (owner of berghia.net) and he said to start off with a small amount of them and give it about six months. This will allow them to reach maturity and possibly survive and combat subsequent outbreaks.

I have a post asking for feedback on the Berghia Nudi's but have yet to get any response. From what I've read, they seem like a winner but I've not had direct success using them (yet, HOPEFULLY!).

[allan]

My first set of peps worked great, my second set didn't work out. I had absolutely no luck with the file fish although it was quite adept at killing of a burgeoning outbreak of open brain, although at the time I only had one.

Now I have one or two. Kalk solution works well, but I noticed that zoas in the vicinity of the attack did not fare well. I've sqeezed out some lime juice (coronas dressed and constantly at my side) and that seemed to cause the apts to wither and die. I was able to then pinch the flaccid apt (now stretched out into the water column) and pull it out.

I thought about the bergia but I don't believe I've got enough to justify the expense.

[allan]

Oh, and I used like a ten gauge for delivery.

[Bill S]

Oh, and I used like a ten gauge for delivery.

Jeez, Allan. a 10 gauge? Makes a pretty big mess of the tank, doesn't it? I mean a 410 maybe, or a 22 with rat shot, but a TEN GAUGE?

Oh. Were you talking about NEEDLES? Nevermind.

[alton]

Berghia nudibranches worked on my 158, never had aptaisia again. I got two from Larry and one had eggs. Acclimation is critical when introducing them to your tank. You have to make sure they get placed on something so they can grab hold. Amazing to watch them eat, roots and all.

[betiuminside]

Wow! a lot of response on this!!
All I have to say is that I have them ALL OVER THE PLACE!!!
It's a 20 gal tank that has like 12-14 peaces of LR and I have them on all of them. Even the glass and power heads etc.
Ramsey...
when did you order? how many? are they cheap? Can you share?
I think I have plenty for them to eat for several months... I guess it depends on how fast they eat them.... but I have plenty.
After they are done I could pass them to another reefer that is in need.

[ramsey]

I ordered 5 and they're about $15 a piece. I placed my order Tuesday. I know he is going to have some ready at the end of this month but I'm not sure how many he'll have.

If you talk to Larry, he'll tell you that you don't want to solve the problem quick. Instead, you want it to take about 6 months. By doing this you have a good chance at having some nudi's survive. If they mow through the aiptasia to fast, they never reach maturity, you have another outbreak and then you have to buy more. Sounds reasonable to me. Also, he told me this after I was trying to buy 10 so I decided to try out 5.

You may want to talk to him and see what he can do but if it were up to me, I'd try 2-3 and see what happens. I have a 175g tank which is why I'm going with 5. If in 2-3 months I don't notice any improvement, I may buy more. I doubt I'll have to do this after talking to Larry though.

One more thing, they are pretty small and nocturnal for the most part so I wouldn't plan on getting them out of your tank and giving them to someone else. I think you'd be hard pressed to find them.

[FossilReef]

I'm battling the same thing at the moment. It's not terrible but it's time to do something. I ordered some Berghia nudibranches from berghia.net. I've heard that peppermints will only shred up the aiptasia to get to it's gastric cavity (?) and eat that. It won't eat the actual aiptasia and will cause it to spread. I've tried Aiptasia-X and I may as well have just feed them mysis. I think the nudi's are the way to go (from my reading) but there is a serious consideration. The diet of the nudi's consist of aiptasia. They don'y eat anything else. In other words, it's possible to get rid of the aiptasia and have all the nudi's die. I had a long talk with Larry (owner of berghia.net) and he said to start off with a small amount of them and give it about six months. This will allow them to reach maturity and possibly survive and combat subsequent outbreaks.

I have a post asking for feedback on the Berghia Nudi's but have yet to get any response. From what I've read, they seem like a winner but I've not had direct success using them (yet, HOPEFULLY!).

Let me tell you from recent experience that Berghia are monsters when it comes to eating Aiptasia. I just watched one plow through a 1/4" anemone in just about 30 seconds.

[GoneReefing]

I just tried the concentrated lemon juice method. I had two monsters. I don't know how well it works, but from what I read it works, as long as you don't over do it, it should affect my pH to much. We will see how it goes.

[grouch]

I had two outbreaks, the first one a peppermint shrimp cleaned up all but one then the shrimp vanished. Then the one Aiptasia left started to spread again. Purchased some 'Joe's Juice' from Big AL's online. Small 2 oz. bottle comes with small syringe. Feed a tiny bit to them they think it's food and they are dead in seconds. Coral only tank had no effect on the coral at all.
This stuff gets my vote.