my cycle is, er, stuck

[katydidit]

i know some methods to rid aiptasia, but what are the easiest/most reliable in your experience?

 

[UnderGrad]

Take out the rock that its on... guaranteed to get rid of it! If you have the two part marine putty stuff, you can cover it COMPLETELY with that stuff and that should do the trick. Whenever you do anything that damages/or cuts it, you risk it spreading. I've been told it can regrow from just a single cell. HTH.

-AM-

 

[brandon4291]

Hey, good call on the mesenterial filaments. That term makes sense, I just hadn't heard it before. You know I like to put these terms in my pocket for future use


People inject aiptasia (kalk, stop aiptasia {name brand additive})and physically remove it. Perhaps the best thing I have seen and heard is to buy peppermint shrimp and let them eat it. For some reason they love to eat the small immature aiptasia polyps. I have heard that other species relish these pests as well, lysmata shrimp for example. You guys know of anything else? I have an exceptionally harsh method for dealing with aiptasia: it is one of my most dreaded pests> right up there with hair algae. If I see a growth of aiptasia on a LR, I remove the entire piece and trade it back to the LFS then try another. If it shows up on a fresh new zoanthid colony, Ill take the whole frag out and trade it off or give it to someone else who wants to take the risk. My tanks would be wrecked by aiptasia so I use universal aseptic measures to prevent its growth in my tank. In many systems this is not necessary however, especially if you have bioload room for a few of these shrimp or a foxface.

 

[Anonymous]

I would just take out the rock it's on, if possible. If the xenia is on the same rock, you can easily frag it.

 

[katydidit]

heh, um this is the thing. NOt only is my xenia on the rock. But so is my hairy mushroom and 2 other purple shrooms. STUPID ANEMONE! Also, because my tank is so new, I dont want to disrupt too much in an environment that isnt established well. What would be the least disruptive (mind you I'm a college student with little resources at hand...)

 

[Bleeding Blue]

You know, if you can get the rock out for a little while, you can burn off the aptasia with a sodering iron. It sounds wierd, but I did it and it works. Cheers.

M

 

[Anonymous]

Try to find a small syringe that has a needle. Then go get some Red Devil Lye. Mix a small amount of lye with water. Inject the aptasia. Done.

There was a thread in the general discussion area last month. Take a liik at it and see what you think.

B

 

[Bleeding Blue]

You know, this may sound silly, but the best way to rid a tank from aptasia is to keep the nutriant level in the water down, and to make sure that the water chemistry is right on. I had two (that I knew of) glass anemones pop up in my nano when I moved it to Arizona. However, when the cycle was over, and the water chemistry was balanced they went away. If they are not reproducing in your tank, and they are not stinging anything, patients may become a virtue. Just a thought.

M

 

[katydidit]

thats the thing, my xenia is dying...fast. The little bastard has made the base of the xenia his new home, and now my beautiful coral has holes and divets in the stalk :/. I dont know, I tried using boiling water with a medicine dropper right on the thing, and two hours later once back in the tank, he moved to the other side of the xenia...grrr! I dont want it to get to my hairy shroom or purple shrooms for that matter, so I'm almost tempted to chisel off the portion of the rock with the xenia on it...better only for him to get one coral than all three I guess. Any other thoughts?