The Dish Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Hello all, I am new to the salt water realm of things, (I've been a avid freshwater planted tank keeper for years). I just started a biocube 14 5 days ago, since I'm new to the salt water critters I noticed something that I cannot identify. I am still cycling everything so I dont have any livestock yet. The tank was started with 13 lbs of Live Rock, 5 lbs of live sand and crushed coral SG: 1.024 PH: 8.0 Ammonia: 0 ppm Nitrites: 0 ppm Nitrates: 20 ppm It wasn't there when I put everything together...I'm guessing it's just a hitch hiker from the live rock but I just wanted to know if it's a nuisance (like snails on freshwater plants) or something that I don't have to worry about. Its sort of sandwiched between the two rocks in the picture if you're having a hard time seeing it... Thanks! Link to comment
Benny314 Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Yes it is a pest. It's an aiptasia or glass anemone. They spread rapidly and can be a pain to eradicate. Best bet is remove the rock and scrape or burn (wind proof litre or mini blowtorch are favourites) the anemone off. You can also use things like aiptaisaX which is a liquid that you inject into the anemone to kill it. Generally where there is one there are more, they start tiny so have a good look at the rest of your rocks. Link to comment
charnelhouse Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 +1 aiptasia. No question. Link to comment
The Dish Posted August 19, 2015 Author Share Posted August 19, 2015 excellent, thank you for the help. I will begin the eradication process. With live plants I use to dip them for pests before they went into the Aquarium, any suggestions for any new live rock or corals when I start to put them in to prevent pests? Link to comment
Benny314 Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 There are plenty of dips and dip techniques to help reduce introducing pests such as crabs, worms, and nuidbranchs etc. However aiptasia are incredibly hardy so only careful inspection and quick action can be used to avoid an infestation. I am currently suffering plague proportions of aiptasia, hopefully the berghia nudibranchs I invested in will get a handle on them. Link to comment
ndrobey Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Get a syringe. Boil some white vinegar and suck it up into the syringe. Inject the hot vinegar into the center of the aiptasia. Link to comment
Dreichler Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 I have a huge aiptasia problem, and they're 99% gone. What i did is bought a small bottle of AiptasiaX, a small needle, sucked up some AiptasiaX into the needle, put the tip right above the Aiptasia (pumps off so no flow), and shot it into its mouth. Don't touch the aiptasia with the needle as it will go back into its hole. Hover over it and then shoot it in, you'll know you killed it if within 30 seconds, it spits some of it back out, thats when you know you got it down its throat. Link to comment
Newstead Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 Aiptasia are the devil's spawn. The whole reason I now have a quarantine tank. Good luck with the eradication. Link to comment
The Dish Posted August 31, 2015 Author Share Posted August 31, 2015 I have a huge aiptasia problem, and they're 99% gone. What i did is bought a small bottle of AiptasiaX, a small needle, sucked up some AiptasiaX into the needle, put the tip right above the Aiptasia (pumps off so no flow), and shot it into its mouth. Don't touch the aiptasia with the needle as it will go back into its hole. Hover over it and then shoot it in, you'll know you killed it if within 30 seconds, it spits some of it back out, thats when you know you got it down its throat. Yea I went with the Aipasiax, strangely satisfying to watch them implode... as soon as I see one pop up it gets pumped. I've only come across 2 since the initial discovery of 3 of the little buggers Link to comment
TFish77 Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 Aiptasia are the devil's spawn. The whole reason I now have a quarantine tank. Good luck with the eradication. If aiptasia are the devil's spawn then mojanos are the devil himself :-). Every tank with aiptasia is going to be a different beast. Some remedies will work for some tanks while others will not. I would recommend using a combination chemicals such as aiptasia x and live remedies such as peppermint shrimp and filefish. Yes aiptasia is a pest but its nowhere near as bad as mojano. Link to comment
Dreichler Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 If aiptasia are the devil's spawn then mojanos are the devil himself :-). Every tank with aiptasia is going to be a different beast. Some remedies will work for some tanks while others will not. I would recommend using a combination chemicals such as aiptasia x and live remedies such as peppermint shrimp and filefish. Yes aiptasia is a pest but its nowhere near as bad as mojano. never had mojano (thank god), but trust me when i say I've killed over 100 aiptasia in the past year IN A 28 GALLON! A 28!!!! All with aiptasia X, tried peppermint shrimp, bought 4, and for a week straight, all 4 literally sat together in the same spot, haven't tried a filefish yet though, not a fan of adding fish, have a picasso pair and a pygmy angel, been with me since the start so i don't like to add new guys. Link to comment
amphipod Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 Aiptasia are the devil's spawn. The whole reason I now have a quarantine tank. Good luck with the eradication. they are just the ultimate beginners anemone if you fail proper husbandry for aiptasia, I'm pretty sure you shouldn't have a marine aquarium lol. But yeah quarantine is key, and it's a fools logic to think about bypassing proper quarantine measures!! Link to comment
NinjaReefer Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 tried peppermint shrimp, bought 4, and for a week straight, all 4 literally sat together in the same spot I have used peppermint shrimp with great success a few times. The secret is they have to be really hungry to eat them. If you dont have fish its pretty easy, just dont feed the tank till the shrimp eat all the aptasia, when you have to feed fish and the shrimp can scavange food its more difficult. Link to comment
Newstead Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 they are just the ultimate beginners anemone if you fail proper husbandry for aiptasia, I'm pretty sure you shouldn't have a marine aquarium lol. But yeah quarantine is key, and it's a fools logic to think about bypassing proper quarantine measures!! Excellent point - I don't know why we stress about all the gorgeous, hard to keep corals. We should all just have aiptasia tanks, sit back and enjoy ;-) Link to comment
amphipod Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 Excellent point - I don't know why we stress about all the gorgeous, hard to keep corals. We should all just have aiptasia tanks, sit back and enjoy ;-) I will admit aiptasia are very enjoyable on their own. A pest is simply an organism particularly well adapted to man made environments. Link to comment
TFish77 Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 Excellent point - I don't know why we stress about all the gorgeous, hard to keep corals. We should all just have aiptasia tanks, sit back and enjoy ;-) Not gonna lie. When I had my first 10g reef ever I would take sexy pictures of my aiptasia. Ahh the good ol' days. Link to comment
Exodus Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 Peppermint shrimp all the way, the shrimp will eradicate them all in no time. The species of of Peppermint Shrimp have to be the "Lysmata wurdemanni" http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=497+525+701&pcatid=701 Aptasia is native food for them, therefore they typically have no hesitation in taking it out for you. If you get any of the other species, theres no guarantee it will even touch it. Link to comment
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